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REAL TIME WITH... IPC APEX EXPO 2024 SHOW & TELL MAGAZINE I I-CONNECT007 153 Trend No. 3: Data analytics In one of the interviews I conducted at the show this year, I spoke with both sides of a newly announced software partnership. One company's core competence is in the manu- facturing process portion of the data stack; in other words, going from sensor to process analytics. The second company's expertise is more BOM-facing, an MES that under- stands smart factory data sets—the business ops part of the data stack. Any semblance of competition seems to be morphing into "coopetition" and even full-scale coopera- tion across the industry. This is a high-rise of a data stack; there's room to carve a niche on whichever floors fit your unique value- add. Companies on the software side of the industry are quickly figuring this out. Trend No. 4: Manufacturing chain While "data stack" is how the software folks organize the hierarchy of collecting and processing Smart factory data and analytics, folks on the manufacturing side might call it a "manufacturing chain." Understanding this terminology is, to my way of thinking, crucial to these changing themes. The manufactur- ing chain is the portion of the overall sup- ply chain where materials are transformed into a finished BOM. Business processes and manufacturing processes meet at the manufacturing chain. The Smart factory data that is captured here has usefulness in busi- ness operations as well as manufacturing efficiencies. This is where I see the value of increased collaboration among groups like IPC, WHMA, iNEMI, and all the other orga- nizations present at the ECWC conference held this year in conjunction with IPC APEX EXPO. It's also why special sessions on top- ics such as electric vehicles and advanced packaging are so valuable: These sessions help connect the needs, gaps, and solutions on a wider range of the manufacturing chain than we might typically consider in our day- to-day work. Trend No. 5: Technical expertise The last theme is both a source for, and a cli- ent of, the others: technical expertise. Just as electronics manufacturing is making a conscious effort to develop the next genera- tion of manufacturers to replace our retiring experts, the technical demands are increas- ing in complexity. Our workforce is growing in numbers, which places pressure on the industry to spin up new experts in creative ways, like apprenticeship programs and new skills certifications from IPC. The IPC Technical Conference picks up where upskilling education ends. The papers, alongside the Professional Development Courses and business leader summits, all serve as a conduit for connecting manufac- turers to the latest research. We cannot leave out the expo floor, connecting manufactur-