Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/1528798
28 SMT007 MAGAZINE I NOVEMBER 2024 tastic technology, but it was not fine-tuned to exactly what a customer really needs. Now, I think we are better synced with the customer pain points, and we see the results. It's a differ- ent story now. Our October issue of SMT007 Magazine focused on counterfeiting, and this month we're talking about the evolution of data analysis on the manufacturing floor. Cybord lives in both of those spaces. Correct. Cybord utilizes data for many pur- poses, one of which is counterfeit detection. First, though, let's talk about the data. is industry is quite conservative. We're not run- ning toward new technology adoption or capa- bilities, and even if they have the opportunity to collect data, someone still needs to do some- thing with it. e industry is not excellent at interpreting and analyzing this data. However, I do see a great improvement. Both EMS suppliers and OEMs are looking for more data to draw conclusions about their performance. ey want feedback about their products, whether it's design-, quality-, or even security-related. Data can definitely supply these needs. Con- necting counterfeiting data? Yeah, that's obvi- ous. If you collect all the data the way that we collect it, exactly for 100% of your compo- nents, you can supply the image of the com- ponent and answer questions like, "Who is the manufacturer? What is the date code? What are the quality trends per supplier?" While we do the analysis, we provide a score for each and every component. We are then able to indicate the exact score for every com- ponent, collect it all together, and provide a score for each board. e score for a board and a product can teach you a lot. As we see more components, our ability to indicate a counterfeit is signif- icantly higher. Today, we have 5 billion com- ponents in our database, so a component that we don't already know is rare. If we find one, it takes about a week to map it, and then all the information that we can provide for this com- ponent has a lot of value for the end customer. e same information we use for counterfeit detection is used for different purposes, like Approved Vendor List (AVL) enforcement. One of our biggest customers, for example, provided us with the AVL, and we enforced the AVL for him. What does it mean? We look at every component and recognize who the manufacturer is. If there is no match between the AVL and the manufacturer, we raise a flag and indicate an "AVL Violation" We have seen different components being assembled outside of the AVL more than once, and that's a problem. It means you are not using qualified components, and that's another