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58 SMT007 MAGAZINE I MARCH 2025 seamless integration, ease of deployment, user-friendly operations, and robust cyber- security. By developing standards guided by these principles, these groups aim to ensure their standards enable any company, large or small, to optimize production, enhance trace- ability, and address the challenges of real-time data flow, IT-OT convergence, and secure data exchanges across the supply chain. e foundation of these standards activ- ities has been set through established stan- dards such as IPC-CFX, Connected Factory Exchange, and IPC-HERMES-9852. ese standards were instrumental in setting a vision to facilitate ease of adoption within factories and enable interoperability between machines and systems. Over the past several years, addi- tional working groups have developed stan- dards to support traceability (IPC-1782), dig- ital twin (IPC-2551), model-based definitions (IPC/DAC-2552), and cybersecure operations (IPC-1792). As these standards evolved, and new stan- dards topics proposed in 2024, working group leaders embarked on a comprehensive review to ensure their interoperability and their full support of the industry's Factory of the Future goals. is review focused on potential over- laps, gaps, and opportunities for alignment to ensure these standards could be effectively and efficiently implemented to create a cohesive ecosystem for smart manufacturing. At the heart of this initiative's outcomes was the importance of unified data models and standardized reporting frameworks, which have been the core success of IPC-CFX. ese data models and reporting structures enable manufacturers to seamlessly integrate technol- ogies like AI, digital twins, and IoT into their operations. One significant outcome of this initiative, which is a tremendous value-add for indus- try, is to map reporting and data collection requirements standards such as IPC-1782 and IPC-2551 to schemas in the IPC-1750 series of declaration standards. By leveraging an exist- ing infrastructure of widely adopted data col- lection schemas, these standards will all align data collection and reporting requirements to the same baseline of schemas that are in regu- lar use by industry. Where gaps are identified, new schemas within those standards will be developed. It is this forward-thinking, developed-by- industry-for-industry approach to solving problems with real-time data collection that makes these working groups essential for your Industry 4.0 success. In addition, this strategy initiative resulted in new standards activities to support industry, including IPC-2592, Digital Credential Exchange (DCX), and two standards to support sustain- ability reporting. ese efforts reflect IPC's and the industry's joint commitment to anticipate future demands in sustainability, cybersecurity, and digital transformation. All working groups forming out of this ini- tiative will meet during IPC APEX EXPO 2025. is is your chance to visit these groups and put your company on the leading edge of Chris Jorgensen