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72 SMT007 MAGAZINE I MARCH 2025 Feature Interview by Marcy LaRont omas Marktscheffel, product manager for ASMPT's soware portfolio, has been deeply involved with IPC committee and stan- dards work for many years. He chairs the IPC HERMES-9852 standard committee and is involved in the evolving DCX standard. In this conversation, omas discusses the challenges of skilled labor shortages and the rising significance of cybersecurity in mod- ern manufacturing. He emphasizes the collab- orative effort required from various vendors to achieve a truly intelligent and efficient fac- tory ecosystem, highlighting the importance of data-driven automation, AI integration, and seamless interoperability through adopting Standards Driving Factory of the Future standards. omas is enthusiastic about what is possible today with manufacturing's use of data and how that is an evolved vision for Fac- tory of the Future. ough this industry buzz- phrase is currently focused solely on EMS, it is reflective of what is coming for PCB fabrica- tors as well. Marcy LaRont: Thomas, why do we need IPC standards to work toward a Factory of the Future vision for our organizations? omas Marktscheffel: e Factory of the Future is a data-driven factory. At first, it was about simple automation. en came the Smart factory, which analyzed data to drive decisions