Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/1534953
Interview by Marcy LaRont Editor's note: This is an excerpt from the full-length interview, available here. Cogiscan's new CEO Martin Drolet, and Benoît Ouel- let, vice president of technology and operations, dis- cuss their vision for the company's future through the transition following the retirement of the compa- ny's founders—André Corriveau, Francois Monette, and Vincent Dubois. Marcy LaRont: What will the next 18 months look like at Cogiscan? What will be your focus? Martin Drolet: We have always been a customer- centric company. We are also creating a lot of sup- plier partnerships. Factory digitalization will never be done in a vacuum. When we started many years ago, the industry was very closed. The attitude was, "I won't share." We came and said, "No, it won't be done well this way. We have to do better." Twenty years ago, it was very difficult to be vendor agnostic. Now, it's more accepted. Another big focus for us is high reliability manufac- turing. The cost of manufacturing and the cost of doing business continues to rise. What are we doing to keep those costs down, to protect our customers' margins? Cogiscan: A New Era of Leadership, Collaboration, and Innovation Benoît Ouellet: I really enjoyed Kevin Surace's key- note at IPC APEX EXPO about AI being central to this industry's future. The adoption of CFX as a stan- dard by equipment vendors, software companies, and factories will be very beneficial for the industry in the future. What are you looking forward to in your new positions? Ouellet: For me, it's the contact with our partners and customers, being there for them more on the operations side. The ability to be more personal with our customers and partners is something I'm really looking forward to. Drolet: I am looking forward to building our success as a company. We need to be successful for our em- ployees, our partners, and our customers. It's easy to make a sale. It's another thing to keep a happy cus- tomer. It's important for our customers to know that they will continue to have that Cogiscan experience. For more information about factory analytics, be sure to download the I-007eBook, The Print- ed Circuit Assembler's Guide to... Factory Analyt- ics, from Cogiscan. MAY 2025 I SMT007 MAGAZINE 35 Martin Drolet Benoît Ouellet