Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/817722
82 SMT Magazine • May 2017 Then OML tries to consolidate the data to say, "Here are the events coming from a ma- chine." This is all the data that the machine needs to provide and there's an SDK that ex- plains how to do the communication over the network, which is reliable, secure, and efficient. OML makes some sense out of this mess of pro- prietary interfaces to promote a single language. OML will greatly benefit all our competitors, so it will benefit every company out there that has some kind of traceability or MES solution— whether it is Aegis, iTac, Cogiscan, even SAP and the ERP vendors. They will all benefit since the ERP system cannot really access real-time data from the shop floor because it's all propri- etary, and SAP doesn't develop drivers for all of these machines. OML acquires the data in real- time and is applied to real-world manufacturing shop-floor processes – it's straightforward. We've been getting a lot of traction with OML. We have more than 400 people in our OML community now and we have about 50 development partners. We see a lot of good momentum. I'm not sure that the industry can generate its own standard. This industry is known for de facto standards, and a good exam- ple is ODB++, which is a de facto standard. It's the best way to send data from design to man- ufacturing. The copyright is owned by Mentor, but the ODB++ specification is completely free. Anybody can get it and anybody can develop an ODB++ reader. That's why most of the ma- chines here know how to read ODB++ data. Just because the OML is pioneered and driven by Mentor, it doesn't mean it cannot be absorbed by the industry. Las Marias: OML is open for everyone. Manor: Open for everybody. Anybody can go to the OML community website and get the OML specification. All we're retaining is the copyright ownership, so we have the right to make chang- es, but anybody can use it free of charge, roy- alty-free, no licensing, and they don't need to use any Mentor tool. In many cases, users have a flow that is completely comprised of non- Mentor applications. You don't need to use any Mentor tool or Mentor software with it; you can use it in any kind of environment and I think that's why the big EMS companies like OML so much. It allows them to get the data and use it in their home-grown systems. Because they've developed a lot of applications over the years, you can't just strip them away now. OML allows them to use the data with their existing MES ap- plications developed in-house and grown over the years. Las Marias: How has the OML community grown over this past year? Manor: Tremendously. We only started it about a year ago. It's grown rapidly. We get very good, positive reactions from both the machine ven- dors as well as EMS vendors. Also now, with the fact that the CFX (Connected Factory Ex- change), the standard developed by IPC, is in limbo at the moment, I think it's hard to get consensus from the machine vendors, the EMS, and the OEMs about how to do this. Everybody has their own approach. It's going to be chal- lenging for IPC to get everybody here to agree. Now, of course, we fully support and are part of IPC, but I'm not sure it's straightforward to promote the CFX as an industry consortium. MENTOR GRAPHICS: CONNECTING THE MANUFACTURING ENVIRONMENT Oren Manor