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84 SMT Magazine • December 2017 while still being able to utilize their existing sys- tems? Nair: Transition is the right word. It's evolution, not revolution. The reason I say that is you are not going to throw away millions of dollars' worth of equipment that you have already in- vested in especially if it's working well. So, the existing machines will be made much smarter. How? You can add some sensors, so that these machines can have increased amount of data input during the manufacturing process. That information can then be passed up the stream so that you have intelligent manufacturing, for example, and you could scale up in parts. As you go to new product lines, you may bring in new equipment. The existing product lines can be made smarter based on your needs, through adding features, which can be added through people like National Instruments who are work- ing with multivendor systems. Las Marias: What does the future look like for the test and measurement industry? Nair: For the test and measurement market, of course, the ability to use FPGAs for increasingly complex testing is going to continue. The ability to do machine learning so that test times can be reduced, and tests can be optimized—that will continue; and, the ability to integrate with the cloud so people can do these analytics on the cloud and get them, especially for large compa- nies with multiple manufacturing sites. One of the major things is, as test systems and control systems become more and more complex and increasingly controlled and monitored through software, the need for configuration and remote management of the assets will increase so that manufacturers will be able to do updates from central stations. Las Marias: What about the cybersecurity? Nair: That's one of the largest areas of concern and research, and that will continue—security for factory, security for cars, security for any- thing that is connected to the network, which basically is almost any device all the way from your watch to a Tesla. I think that will be a con- tinuing threat, and then we'll continue to see solutions. I don't think there will be a time when we can say there's no more threat, nei- ther can we say that all these solutions are com- pletely adequate. Las Marias: What is your outlook for the elec- tronics manufacturing industry in the next year or two? Nair: Consumerism is still a strong trend. Peo- ple want new devices, faster, cheaper, better, whether it's better phones, better cars—cars now are also consumer devices with multiple electronics—better computers, better every- thing. And they want it cheaper and faster. That is driving the market tremendously. Las Marias: How is National Instruments posi- tioned amid all the evolution happening in the global electronics manufacturing industry? Nair: We are positioned in a great space. We've been talking about platforms for more than 30 years, and it's been proven time over time that when you do a platform-based approach to test and measurement systems, then you can scale up. With the technology changing so quickly and convergence of multiple technologies, the modular hardware with software centricity, I think we are probably among the best placed vendors to be able to tap into that fast-chang- ing market. Las Marias: Thank you very much, Chandran. Nair: Thank you. SMT INDUSTRY 4.0 AND THE PLATFORM-BASED APPROACH TO TESTING " As you go to new product lines, you may bring in new equipment. "