Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/924542
62 PCB007 MAGAZINE I JANUARY 2018 Jaster: Well, hopefully the standard will be re- leased next year. The standard will be released for the building blocks that we know of to- day, but as industry changes, we need to keep making sure that we are in tune with indus- try and continually look to make sure the stan- dard stays up to date with where the industry is going. I would love to see if we can integrate it into making sure that it's communicating well with the 2581 data. I really want to get this con- tinuous backbone of data and expand it out. Right now, we're really focused on circuit as- semblies. Can we expand this into printed wir- ing board assembly? I think we can, so is that the next phase we tackle? I don't know. We have a standard component traceability. We need to make sure that component traceability works well with the CFX standards so that we can make sure we're providing that informa- tion back. I'm also responsible for a number of standards related to material declarations for RoHS and REACH. I would like to get those standards connected in as well, so that they're all talking to one another. I want a set of stan- dards to support a data backbone for the elec- tronics industry. As you know, when you're putting in data it is basic quality 101. Do it right the first time. If design inputs the data and it is correct, which it has to be, then it transfers automatically over to production. If they don't have to touch any - thing, not only do you speed up your process, y ou improve your quality, you have fewer er- rors, and you have less manual intervention. Now we don't have to worry about transmit- ting data from machine to machine because they can all talk to one another with CFX. Then you worry about, how do you take this data, and move it even farther outward in through the thread? We really need this backbone of data to support manufactur- ing. Data has always been key, and we've gone from paper, to flat files, to somewhat in- telligent files, to now extremely intelligent data, and we just need to take that and keep using the technology as it becomes available to us. The other part is making sure it's secure. You always have to make sure your data is se- cure. Las Marias: The traceability, the standards, and then RoHS and REACH. They will be con- nected, but not really integrated into the CFX, right? Jaster: Not yet. That's another phase. When the directives came out for RoHS, we needed things, and so standards were written. Now we're working on connecting the factory. My goal is someday to get them all talking to one another. Las Marias: Do you think this will be able to somehow pave the way for something like the lights-out assembly factory? Jaster: Not yet. Do I think robots are going to completely take over the factory? No, be- cause people still add value. Will it get us to a point where you can engage your people to in- stead of doing busy work they are doing some- thing of more value? Definitely. Instead of peo- ple having to manually do something over and over, or correct problems over and over, it's go- ing to help improve the quality, improve the data, and then allow employees to spend time working on other activities and things that can help the overall manufacturing process. How can they improve the secret sauce, or what can they do differently within their factory, versus IPC APEX EXPO 2018 PRE-SHOW SPECIAL COVERAGE