Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/960726
SHOW & TELL MAGAZINE 2018 I I-CONNECT007 91 them to integrate more efficiently and easily, and speak the same language. That opens up possibilities for me to track line efficiencies better, and to make sure that my equipment is smart factory-enabled and can have machine- to-machine communications. We are a big Cogiscan partner; KIC is another one that is part of the CFX, and they are a big partner of ours too. I am really excited to see these companies that, for a long time, have talked about the importance of production equipment communicating, and really opening that and investing in a common platform language. Karl A. Berger President, Fractal Sales Solutions The IPC CFX standard was the most interesting tech- nology I saw at IPC APEX EXPO 2018. It is a commu- nication standard that could enable diverse equipment to share data in real time. This could enable Industry 4.0 implementations very soon! There have been other standards before, but with the indepen - dence, support, and experience in setting stan- dards, I believe this could be the one to enable diverse platforms to seamlessly work together. There was some evidence of this as 42 different machines across the entire show floor shared data. As it was explained to me, IPC CFX enables communication across multiple plat - forms to collect data, so software systems can make real-time decisions to impact schedule, supply chain, quality, etc. Very exciting. David Lemke Product Development Manager, Nonin Medical Jet printing and 3D printing electronics stood out to me. John Wangelin Global Operations Product Engineer, Cree Inc. A lot of the factory integration, like ASM, and some of the new automation on SMT equip- ment manufacturers, like Juki, was interesting. I think they are pretty good advancements. Mathieu Kury Business Development Manager, Asteelflash Here are some of the interest- ing new technologies I found at IPC APEX EXPO 2018: • Very interesting in-line, a u t o m a t e d p ro g ra m m i n g machine for firmware pro- gramming/flashing by BE Ing- enierie/All4 • Collaborative robot integration to electron- ics processes such as ICT and PCB handling (we actually have our pilot project with Uni- versal Robots for ICT automation in Fremont starting in the second quarter) • The IPC CFX live demo of a connected fac- tory was very cool to see in action providing real-time, actionable data Ray Prasad President, Ray Prasad Consultancy Group One of Juki's printers seems to be very cost-effective. I saw it handling solder paste from a jar, not from the tube. That seems like it's not that com - mon, but I haven't spent much time walking around yet. Farid Anani VP of Operations, Computrol The Industry 4.0 connections to equipment and Internet of Things were interesting. Kenneth Carter Engineering Manufacturing Liaison, General Atomics Aeronautical The robotic delivery systems that can go to spe- cific locations within the plant stood out to me. Victor Alberto Perez Cruz Senior Software Engineer, Muramoto Sumitronics I am a software engineer, so I would like to see new software to implement in our company. What stood out for me was the robotic hand, which seems very useful. It can place a PCB from one location to the next.