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24 I-CONNECT007 I SHOW & TELL MAGAZINE 2018 joined together to demonstrate support for the CFX standard. At this year's IPC APEX EXPO, I was also able to attend the EMS Management Council Meet- ing where key executives in the EMS industry met to talk about the state of the industry and key issues that are greatly impacting their busi- ness. Here are my 2018 takeaways. The industry as a whole is expected to con- tinue its strong growth achieved last year. In his presentation, Walt Custer of Custer Con- sulting said most sectors have expanded in 2017, driven by the automotive and IoT trends. He expects "tremendous growth" this year, but a possible dip next year. He sees 5G as the next "boom" for the industry. IPC's Sharon Starr's presentation, focused on the EMS sector, projected sustained growth in the electronics assembly industry from 2016 to 2022, but at a slowing rate, and ODM growth outpacing EMS growth. Presenting on counterfeit devices, Tom Sharpe of SMT Corporation notes that "clones" are now becoming more sophisticated. Coun- terfeiters' reverse engineering of logic devices and functional die emulation of analog-to-dig- ital converters, despite noticeable differences, are becoming near accurate, with some designs showing improvements in semiconductor real estate. Clones now have electrical data almost similar to the specs of authentic devices, and even come with counterfeit OCM (original com- ponent manufacturer) documents. According to Sharpe, while good exterior visual inspec- tion performed by a well-trained inspector will catch a very high percentage of refurbished/ reworked or physically altered counterfeit components, this is not the case with the bet- ter clone devices that they are now analyzing. Aegis Software's Michael Ford talked about transforming the electronics manufacturing industry from Industry 3.0—processes that include manual CAD and BOM, manual split - ting of data, visual process control, ERP driven material kits, and ad-hoc data recording—to Industry 4.0, which is based on digitalization and IoT. According to Ford, Industry 4.0 will fea - ture digitalized processes: from product model to process engineering and control, to sup- ply chain and build record—enabling decision making in seconds, NPI in minutes, automated active quality, and continuous optimization. Finally, whether we like it or not, the smart manufacturing revolution is happening. Jay Gorajia of Mentor, a Siemens Business, pre- sented on data analytics and the connected supply chain, and how a common digital thread applied across the entire value chain will help manufacturers compress the innova- tion lifecycle and enable continuous business transformation. Overall, it is such an interesting time to be in this industry. Industry 4.0 is all about accurate data and how this can help improve and opti- mize the electronics manufacturing process. This year's IPC APEX EXPO highlighted that. With the successful conclusion of the CFX demo, I am sure equipment manufacturers will now rethink their strategies and consider how they can be a part of this digital transformation happening in the supply chain. S&T IPC's Sharon Starr and Walt Custer of Custer Consulting. Tom Sharpe, SMT Corporation.