Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/960726
76 I-CONNECT007 I SHOW & TELL MAGAZINE 2018 as I started to walk away, a Siemens sales engi- neer pulled me aside and told me that they had already completed the "electronics fabrication" exercise and model. They had a wafer fab solu- tion, which will work for PCB fab and HDI. All you need to do is change the Data Dictionary definitions from "wafer" to "panel" and "die" to "board." The semiconductor fab process is dominated by process machinery and not components, so by using the IC industry's own protocol—SECSII/MAPS—all the PCB recipes can be captured from tooling. I don't know if this will ever be demonstrated to us here in the U.S., but I may see it later in China. But IPC APEX EXPO is much more than an equipment exhibition. Significant work on standards and other IPC documents is con- ducted during the week, and awards and rec- ognitions are handed out to all the volunteers who have seen their work come to fruition in published documents this past year. For me, it is a chance to reconnect with old friends one more time. So, if you want to see the latest PCB equipment, go to productronica in 2019, 2021, or 2023 (or read the excellent cov- erage of productronica here at I-Connect007). But if you want to connect with what is going to happen in the U.S. in the future, then IPC APEX EXPO is still the place to be—and will be for many years to come! S&T we would never have anticipated the merger of DuPont with Dow, or MacDermid with Enthone and OMG! One of the highlights for me this year was the demonstration of Industry 4.0 coordina- tion using the IPC CFX (Connected Factory Exchange) protocol. Impressive, but it was also just limited to surface mount assembly. I was impressed by all the work that must have gone into pulling off a successful demonstration of different software and equipment, including AOI, all working in unison and available to anyone who logged into the app. Being a fab guy, I pressed and asked, "When are we going to see this for fabrication and HDI?" The answer was, "Won't happen," and IPC Master Instructor Cherie Litson. Judy Warner from Altium and Happy Holden at Monday's Design Forum. IPC Master Instructor Gary Ferrari and I-Connect007 Contributing Technical Editor Happy Holden.