IPC CFX Update v1.3

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By the time that you read this, version 1.3 of the CFX standard should have been published. There are some very interesting additions in this release, including messages for predictive maintenance and smart energy management. As CFX is an IPC standard, the industry is assured of open content, designed to evolve Industry 4.0 manufacturing for everyone.

For each release of CFX, a small, dedicated “A-team” meets online approximately every two weeks to review proposed content that normally is submitted through the CFX GitHub account. The A-team members rotate with each release, as the topics of discussion change. With CFX v1.3, some significant new items of interest have been added, a selection of which follows.

Predictive Maintenance

The most basic maintenance regime, scheduled, depends purely on the passage of time, such as getting the oil changed in your car every few months. This can be either wasteful or potentially damaging, as we each use our cars differently, depending on distance travelled, as well as more or less “aggression.” A better maintenance philosophy is, therefore, preventative, in which the number of miles driven, and engine revolutions, are counted, bringing the maintenance date forward or backward, ensuring reduced waste of oil and servicing time, as well as the reduced risk of increased engine wear. However, there are other factors that can affect the need for the oil change, which can only be really understood through the knowledge of the actual trend in the condition of the oil. Were this to be possible, predictive maintenance would be used to ensure that maintenance is only performed at the exact time needed, based on the actual condition of the item that needs to be maintained.

In the manufacturing world, messages to communicate key aspects and measurements related to the condition of production equipment assemblies have been added to the standard. CFX v1.3 has now added definitions of key breakdown of machine assemblies, as well as associated types of measurements, including temperature, vibration, and energy consumption patterns, etc. Any authorized party can then utilize this series of CFX messages to apply the most advanced smart maintenance functions.

To read this entire article, which appeared in the March 2021 issue of SMT007 Magazine, click here.