Get Your Industry 4.0 Here! IPC-CFX Momentum Builds

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Do you hear that? That buzzing sound. Yeah, me too. Is it a hive of bees? No. I know a thing or two about bees. That’s no bee buzzing. That buzzing is the industry embracing and running with IPC-CFX.

• An industry that views the clean pipe of data that IPC-CFX provides against the clogged pipes of other machine communications protocols
• An industry that demands the highest level of security for its data and factories
• An industry that knows it can get more value out of a standardized, open communication protocol that is managed by—you guessed it—industry

Those of us who have been actively involved in the development of IPC-CFX and IPC-2591 from the beginning always knew the standard would be a breath of fresh air for industry. It was just a matter of time. That time is definitely upon us, and IPC is prepared to meet the challenge to ensure any company’s successful implementation of IPC-CFX.

As an industry organization, IPC has the unique opportunity to align some of its core programs and support models to ensure industry’s success in implementing and getting the full value from IPC-CFX. So last year we got to work launching IPC-CFX solutions around education, support, and qualification, all of which tie into the heartbeat of our organization: standards. In this case, it is IPC-2591 and the 2-17 Connected Factory Initiative Subcommittee and IPC-CFX A-Team which maintain the standard.

Here’s a rundown of what IPC is providing industry.

Getting What You Pay For
When you buy a piece of equipment that your vendor says is IPC-CFX ready, is it? For the first two years of industry integration of IPC-CFX, that question received subjective responses. What one vendor considered to be IPC-CFX-ready did not match what other vendors—or more importantly, the EMS and OEM customers—understood as being IPC-CFX ready.

This caused some pain points in industry, as some EMS companies, after buying equipment touted as being IPC-CFX compliant only to find when they plugged it into their line, saw only some base IPC-CFX message sets (“Are You There?”) were supported. Recognizing this as a hurdle to IPC-CFX adoption, the 2-17 Subcommittee addressed this with the most significant update to IPC-2591 to date in the release of version 1.3 of the standard.

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