-
- News
- Books
Featured Books
- smt007 Magazine
Latest Issues
Current IssueIntelligent Test and Inspection
Are you ready to explore the cutting-edge advancements shaping the electronics manufacturing industry? The May 2025 issue of SMT007 Magazine is packed with insights, innovations, and expert perspectives that you won’t want to miss.
Do You Have X-ray Vision?
Has X-ray’s time finally come in electronics manufacturing? Join us in this issue of SMT007 Magazine, where we answer this question and others to bring more efficiency to your bottom line.
IPC APEX EXPO 2025: A Preview
It’s that time again. If you’re going to Anaheim for IPC APEX EXPO 2025, we’ll see you there. In the meantime, consider this issue of SMT007 Magazine to be your golden ticket to planning the show.
- Articles
- Columns
Search Console
- Links
- Media kit
||| MENU - smt007 Magazine
Standards Driving Factory of the Future
March 17, 2025 | Marcy LaRont, PCB007 MagazineEstimated reading time: 2 minutes

Thomas Marktscheffel, product manager for ASMPT’s software portfolio, has been deeply involved with IPC committee and standards work for many years. He chairs the IPC HERMES-9852 standard committee and is involved in the evolving DCX standard.
In this conversation, Thomas discusses the challenges of skilled labor shortages and the rising significance of cybersecurity in modern manufacturing. He emphasizes the collaborative effort required from various vendors to achieve a truly intelligent and efficient factory ecosystem, highlighting the importance of data-driven automation, AI integration, and seamless interoperability through adopting standards. Thomas is enthusiastic about what is possible today with manufacturing’s use of data and how that is an evolved vision for Factory of the Future. Though this industry buzzphrase is currently focused solely on EMS, it is reflective of what is coming for PCB fabricators as well.
Marcy LaRont: Thomas, why do we need IPC standards to work toward a Factory of the Future vision for our organizations?
Thomas Marktscheffel: The Factory of the Future is a data-driven factory. At first, it was about simple automation. Then came the Smart factory, which analyzed data to drive decisions about automating workflows. Now, we have artificial intelligence. Of course, the Factory of the Future will be AI-based, not only in analyzing the data and looking for correlations but also in learning from what has happened to a project and what will happen in the future.
This will be the “Intelligent Factory,” and it will be automated as much as possible. More than ever, we need transparency to know what’s going on. There are deadlines for production, quality requirements, and yield costs. My priority is to know what is happening in my production to make the right decisions and know that what I promised is happening seamlessly and in an integrated way. But there is no single machine or software vendor that can do it all.
A Factory of the Future is always a combination and cooperation between different vendors. As a manufacturer, I don't want to be concerned about where and how they come together; it simply must work. That's seamless integration. It must be easy to deploy with new equipment because, as a manufacturer, I don't have days or weeks for integrating this new equipment into my intelligent factory.
To continue reading this article, which originally appeared in the March 2025 SMT007 Magazine, click here.
Suggested Items
LG Innotek to Build FC-BGA into 700 Million USD Business with State-of-the-art Dream Factory
05/01/2025 | PR NewswireLG unveiled the Dream Factory, a hub for the production of FC-BGAs (Flip Chip Ball Grid Arrays), the company's next-generation growth engine, to the media for the first time and announced it on the 30th April.
Incap India Invests in Youth Development and Community leadership
04/24/2025 | IncapIncap India has contributed 2.5 million (approximately EUR 27,000) to the Swami Vivekananda Cultural Youth Centre in Mysore as part of its Sustainability Programme.
HEITEC Expands Deployment of Aegis Software’s FactoryLogix MES to Boost Sustainable Manufacturing
04/23/2025 | Aegis SoftwareAegis Software, a global provider of Manufacturing Execution System (MES) software, announces that HEITEC’s business unit Elektronik, a leading manufacturer of complex electronic solutions based in Eckental, Germany, is expanding its use of the FactoryLogix® MES platform to additional products.
Foxconn's Tiger Leap Combining Nature and Technology in Ecological Roof Garden
04/23/2025 | FoxconnHon Hai Technology Group, the world's largest technology manufacturing and service provider, has actively responded to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
IPC President’s Award: Dr. Thomas Marktscheffel
04/15/2025 | Nolan Johnson, I-Connect007At ASMPT SMT Solutions, Thomas Marktscheffel, director of product management software solutions, is responsible for the SMT line software portfolio. As a member and leader of several IPC committees, he is also a driving force for global industry standards such as IPC-2591 CFX and IPC-HERMES-9852, which make it possible to provide plug-and-play connectivity for intelligent SMT Factories. In 2015, he participated in the IPC-1782 A-team and subsequently joined the IPC-2591 CFX standard A-team, which became the new SMT industry communication standard following its first release in March 2019.