Estimated reading time: 4 minutes

Nolan's Notes: The Next Killer App in Component Manufacturing

For quite a while, I’ve been wondering what the next “killer app” will be in electronics manufacturing and why it has been so long since the last disruptive change in EMS. I believe the answer lies in artificial intelligence, which has exploded as the next disruptor.

AI is in everything these days, and while it’s been the disruptor we predicted, maybe not in the ways we initially feared. For example, I no longer pay much attention to the hype about jobs that will disappear because of AI. Computers replaced some jobs but created new ones. When EDA tools came on the market, for example, the Rubylith® drafting jobs disappeared, but those very same folks simply shifted their expertise to a new medium. Instead of using Rubylith film as their medium, they used CAD tools. The expertise was, for the most part, preserved. Not only that, but they became more productive because they completed layouts more quickly; the computational power of the workstations dramatically reduced the drudgery of hand calculation. Removing the constraint of cutting Rubylith accelerated our technology development curve.

When used in industrial situations and driven by factory data, AI can go beyond number crunching into some pretty sophisticated pattern matching and analysis. The right tools can leverage AI’s strengths to present ever more sophisticated reporting on the mundane stuff so that engineers can focus on the challenging stuff. It’s already happening. But then, I’m pretty sure you already know that. As a culture, we’re moving past the fascination with AI itself, embracing its application potential instead.

This month, SMT007 Magazine examines AI through the lens of test and inspection. With all the data created by test and inspection, it’s an obvious place to start putting AI on your line, given its potential to maintain your process windows and increase yields.

I start by including two interesting and complementary pieces that touch on how AI enables greater connectivity between two disciplines. Bill Cardoso, CEO of Creative Electron, is well-known for his X-ray inspection equipment, while Dr. Eyal Weiss, chief technology officer at Cybord, provides AI-capable counterfeit detection solutions. They each share their respective vision for the future of component inspection and counterfeit detection.

This is followed by excerpts from an interview with Cogiscan’s new CEO, Martin Drolet, and Benoît Ouellet, vice president of technology and operations, and from Cogiscan’s book, The Printed Circuit Assembler’s Guide to… Factory Analytics.

I’m including an interview with Ben Rachinger, the NextGen Best Paper winner at IPC APEX EXPO 2025. He talks about his research on federated data libraries, which could create safe, industry-wide inspection AI models.

In the first of a two-part series on CFX 2.0, IPC’s Chris Jorgensen takes us down the data stack to learn what’s at the intermachine message transfer level. We also interview Roberto Gatti from Delvitech, who shares details on a groundbreaking innovation in AI-driven inspection technology.

Columnist Josh Casper explores AI through automated optical inspection, where he says that integrating AI to combat common inefficiencies and contextualize data will open new doors into how we supplement our traditional processes.

If you saw our booth at IPC APEX EXPO, you know we were busy talking to today’s top industry experts. As you can imagine, many of them spoke about integrating AI into their business models. In this issue, we’ve collected relevant videos from Real Time with... IPC APEX EXPO 2025. Just click the links to visit our site and watch these (and other) videos directly. The Real Time with... site contains more than 80 interviews, as well as articles and photo galleries from IPC APEX EXPO.

Our columnists this month touch on a variety of hot topics: Nash Bell on gold mitigation for Class 2 electronics, Tom Yang on the competitive advantage of creating “global citizenship,” and Mike Konrad on the benefits of SMTA membership.

Kicking off a new feature this month, we're proud to introduce “In-depth with…”—an exclusive, ongoing series that takes you behind the scenes of groundbreaking products and services from the industry's most influential players.

In this inaugural edition, we spotlight compelling conversations with innovators from GEN3 and Critical Manufacturing, who offer fresh insights into the technologies and strategies shaping the future of electronics manufacturing.

Finally, don’t miss a timely and important interview with Rich Cappetto, a member of IPC’s government relations team, who speaks about the long-term effects of tariffs and other government programs aimed at helping the electronics industry to thrive in the U.S.

You can expect more coverage on AI applications in future issues. If you’re talking about it, so are we. If you have an AI application story or a concern, let me know. This topic is an industry dialogue we intend to continue.

This column originally appeared in the May 2025 issue of SMT007 Magazine.