Getting machines to talk to each other enhances output and yields.

It’s common sense, really, and probably one of the most familiar sayings of mankind: Communication is key. Good communication is central to productive relationships, effective business strategy … just about everything, honestly. It’s not just communication, however, but communication quality and transparency that result in informed decision-making. This is especially true in the manufacturing setting and is the basis for Industry 4.0. Machines have been cranking out data for decades, but applying them in a meaningful way is, at the core, what Industry 4.0 is all about. Until recently, however, data exchange was largely supplier-specific; proprietary equipment system software could manage tasks rather seamlessly, but communication among disparate equipment brands in relation to PCB movement and traceability was challenging. The IPC-SMEMA-9851 standard provides a solid foundation and is still successfully employed, yet enhancements are required to progress toward a nimbler, automation-friendly solution that permits open and uniform machine-to-machine communication.

How it started. While several stencil printer platforms and everything within their respective ecosystems – board handling equipment, SPI and closed-loop feedback tools – are data rich, self-correcting and optimized for the printing operation, the data generated by printers relating to the PCB characteristics must be passed down the line. That, of course, means the data must be vendor-neutral. Moving beyond simple board recognition from one system to the next, true traceability is required for smart factory effectiveness. Consequently, the Hermes Standard Initiative (IPC-HERMES-9852) was born as the result of more than a dozen equipment vendors unifying behind the cause for an improved open communication protocol, which speaks volumes for the requirement and the customer desire for such a solution. By simplifying the transfer of PCB data between machines regardless of supplier, efficiency and productivity improvement are a given. And, with scalability options, board data can be customized so that when the PCB is passed from, say, the printer to the placement machine, each machine is compelled to recognize the data set, potentially add to it, and transfer that record through the assembly line, making for a more holistic view of the PCB. In fact, these data represent the digital twin of the physical PCB, and Hermes transports the PCB and its digital twin consistently down the SMT line. Integrating Hermes with IPC’s Connected Factory Exchange (CFX) standard broadens this line efficiency and communication transparency to the factory, while other MES systems can extend that to the global enterprise.

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