TOKYO – A group of surface mount technology equipment manufacturers under the auspices of the Japan Robot Association have launched a new committee to develop standards for communication protocols.  

The SMT equipment communication protocol standardization subcommittee, which includes related software developers, aims to establish protocols for sharing information by communication methods between SMT machines.

The elected subcommittee chairman for the first year is from Fuji Machine Manufacturing, and the vice subcommittee chairman is from Panasonic, with the board of governors comprising representatives from member corporations including Yamaha Motor, Juki, Omron, Saki, Tamura, and CKD.

Once the subcommittee has standardized protocols for communication between various machines from SMT production lines, systems can be created in which users can implement placement systems that extend beyond the boundaries of companies.

JARA said the effort would facilitate production management and speed support for variable-volume, variable-mix production. Manufacturers will also have opportunities to create new value offerings because of the ease of M2M cooperation.