Standardized Connectivity Drives Smart Manufacturing Upgrade

IPC China has officially designated the "IPC HERMES Demo Line" as an DIP production line of Phoenix Contact Asia-Pacific (Nanjing) Co., Ltd. during a ceremony held on April 21.

The recognition affirms the line's full implementation of the IPC-HERMES-9852 standard and highlights a leading industry example of leveraging international standards to enable connectivity and intelligent transformation in electronics manufacturing.

Advancing Interoperability Through Open Standards

On the day of the ceremony, Sydney Xiao, President of East Asia at the Global Electronics Association, led a delegation of standards and technical team on a site visit and exchange. The delegation met with Lei Chen, Senior Vice President of Phoenix Contact China; Qing Ye, Director of the Power Reliability regional business unit and Industrial Electronics Operations; and members of Phoenix Contact's management, engineering, and digitalization teams. Both sides exchanged views on demo line implementation, production line achievements, and future collaboration opportunities.

From Technical Challenge to Scalable Application

The IPC-HERMES-9852 standard addresses board-level data exchange and communication between manufacturing equipment.

The awarded DIP automatic line was jointly developed by Phoenix Contact and multiple equipment suppliers. During implementation, the project team adressed key technical challenges, particularly the integration of PLC systems with the HERMES protocol. By leveraging the PLCnext platform, Phoenix Contact achieved deep integration between communication protocols and control systems.

Through standardized HERMES standard, the line now enables:

• Automated program downloading
• Multi-product changeover
• Mixed-model production

These applications demonstrate the practical value of open communication standards in electronics assembly environments.

Quantifiable Results: Cost, Efficiency, and Flexibility

According to the project team, the implementation has delivered measurable benefits:

• Cost optimization: Reduced the need for 15-17 barcode scanners per line, lowering hardware investment
• Efficiency gains: Changeover time reduced by over 60%, with overall equipment effectiveness (OEE) improved by more than 10%
• Enhanced flexibility: Plug-and-play equipment integration shortened system integration cycles by 50%, while enabling seamless interoperability with IPC-CFX-2591

Industry Validation and Strategic Outlook

Lei Chen noted that the recognition validates both the production line achievements and the broader importance of standardization in building a collaborative industrial ecosystem.

"As the industry faces challenges such as fragmented systems and inconsistent standards, establishing open, collaborative, and scalable standard frameworks is becoming essential. Phoenix Contact will continue to accelerate innovation based on unified standards and quality systems, while strengthening ecosystem collaboration to build a more resilient industrial landscape."

Sydney Xiao also praised the project: "The Phoenix Contact Nanjing Demo Line is an excellent example of how manufacturers can apply international standards to break down data silos and enable equipment interoperability. Its successful implementation provides a scalable model for the industry, demonstrating that open standards are a critical pathway to improving efficiency, enabling flexible manufacturing, and advancing smart transformation."

Scaling Standard Adoption Across the Industry

Looking ahead, IPC China will continue working with ecosystem partners across the value chain to accelerate the adoption of IPC standards in real manufacturing environments, supporting the intelligent upgrade of the electronics manufacturing industry.