Thomas Marktscheffel: Collaboratively Revitalizing the Industry

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Interview by Patty Goldman

Thomas Marktscheffel, director of product management software solutions at ASMPT GmbH & Co. KG, reflects on the evolution of industry-wide standards and how his multidisciplinary approach to the development of CFX has been crucial to its success. With the advent of digitalization, cultivating a collaborative spirit is now more than ever an essential component of standards development.

Thomas, congratulations on winning the very prestigious Dieter Bergman IPC Fellowship Award. Did you know Dieter?

Yes, I met him in the early 2000s. We were developing some software and I was a delegate in our regional office in Norcross, Georgia. Back then we had first discussions about standards. Later at IPC APEX EXPO 2001, he came up with all these ideas about standardization, but maybe it was too early then. Now, with CFX it has happened again; we started discussions in 2017, and then published the first version in March 2019.

Do you think he was ahead of his time?

Yeah, at the time, maybe some ideas were too early. Now you may say it’s quite late, but I don’t think so. It is still a great thing with CFX, so I’m happy to be part of that.

What does this award mean to you?

I was head of our software department for about 20 years. We did a lot of customized solutions and were always struggling with communicating data. When we started CFX, I thought this would be the right solution, and in fact, the customer feedback was in that direction.

The call about this award in early December 2022 caught me by surprise. It’s a big recognition, and I’m really happy about it. However, the CFX A-Team is a great team, we are eight to 10 people who contribute.

To read this entire conversation, which appeared in the 2023 edition of Show & Tell Magazine, click here.

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