ITRI (Industrial Technology Research Institute) and TPCA (Taiwan Printed Circuit Association) have jointly set the "Taiwan PCB Equipment Protocol" to facilitate communications between different production equipment for the PCB (Printed Circuit Board) industry in Taiwan, reported China Times on October 20. The two organizations aim to establish communications protocol standards and integrate IoT (Internet of Things), big data, and cloud computing technologies to realize a smart manufacturing environment. Complied with the SECS (SEMI Equipment Communications Standard) for the semiconductor industry, Taiwan PCB equipment protocol can be applied not only domestically but also worldwide. As the PCB industry often has complex production lines and requires careful monitoring in every workshop to achieve high production yield, the adoption of smart manufacturing is anticipated to reduce material costs and create higher flexibility in making a variety of different products in small quantities.