Cogiscan & iTAC: A Decades Long Partnership Behind Some of the Leading Solutions for the PCBA Industry

About two years ago, we were acquired by iTAC Software AG and the Dürr Group. And while this may seem like the beginning of our story, it’s simply a milestone in a longer history that dates to the early 2000s. Back in those days, we were both small start-ups looking to make our official mark in the fast-growing market of electronics manufacturing. And wow, look at us now... two well-respected companies in an industry that has always been at the forefront of the global economy.

To highlight our partnership throughout the years, here is a brief history of our collaboration:

Our working partnership with iTAC started more than a decade ago. One of the first long-term projects we developed together was for a pick and place machine interface. This might seem trivial, but this really shows how both companies were, and still are, focused on the electronics manufacturing industry.

This emphasis continues to shape both companies as we’ve offered some of the most superior SMT-specific solutions on the market. Some examples include our MSD Control solution that was truly visionary at the time for the early 2000s. More recently, our Co-NECT platform currently leads the industry as the most advanced and versatile SMT machine connectivity solution.

2013 was a pivotal year for our partnership as we had our very first enterprise project together. In fact, it was our first integration between iTAC’s MES and Cogiscan’s TTC software – installed at Schneider Electric in Bangalore, India. It’s still in-use today, as you can see in the quote below.

2015 is notable as it marked our first joint turnkey solution for a Japanese automotive electronics supplier. The Automotive industry has very stringent requirements and being chosen by such a well-known company established our joint offering as a top-tier solution.

When we were acquired in 2021 by the Dürr Group via iTAC Software AG, we became a contributing member of the Dürr Group’s Digital Factory. This is exceptionally exciting for both our employees and customers – when iTAC was acquired in 2015 they started collaborating with this technology group of more than 16 agile teams (140+ members) in software development investing millions of dollars into refactoring their entire technology platform (which includes transitioning from an MES to a MOM).

Why is that so important? It ensures together we can offer the most comprehensive plug-&-play solutions portfolio – from simple machine connectivity up to the enterprise level with a complete MES/MOM system. See the diagram below to fully grasp the depth of our complete portfolio.

Tomorrow and beyond… Well, one thing that a lot a people are talking about is using AI in electronics manufacturing. Machine learning has generated a lot of buzz in our industry for years, but we’ve struggled to see pragmatic use-cases for SMT… until recently! Our AI solution, IIoT.Edge, has been tested over the last few years in real factories around the globe delivering incredible results.

IIoT.Edge is a powerful AI & ML platform that runs on the edge. Since the PCBA industry is our focus, we’ve concentrated our efforts into creating AI algorithms to specifically help major pain points for electronics manufacturers. If you’re interested in learning more about these SMT-specific uses cases, please refer to the articles below.