To harness data-driven manufacturing, critical elements including equipment connectivity, process data collection, and contextualization/analysis are needed in order to provide business value and actionable insights to operations. IPC-2591 Connected Factory Exchange (CFX), an open-source platform, enables these elements with both machine to machine and IT/OT network communications. The presentation will first discuss an overview of IPC’s new Factory of the Future program; launched November 2020. Secondly, it will highlight how factories can modernize by implementing CFX – the electronics manufacturing industry’s first plug and play manufacturing equipment communications protocol.