The Institute of Printed Circuits (IPC) started in 1957 to help the electronics industry to develop manufacturing processes for printed circuit boards. The IPC is a non-profit organisation, based in the USA, and its first standard was developed during the 1960s, namely IPC 600 – ‘Acceptability of Printed Circuit Boards’. During the early seventies, the IPC became involved with electronics. The previous name did not fit the scope of the work done by the IPC and therefore during 1977 the name changed to the Institute for Interconnecting and Packaging Electronic Circuits.
In 1983, IPC released IPC-A-610 – ‘Acceptability of Electronic Assemblies’, of which more than 200 000 printed copies have been published to date. During the 90s, the IPC grew even more in scope and once again found that the name was limiting. It was not surprising therefore that in 1998 it changed its name to the initials 'IPC' with the identifier 'Association Connecting Electronics Industries'. This is now broad enough to cover the current scope. Only time will tell if the IPC will manage to outgrow this name as well. To date the IPC has published more than 330 standards documents.
Manufacturing
The worldwide electronics manufacturing industry today benefits immensely from using the IPC standards. Because these standards are voluntary and created by industry, they are a powerful tool to use in industry, and help tremendously with contracting and liability issues. If company A contracts company B to do manufacturing by IPC 610 standards to Class 3, company A knows exactly what the quality of the product will be.
Liability becomes an issue when manufacturing life dependent/critical products. Just think what will happen when your product’s failure kills someone. Who will be responsible? Is it the product owner, the manufacturer or, even worse, the person who soldered the PCB? When you use the IPC standards in your contracting you are assured of what to expect from your manufacturer. You are furthermore assured that the staff working on your products are properly trained and certified.
The following standards are particularly applicable to the manufacturing industry:
* IPC-A-600 – ‘Acceptability of Printed Boards.’ This standard is used to define bare PCB quality.
* IPC-A-610 – ‘Acceptability of Electronic Assemblies.’ This standard is used to define the quality of the final assembly. This is the most widely used standard in manufacturing contracts. It becomes imperative therefore that staff must be certified who write contracts, who carry out inspections and who manage the production.
* J-STD-001 – ‘Requirements for Soldered Electrical and Electronic Assemblies.’ This standard is used to certify any person who needs to solder to the IPC-A-610 standard, and replaces the old MIL STD 200A.
* IPC/WHMA-A-620 – ‘Acceptability of Electronic Wire Harnesses and Cables.’ This standard is used to define the cable and harnesses manufacturing standard.
* IPC-7711A/7721A – ‘Rework, Repair and Modification of Electronic Assemblies.’ This standard is used to certify staff that carry out repairs and modifications to assemblies.
IPC training and certification programmes
Certification programmes for IPC-A-600, IPC-A-610, J-STD-001, IPC/WHMA-A-620 and IPC-7711A/7721A standards are presented by IPC accredited training centres. All the certification programmes are governed by strict rules to ensure their authenticity and credibility. The IPC certifies IPC trainers, and on behalf of the IPC such trainers will train, test and certify operators as Certified IPC Specialist (CIS). All certificates are valid for two years and carry a serial number. Staff members who have been trained and certified may use the acronym CIS as part of their signature when signing any official documents, together with their certificate number.
Apart from all these certification programmes, IPC has many computer- and video-based training programmes, from ESD to component identification. While these programmes are very useful, there is a misconception currently in the market that they can be used to replace the certification programmes. The truth is that they can, at best, only be used to reinforce the certification programmes.
I want to conclude this article with the good news that I have been involved in writing South African-based Unit Standards to encapsulate the IPC standards. These standards have recently been registered on the SAQA list of qualifications. Companies who have embraced the IPC standards can now claim their cost of training from their respective SETAs.
About the author:
Rian Venter has been certified for 10 years by the IPC to present training and to certify and re-certify operators and trainers.
For more information contact Rian Venter, Nkoka, +27 (0)12 653 2629, [email protected], www.nkoka.co.za
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