IPC Standards – How Did Committee Members Meet During a Pandemic?

How did IPC committee members fare during lockdown? We talked to Francisco Fourcade, a master IPC trainer, and member of the 5-22A and 7-31B standards development task groups revising two of IPC’s biggest standards, IPC-J-STD-001 and IPC-A-610. Francisco lives in Barcelona, Spain, and experienced one of the toughest lockdowns in the world. Here is a snapshot of Francisco’s experience.

EB: What was it like to work on these standards under lockdown? I realize that the committees could not meet in person, but was there anything else that struck you about working on IPC standards during a pandemic?
FF: Under lockdown, between the unprecedented uncertainty and isolation that most of us experienced, staying actively connected was crucial. Working on IPC standards was certainly a good way to collaborate alongside colleagues that were experiencing some form of lockdown as well. We had a lot of participants join from all over the world, sharing their knowledge and support in our virtual community. 

EB: What was your personal experience? Where were you locked down and for how long?
FF: My lockdown took place in Barcelona, Spain. We had boots on the ground running checkpoints with police to enforce one of the toughest lockdowns in the world. Every time you’d leave your house you were required to have a self-signed certificate, dated and specific with point A and B addresses and a set of 7 defined reasons why you were not home. It lasted 98 days total, it was brutal. Fortunately, I live in a small town on the northern coast of Barcelona, so I could walk my dog for 1 Kilometer radius, which meant walks on the beach. It was amazing how nature was flourishing everywhere during lockdown, we even got to see dolphins at sea! 

EB: What are some of the significant changes in the standards?
FF: Both documents went under some great changes and synergy between them. The most significant change in A-610H was removing Target conditions entirely, in line with A-620D. Also, some re-structuring of ESD into an appendix and the jumper wires criteria into a new section 13, in which I was personally involved with the Kangaroo team. J-STD-001H brings some critical industry consensus on cleaning, a new appendix for X-ray guidelines, and both documents incorporated new SMT termination criteria: Wrapped Terminals. The leaders and IPC liaisons did an outstanding job handling all of these changes and getting it done.

EB: Why are J-STD-001H and IPC-A-610H important to the industry?
FF: These documents are called out when the industry needs reliable electronics, their importance is held by the industry itself demanding a standardized baseline to build electronics better.

EB: Should these documents be used together?
FF: Users are encouraged to use these documents together to best aid their inspection process. Interpretation leads sometimes to misconceptions of the intended use. As defined by the scope of each document, a User may apply J-STD-001 to their entire manufacturing process, whereas A-610 is applicable only during inspection for reference and training mainly.