IPC Establishes European Subsidiary

To better support our European members’ interests, IPC announces the formation of IPC Electronics Europe GmbH. The subsidiary was officially registered with the German government on May 4, 2022. The new entity’s main office is located in central Munich.                   

John W. Mitchell, IPC president and CEO commented, “While we have been actively engaged and successful in Europe for more than 30 years, having a legal entity here now enhances our ability to serve the regional electronics industry and our membership in newer and bolder ways with renewed vigor.”

“We are very excited about the prospects of actively participating in significant consortiums and working groups in the EU to help drive newer standards, education, and advocacy solutions that will be vital in transforming the continent’s factories of the future,” said Sanjay Huprikar, president of IPC in Europe and South Asia.                     

IPC has plans in place to expand staff in Europe in addition to Francisco Fourcade who joined IPC in April as electronics standards manager to liaise with the growing number of new standards development committees forming in Europe. The organization will be adding talent to the certification, marketing, and industry intelligence teams over the next 18 months.

For more information on IPC Electronics Europe GmbH and the new office location, contact Philippe Leonard, senior director of operations, at PhilippeLeonard@ipc.org.

New IPC Initiative Focuses on E-mobility Quality & Reliability

From battery fires to non-functional charging stations, from dendrites to poor cable connections, electronic system failures have caused massive recalls. Failures are increasing significantly, not because of quality, but because of usage and implementation of technology. As the expected lifetime usage of parts increases and technology applications change, materials, approaches, and test parameters must change as well.

Inspired by the opportunities to collaborate on solutions, a representative group of suppliers to the automotive industry formed the IPC EV (Electric Vehicle) Quality and Reliability Advisory Group to assure design, materials, and process optimization and qualification to achieve reliability and quality in electronics for e-mobility and advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) applications while protecting innovation. Issues under discussion include current surface insulation resistance (SIR) standards, higher voltage, board density, cleaning, bare board materials, and power.

“A failure in a consumer electronics product like a game console or control board on a dishwasher is an inconvenience. A failure in a critical system in an EV can be catastrophic,” said Brian O’Leary, global head of e-mobility and infrastructure, Indium Corporation and Chair of the EV Quality and Reliability Advisory Group.

The newly formed advisory group is already preparing presentations for upcoming automotive industry events, including The Battery Show in Novi, Mich. on September 14, 2022. As part of these presentations, the group will share current problems and best practices toward higher reliability and protection against future field failures. Through presentations and panel discussions the group aims to create open discussions about process issues and further improve supply chain communication to allow a solid base for solution creation as new issues arise.

“IPC has a long history of helping deliver quality, reliability, and consistency in the design and manufacturing of products and we’re excited to be able to work with the industry to do the same for automotive, especially with the new demands of electrification,” said Tracy Riggan, IPC senior director, Solutions. “We look forward to growing the community of people invested in high-reliability electronics.”

In addition to Indium Corporation, companies on the EV Quality and Reliability Advisory Group include Robert Bosch, Continental Automotive, Kyzen, TCLAD, Aqueous Technologies, Semikron Elektronik GmbH, MicroTek Laboratories, Custom Interconnect, Dow Chemical, and HumiSeal. To learn more about the group, its activities or how to join, contact Tracy Riggan at TracyRiggan@ipc.org.

WHMA Announces New Hall of Builders Award at EWPTE 2022

Tom Andrasek, Pressmaster U.S., first recipient of award

The Wiring Harness Manufacturers Association (WHMA) introduced a new industry award, the WHMA Hall of Builders Award, during the Electrical Wire Processing Technology Expo (EWPTE) in Milwaukee, Wisconsin on May 11, 2022.

The Hall of Builders Award was created to honor individuals from WHMA-member companies who have made significant contributions toward advancing the cable and wire harness industry. Hall of Builders inductees are industry veterans, leaders, and mentors retiring from active employment, but whose legacies live on in the wire and cable industry, today.

Tom Andrasek, sales manager at Pressmaster U.S., the first recipient of the WHMA Hall of Builders Award, epitomizes service and contribution to the cable and wire harness industry. Andrasek was personally involved in the development and introduction of more than 500 discrete hand tool crimp solutions for the North American market, promoting quality crimp solutions for 37 years.

“Tom is known by colleagues as the godfather of connector crimping and educated connector manufacturers on how to achieve a ‘quality crimp’ while continuing to build the North American Market,” said Joe DeMan, WHMA Board chair. “We’re thrilled to present him with the first Hall of Builders Award, and to thank him for his outstanding contributions to the cable and wire harness industry.”                               

“We are privileged that Tom has chosen to share his knowledge and expertise with the wire harness manufacturing industry,” added David Bergman, WHMA executive director. “His leadership has made a significant impact and will do so for many years to come.”             

To nominate candidates for future WHMA Hall of Builders award, visit https://whma.org/recognition/ for award criteria and nomination form.

CalcuQuote, in Collaboration with IPC, Launches Community for Exchanging Inventory -- StockCQ

StockCQ is a digital marketplace for electronics manufacturers to trade parts directly with each other
May 19, 2022

CalcuQuote, a supply chain solutions provider for the electronics manufacturing services (EMS) industry, has launched a beta version of their newest offering, StockCQ, a peer-to-peer platform for OEM and EMS companies to directly trade inventory with each other.

A collaboration between CalcuQuote and IPC allowed a rapid, iterative response to the collective concerns of the electronics manufacturing executives about the impact of component shortages. Through a series of roundtable discussions, with more than 75 executives in attendance, consensus was reached that a fair way of sharing inventory directly with each other would help mitigate the impact of the ongoing component shortages, free up working capital and reduce waste.                                                                         

“Global component shortages have clearly been a top pain point voiced by virtually every EMS leader, especially over the past few years.  IPC and our member-driven EMS Industry Council are very excited to facilitate this strong collaboration between CalcuQuote and a growing group of EMS / OEM companies.  We believe that we have a very real opportunity to address this significant industry need,” said Mark Wolfe, IPC Executive EMS Advisor.

CalcuQuote’s research across millions of searches shows that cases of sufficient stock responses from the supply chain have dropped more than 20% during the past year. This leads to a significant number of assemblies being stuck without the components they need in order to be completed. However, findings also show that in 30% of cases where authorized distributors are out of stock, the same component was also identified as excess inventory by another company within the CalcuQuote ecosystem. This 30% overlap between shortages and excess inventory is the reason why StockCQ can help alleviate the supply chain challenges.

StockCQ derives its name from the idea of a global stockroom where electronics manufacturers can virtually store their excess and slow-moving inventory. The listed inventory can then be easily searched and safely purchased directly by other electronics manufacturers.

Individual and group discussions with 100+ electronics manufacturers across the globe have shown an enthusiastic willingness to participate in this newly formed beta community. In just two weeks of beta access with a group of 15 users, there have been 50+ successful matches among the 45,000 listed part numbers.

“The CalcuQuote team is excited to address a significant challenge facing the electronics supply chain with a technological solution. StockCQ will become a trusted digital community for OEM and EMS companies to trade fairly with their peers,” said Chintan Sutaria, CEO of CalcuQuote. “The spirit of collaboration has already shown to be very strong with dozens of electronics company executives attending executive roundtable sessions and sharing their feedback so that we can build a solution that works for everyone.”

Participation in beta StockCQ is by invitation only for all electronics manufacturers (OEM and EMS companies). To request your invitation, contact stockCQ@calcuquote.com or visit calcuquote.com/stockcq.

IPC contact: Kelly Lawrence, Member Success Advocate, +1 847-597-2815 or KellyLawrence@ipc.org.

 

IPC Honors Standards A-Team Volunteers at Second Annual Golden Gnomes Awards Ceremony at IPC SummerCom 2022

Five new award categories added this year

The second annual Golden Gnome Awards ceremony was held on May 10 at IPC SummerCom 2022. The awards, inspired by IPC’s fictional TechNet gnomes Clumpy and Kloumpios, recognize the outstanding and creative work of IPC A-Teams. IPC A-Teams are dedicated groups of volunteers within IPC working groups who take on a significant amount of work on behalf of their groups. The Golden Gnome Awards Ceremony has grown to be a must-attend event for IPC’s technical standards volunteers, as their peers are recognized during a fun and light-hearted event.

“Not only does the Golden Gnome Awards event give us the opportunity to honor our standards development A-Teams and their members for their outstanding accomplishments throughout the year,” said Teresa Rowe, IPC senior director, assembly and standards technology, “but we get a chance to roll out the red carpet – literally – as we celebrate our volunteers.”     

Setting the Golden Gnomes Awards ceremony apart from other awards events, this year’s ceremony included a red carpet entry with a Golden Gnome photo op area for SummerCom attendees to show their gnome enthusiasm, as well as an awards ceremony format filled with laughter and fun.

A highly sought-after award by IPC A-Team members, each Golden Gnome Award trophy is created using a 3D printer and then hand-painted by an IPC staff liaison, making these trophies one of a kind. This gnomes for this year’s trophies even donned cheese-head hats, a nod to Wisconsin, the host state for IPC SummerCom.

          The 2022 Golden Gnome Awards winners are:

  • Outstanding A-Team Member of the Year – Bob Cooke, NASA Marshall Space Flight Center
    This award is presented to an A-Team member who has gone above and beyond in their A-Team participation. This year’s winner was.
  • Gnoble Gnome Award – Leo Lambert, EPTAC Corporation
  • This award recognizes the lifetime or long-term achievement of A-Team members who have demonstrated dedicated A-Team participation or leadership over multiple years and/or have shaped the way A-Teams work in developing IPC standards.
  • Emerging Engineer Award – Christina Rutherford, Honeywell Aerospace
    This award is presented to one emerging engineer A-Team member who has shown a high level of active participation on one or more A-Teams.
  • Editor of the Year Award – Garry McGuire, NASA Marshall Space Flight Center
    This award recognizes outstanding work in editing documents as part of the A-Team.
  • Globetrotter Award – Udo Welzel, Robert Bosch GmbH and Michael Ford, Aegis Software UK
    This award recognizes A-Team members who have demonstrated leadership and initiative in working with individuals and teams from outside their country for the benefit of their A-Team.
  • Gnome Spirit Award – Cathy Hanlin, Precision Manufacturing Company, Inc. and Thomas Marktscheffel, ASM Assembly Systems GmbH & Co. KG
    This award is presented to A-Team members who have exemplified through their A-Team activity the spirit of being an A-Team member.
  • IPC Works Leaderboard Award – Tiberiu Baranyi, Flextronics International
    This award recognizes A-Team members with the most activity on IPC Works, IPC’s standards development community’s collaboration and networking intranet.
  • Worker Bees of the Year Award -- Team Smarties, which is developing IPC-8981, Quality and Reliability of E-Textiles Wearables
    This award is presented to A-Teams that have shown the most activity in IPC Works in the development of their standard.
  • A-Team Name of the Year Award – Wire Nutz
    This award, which is selected by a vote of the IPC Committee Chair Council, goes to the A-Team with the most creative name.
  • Designer – Top Contributor Award – French Design Council A-Team
    This award recognizes an A-Team or an individual from an A-Team for outstanding design-related contributions to IPC standards development.

For more information on IPC’s Golden Gnome Awards, contact Teresa Rowe, IPC at TeresaRowe@ipc.org. For industry members interested in joining an IPC standards development committee and charting a path to their own Golden Gnome Award, visit www.ipc.org/ipc-standards.

"IPC Education Foundation Seeks Your Input in Creating the Next Generation of Industry Experts"

May 16, 2022
| By Charlene Gunter
Foundations of the Future

By Charlene Gunter du Plessis, senior director, IPCEF

The IPC Education Foundation (IPCEF) is proud of our progress towards our mission to develop a pipeline of new talent entering the electronics industry by creating AWARENESS of the careers the electronics manufacturing industry has to offer and promoting opportunities to students in high school and technical college/university by providing them ACCESS to knowledge and content and CONNECTIONS with people and companies. You can also find a downloadable copy of the 2021 “Year in Review” here.

To impact the lives of students interested to enter the industry, help is needed from companies serving the industry. We’ve identified various ways for you to connect with talented individuals.

CONNECTIONS

If you would like to showcase your company or have industry representatives in different positions share their career journeys or tips on advancing in the industry professionally, please reach out to us as we would appreciate connecting with industry experts in various company roles/positions and sharing the content on our website in the form of quotes, videos, and photos.

ENGAGEMENT WITH STUDENTS

  1. What better way to meet up and coming talent than to present an information session to share career paths at your company and other industry opportunities with college and high school students? This can be done virtually or in person.
  2. Hosting students at your facility for tours & other engagement events are great opportunities to give students an inside look and share aspects of the industry with them.
  3. The Foundation presents a Career & Tech Webinar Series which allows companies to have a representative present as a panelist.

SUPPORT FINANCIALLY

  1. Interested in sponsoring an IPC Student Chapter in your direct area to attract talented students? You can subsidize the $40 student membership fee and become the employer of choice for only $1,000 per school of your choice.
  2. Additional sponsorship opportunities are available and can be tailored to meet the needs of each partner, especially around specific IPCEF events like the STEM Outreach Events at IPC APEX EXPO annually.
  3. We would welcome introductions to company foundation representatives to explore grant or funding opportunities to maximize our impact.

For more information, please reach out to me at CharleneGunter@ipc.org.

IPC India Celebrates a Decade of Service to the Electronics Manufacturing Industry

May 16, 2022
IPC India

By Gaurab Majumdar, Executive Director, IPC India

IPC India is one of IPC’s global offices, with locations in Bengaluru and Delhi. We are celebrating a decade of IPC involvement in India’s electronics manufacturing industry, supporting IPC in this corner of the world. Some of the highlights of our involvement in the industry are as follows:

IPC India is holding skills challenge competitions and member networking events that will culminate with the inaugural Integrated Electronics Manufacturing and Interconnections (IEMI) event scheduled in August 2022, in New Delhi and Bengaluru. IEMI will be supported by several Indian and international associations in recognition of the importance of the industry to India.

Certification is thriving at IPC India. Despite COVID 19 challenges, IPC India delivered certification programs virtually and organized live training at Bengaluru, Chennai, New Delhi, Hyderabad, and Pune in 2021. IPC India introduced the “mobile training” concept, with support from an instructor. Tools and equipment are loaded in a cab and moved to different locations outside Bengaluru. This resulted in a sharp rise in IPC-A-610 certifications in India.

IPC India is exploring new potential locations. A live networking session on “Designing & Producing Quality – Reliable Electronics” was organized at Gandhinagar, Gujarat recently. More than 100 electronics manufacturing professionals participated in the event. With support from Sri Lanka, the Electronic Manufacturers & Exporters Association organized a virtual session on “Acceptability of Electronic Assembly Best Practices” last October, with more than 50 companies from Sri Lanka participating in the session.

IPC India webinars have been very successful. In 2021, IPC conducted 17 virtual sessions on various topics and participated in six virtual sessions organized by other associations and government agencies. We supported approximately 3,500 registrations with 70 percent attendance at the webinars. Topics were framed from various standard documents and endorsement programs.

IPC India opened a Standards department to closely work with the industry in engaging members and developing IPC standards from the region. The Standards team worked on the IPC-A-610 and IPC J-STD-001 review process and addressed 161 comments. After filtering 89 comments, a final review meeting was conducted in Bengaluru on November 12. Nineteen members participated in the meeting both in person and virtually, ensuring that we have a vibrant group of committee members working on IPC standards.

If you have any questions about IPC India, please reach out to me at gaurabmajumdar@ipc.org.

Volunteers Honored for Contributions to IPC and the Electronics Industry

Committee Awards presented at IPC SummerCom 2022

IPC presented Committee Leadership and Distinguished Committee Service Awards on May 9 at IPC’s SummerCom Standards Development Committee Meetings in Milwaukee, Wis. The awards were presented to individuals who made significant contributions to IPC and the industry by lending their time and expertise in the development of electronics manufacturing standards.

For his leadership of the D-55a Embedded Circuitry Guideline Task Group that revised IPC-7092A, Design and Assembly Process Implementation for Embedded Circuitry, Bhanu Sood, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, earned a Committee Leadership Award. For their contributions to IPC-7092A, a Distinguished Committee Service Award was presented to Mumtaz Bora, Peregrine Semiconductor; Francesco Di Maio, GESTLABS S.r.l.; Gary Erickson, Sanmina Corporation; Dennis Fritz, Fritz Consulting; Ife Hsu, Intel; Manoj Kakade, pSemi Corp.; Rajesh Kumar, TTM Technologies; John Lauffer, TTM Technologies; Karen McConnell, Northrop Grumman; and Benjamin Piepgrass, Southwest Research Institute.

For his leadership of the B-11a 3D Electronic Packages Guideline Task Group that revised IPC-7091A, Design and Assembly Process Implementation of 3D Components, Dudi Amir, Intel Corporation, earned a Committee Leadership Award. For their contributions to IPC-7091A, Francesco Di Maio, GESTLABS S.r.l.; Ife Hsu, Intel; Russell Kido, Practical Components Inc.; Gustaf Martensson, Mycronic AB; Steve Martell, Nordson ASYMTEK; Jeff Schake, ASM Assembly Systems; Vern Solberg, Solberg Technical Consulting; Bhanu Sood, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center; and Pietro Vergine, Advanced Rework Technology Ltd., earned a Distinguished Committee Service Award.

For their leadership of the 5-24g Polymerics Standard Task Group that developed IPC-5262, Design, Critical Process and Acceptance Requirements for Polymeric Applications, a Committee Leadership Award was presented to Bob Cooke, NASA Johnson Space Center and Christina Rutherford, Honeywell Aerospace. For their contributions to IPC-5262, Tiberiu Baranyi, Flextronics Romania SRL; James Blanche, NASA Marshall Space Flight Center; Gerald Bogert, Bechtel Plant Machinery, Inc.; Brian Chislea, Dow Corning; Torrey Clark, Dow; Francesco Di Maio, GESTLABS S.r.l.; Lloyd Duso, Diamond-MT, Inc.; Hans-Otto Fickenscher, Vitesco Technologies Germany GmbH; Eric Harenburg, Boeing Company; Dave Hillman, Collins Aerospace; Joseph Kane, BAE Systems; Paul Kirpes, Los Alamos National Laboratory; Kent Larson, Dow; Hannah Locken, Boeing Company; Scott Meyer, UTAS/GOODRICH CORP. SIS; Garry McGuire, NASA Marshall Space Flight Center; Doug Pauls, Collins Aerospace; Stanton Rak, SF Rak Company; Jonathon Vermillion, Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp.; Dan White, Collins Aerospace; and Paul Zutter, U.S. Army Aviation & Missile Command, received a Distinguished Committee Service Award.

For their leadership of the D-13, Flexible Circuits Base Materials Subcommittee that developed IPC-4202, Specification for Flexible Base Dielectrics for Use in Flexible Printed Boards, Steven Bowles, Lockheed Martin Corp. and Richard Wessel, DuPont Electronics & Imaging, earned a Committee Leadership Award. Contributions to IPC-4202 earned James Blanche, NASA Marshall Space Flight Center; James Daggett, Raytheon Company; Stefan Hanigk, Ariane Group GmbH; Lawino Kagumba, Blueshift Materials Inc.; Pierre Kuyl, Daikin America; Russ Shepherd, NTS Anaheim; and Jonathon Vermillion, Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp. a Distinguished Committee Service Award.

For leadership of the 5-24A Flux Specifications Task Group that revised IPC J-STD-004C, Requirements for Soldering Fluxes, Tony Lentz, FCT Assembly Inc. and

Keith Sellers, NTS Baltimore, were presented with a Committee Leadership Award. A Distinguished Committee Service Award was presented to Jasbir Bath, Koki Solder America and Jennie Hwang, H-Technologies Group, for their contributions to IPC J-STD-004C.

For more information on these awards or the award recipients, contact Sandy Gentry, IPC communications director, at +1 847-597-2871.

IPC and ITI to Host Virtual Conference on Critical and Emerging Environmental Product Requirements

IPC and the Information Technology Industry Council (ITI) will host a virtual conference, “Critical and Emerging Environmental Product Requirements” on June 7 from 11:00 am to 3:30 pm EDT. The event will explore the latest environmental requirements that impact product design, manufacturing, supply chain management, and technology innovation.

Speakers include leading environmental regulatory experts Liz Moorman from the U.K. Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA); Peter Alcock from the U.K. Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy (BEIS); Ana Corado and Tala Henry from the ‎U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA); and Kevin Wolfe from Intel.

Alcock and Moorman will cover U.K. Restriction of Hazardous Substances (RoHS) regulations. Corado will present on Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) risk evaluations and risk management. Henry will cover EPA’s actions to address to per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) and Wolfe will discuss industry collaboration on PFAS.

“Existing chemical and product requirements are evolving and, in addition, we see newly emerging requirements. Combined, these make it difficult to stay ahead of what is needed in terms of compliance,” said Kelly Scanlon, IPC director of environmental policy and research. “Misunderstanding these ever-changing requirements could have a disastrous impact for business. ITI and IPC’s virtual conference will provide the information compliance professionals and officers need to be up to date with legal, regulatory, and customer requirements.”

“Environmental compliance regulations across the globe continue to evolve,” said Chris Cleet, ITI vice president of policy, environment and sustainability. “This conference will give companies a unique opportunity to hear directly from government officials and experts about the current policy landscape and provide critical information and resources compliance professionals need to effectively navigate new regulations and stay ahead of future changes.”

The event is sponsored by The Compliance Map, Orbis Compliance, GreenSoft Technology, Inc., Source Intelligence, and S&P Global Engineering Solutions.

For detailed information on the agenda, speakers or to register for the “ITI and IPC Conference on Critical and Emerging Environmental Product Requirements,” visit www.ipc.org/event/critical-environmental-requirements-electronics-conference-2022.

IPC Plays Key Role in NIST Workshop on Semiconductor Metrology R&D

May 06, 2022
| By Ken Schramko
semiconductor banner

The U.S. Government is continuing to call on IPC as it plans its research and development (R&D) programs related to semiconductors and the broader electronics manufacturing ecosystem under the Creating Helpful Incentives to Produce Semiconductors (CHIPS) for America Act. 

On April 20 and 21, the U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) hosted the second workshop in a series of virtual events focused on semiconductor metrology R&D, and IPC and the entire electronics manufacturing industry were well-represented. 

The plenary speaker at the workshop, Jan Vardaman of TechSearch International, was the co-author of a recent IPC report, which found that the semiconductor supply chain will remain vulnerable without robust federal investment in advanced packaging of chips and advanced IC-substrates. IPC Chief Technology Officer Matt Kelly was the other co-author of that report.  

Matt Kelly also assembled and moderated a panel on supply chain areas that are critical for the future of advanced packaging. The panel also featured members of IPC’s Advanced Packaging Task Force and its Chief Technologist Council: Deepak Kulkarni (AMD), Dale Lee (Plexus Corporation), Raj Kumar (TTM Technologies), Gerard John (Amkor), and Dale McHerron (IBM Research). 

Meanwhile, Carol Handwerker, a professor of materials engineering at Purdue University and member of IPC’s Thought Leaders Program, also moderated a discussion on novel metrologies for the future of advanced packaging.  

This event was the latest successful example of IPC’s ongoing efforts to educate policymakers about our industry and urge them to take a “silicon-to-systems” approach to successfully meet consumer demands and re-establish the United States as a global leader in electronics manufacturing. 

Subscribe to