Top executives from electronics companies across the United States are in Washington, D.C., this week to endorse the proposed U.S.-Mexico-Canada Trade Agreement (USMCA) and call on the Trump Administration and Congress to support policies that will drive advanced manufacturing.

IPC – Association Connecting Electronics Industries®, which represents more than 5,300 member facilities across the $2 trillion electronics supply chain, is hosting its annual U.S. advocacy event, IMPACT Washington, D.C.

In a newly released report, commissioned by IPC and written by economist Shawn DuBravac, the group says it believes the USMCA is a positive step for the electronics sector and should be approved by the U.S. Congress this year.

“Many of our members have deep investments and thousands of employees in the United States, Mexico and Canada,” said IPC President and CEO John Mitchell. “Building a stronger U.S. electronics industry will depend in no small measure on building a stronger North American supply chain. That, in turn, will improve the region’s stature as a bastion of strength, stability, and jobs creation in an uncertain world.”

The report notes the total value of U.S. electronics trade with Canada and Mexico was $155.5 billion in 2017. Electronics exports are 31 percent of all U.S. exports of manufactured goods, natural resources and energy to Mexico, and 18 percent of all U.S. exports of manufactured goods, natural resources and energy exports to Canada.

Beyond the underlying economics, several specific provisions of USMCA would benefit the industry, including the inclusion of chapters on small and medium-sized enterprises, digital services, and intellectual property protection. On the other hand, IPC is concerned about the sunset clause and proposed changes in regional content requirements for automobiles, both of which create uncertainties.

The IPC member-company executives are meeting today with Daniel Watson, the Deputy Assistant U.S. Trade Representative for North America and one of the chief negotiators for the USMCA, to express the industry’s support. The group will meet tomorrow with senior staff of the Senate Finance Committee and the House Ways and Means Committee, both of which oversee trade policy.   

In addition to advocating for the USMCA, the C-suite executives are meeting with leaders in Congress and the Executive Branch to discuss other issues including defense electronics, EPA regulations, and workforce education and training. IPC members will meet with 20 congressional offices; Eric Ueland, Deputy Director of the White House Domestic Policy Council; Mike Molnar, Director of the Office of Advanced Manufacturing (OAM) at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST); Henry Darwin, Acting Deputy Administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA); and Scott Stump, Assistant Secretary for Technical, Career and Adult Education at the U.S. Department of Education.  

Participating member companies include Calumet Electronics Corp. of Calumet, Mich.; Chemcut Corporation of State College, Penn.; Eagle Circuits of Dallas, Tex., Juki Automation Systems, Inc. Of Fremont, Calif.; Heller Industries Inc. of Florham, N.J.; Lockheed Martin of Orlando, Fla.; Summit Interconnect of Anaheim, Calif.; STI Electronics of Madison, Ala.; TTM Technologies of Sterling, Va.; Uyemura International Corporation of Ontario, Calif.; VirTex Enterprises of Austin, Tex.; and Zentech Manufacturing of Windsor Mill, Md.

More information on IMPACT Washington, D.C. can be found at www.ipc.org/IMPACT-2019. For live updates, follow Chris Mitchell on Twitter: @Cmitchell_IPC. Executives from IPC and several member companies are available for interviews. 

Fast Facts About the Electronics Industry

• Electronics are at the heart of almost all industries today, from aerospace/military to automotive, information technology, telecom, manufacturing, retail, and healthcare.
• About 80 percent of IPC members are small- and medium-sized businesses, but some are large household names.
• The sector employs more than 2 million Americans in well-paid jobs.

IPC -- Association Connecting Electronics Industries® announces the addition of Michael Stone as senior director of sales to its staff at IPC headquarters in Bannockburn (Chicago), Ill.

As IPC’s senior director of sales, Stone is responsible for managing IPC’s sales efforts and growth goals. Essential functions of his role include planning, reporting, sales process optimization, sales training, sales program implementation, and recruiting and selection of IPC’s sales team talent.

A seasoned leader with more than 25 years of experience in sales management, account development and building highly effective sales teams, Stone was most recently vice president, non-profit sales at Liturgical Publications Inc. where he was responsible for leading all facets of the non-profit sales department to promote revenue growth and account level profitability.

“Mike is a passionate sales leader who has built and developed highly effective sales teams during the course of his career,” said Brian Knier, IPC vice president of member success and chief marketing officer. “Mike has embraced the successful sales leader philosophy of clearly understanding his organization’s mission, and dedication to providing the exceptional customer value with every interaction. We are thrilled to welcome Mike to the IPC team.”    

Stone can be reached at MikeStone@ipc.org or + 1 847-597-2866.

IPC – Association Connecting Electronics Industries® and the Information Technology Industry Council (ITI) will host a conference series on “Critical and Emerging Environmental Product Requirements” in Boston, the Chicago area and San Jose on June 3, 5, and 7, respectively. The series will feature well-known United Kingdom (UK) regulators Carl Magness, product safety enforcement team leader, and Paul Tennant, product safety enforcement manager, both within the UK Office of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS), and Giuseppina Luvara, a policy officer within the European Commission’s Directorate General of Environment.

Magness and Tennant, who oversee enforcement of European Union (EU) regulations affecting the electronics industry, will provide an update on the EU’s Restriction of Hazardous Substances (RoHS) Directive exemptions, implementation and enforcement, new chemicals, and more. Luvara, an expert on Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH) legislation and responsible for REACH review coordination, will cover EU chemicals management issues including REACH review, implementation, enforcement, and REACH/RoHS interface. She will also discuss new chemicals that the REACH regulation is reviewing, including phthalates and bisphenol A.   

“Global environmental compliance requirements constantly evolve, which can make adherence extremely difficult for companies,” said Chris Cleet, ITI’s senior director, environment and sustainability. “Misunderstanding these changes and their effect could have a disastrous impact for business. ITI and IPC’s conference will provide the information compliance professionals and officers need to be up to date with legal, regulatory, and customer requirements.”

The conference will include a U.S. Regulatory wrap-up by Cleet and presentations on Asia environmental issues by Alexa Lee, ITI’s senior manager of policy at ITI, at the Boston and Chicago-area events, and by Jennifer McLaughlin, Oracle’s product environmental compliance manager, at the San Jose event.

For detailed information on the agenda, specific speakers and the dates and locations of their participation, or to register for the “ITI and IPC Conference on Critical and Emerging Environmental Product Requirements,” visit www.ipc.org/ITI-IPC-Conference-2019.

IPC announced today the March 2019 findings from its North American Printed Circuit Board (PCB) Statistical Program. Year-over-year growth in March was strong for sales but slipped into negative territory for orders, while the book-to-bill ratio retreated to parity at 1.00.

Total North American PCB shipments in March 2019 were up 19.1 percent compared to the same month last year. Year-to-date sales growth as of March was 16.4 percent. Compared to the preceding month, March shipments jumped 32.9 percent.

PCB bookings in March decreased 0.9 percent year-over-year, bringing year-to-date order growth down to a positive 2.4 percent. Bookings in March were up 10.1 percent from the previous month.

“Strong sales for the North American PCB industry in March, combined with lackluster order growth, brought the book-to-bill ratio down to 1.00, its lowest level in more than two years,” said Sharon Starr, IPC’s director of market research. “Year-over-year sales growth has outpaced order growth for the past 10 months, indicating the likelihood of slowing sales growth in the coming months.”

Note: The March 2018 and January 2019 ratios have been revised since their original publication due to updated data from statistical program participants.


Note: The March 2018, November 2018 and January 2019 growth rates have been revised since their original publication due to updated data from statistical program participants.

View Chart in PDF

Detailed Data Available

The first-quarter 2019 edition of IPC’s North American PCB Market Report, containing detailed data from IPC’s PCB Statistical Program, will be published by mid-May. The quarterly report presents detailed findings on rigid PCB and flexible circuit sales and orders, including separate rigid and flex book-to-bill ratios, growth trends by product types and company size tiers, demand for prototypes, sales growth to military and medical markets, and other timely data. This report is available free to current participants in IPC’s PCB Statistical Program and by subscription to others. PCB companies that are IPC members doing business in North America are invited to contact marketresearch@ipc.org for information about participating. More information about this report can be found at www.ipc.org/market-research-reports.

Interpreting the Data

The book-to-bill ratios are calculated by dividing the value of orders booked over the past three months by the value of sales billed during the same period from companies in IPC’s survey sample. A ratio of more than 1.00 suggests that current demand is ahead of supply, which is a positive indicator for sales growth over the next three to twelve months. A ratio of less than 1.00 indicates the reverse.

Year-on-year and year-to-date growth rates provide the most meaningful view of industry growth. Month-to-month comparisons should be made with caution as they reflect seasonal effects and short-term volatility. Because bookings tend to be more volatile than shipments, changes in the book-to-bill ratios from month to month might not be significant unless a trend of more than three consecutive months is apparent. It is also important to consider changes in both bookings and shipments to understand what is driving changes in the book-to-bill ratio.

IPC’s monthly PCB industry statistics are based on data provided by a representative sample of both rigid PCB and flexible circuit manufacturers selling in the USA and Canada. IPC publishes the PCB book-to-bill ratio at the end of each month. Statistics for the current month are normally available in the last week of the following month.

The 2019 Study of Quality Benchmarks for Electronics Assembly, one of IPC’s most popular annual studies, is currently underway. The survey is online and available in both English and Mandarin Chinese. The deadline for participation is May 17.

This confidential survey is open to all companies that do electronics assembly worldwide, including OEMs and contract electronics manufacturing service (EMS) companies. Participants who complete the survey will receive the report on the findings at no cost.

The study covers the industry's most widely used and important quality measurements, including yields, defect rates, cost of poor quality, rework, test and inspection methods used, inventory accuracy, customer returns, supplier performance, certifications and more. Companies use the results to benchmark their operations to world-class quality measurements.

The report will show industry averages and percentile data by product type, region and company size tier. Product types covered in the survey include electronic end-products and systems, rigid PCBs, flexible circuits and rigid flex, rigid backplanes, molded boards, MCM-C-L-D, mechanical assembly, cable and wire harnesses, and discrete wiring terminals and connectors. The report will be published in English and Chinese in August of this year.

IPC protects the confidentiality of participants’ data using a secure survey platform and server. IPC publishes only aggregate results and does not share any company-specific information. The survey asks for the participants’ IPC company ID number, which is used to provide additional data security.

Participants can access the survey in English at 2019QualityBenchmarkSurvey and in Chinese at 2019年IPC电子组装质量标杆调研项目. For assistance or to obtain the required company ID number, participants may contact IPC at +1 847-597-2868 or MarketResearch@ipc.org.

The IPC Technical Activities Executive Committee (TAEC) and the IPC Board of Directors approved by vote, the introduction of a Qualified Products List (QPL) requirement within IPC-4101, Specification for Base Materials for Rigid and Multilayer Printed Boards. The intent of the new requirement is to enhance supply chain verification of materials specification sheets, minimize nonverified submissions of specification sheets and give support to the committee evaluations of the new materials specification sheets.

Prior to submitting new material specification sheets, companies will be required to receive the IPC Validation Services Qualified Products List (QPL) certification. The QPL will ensure that the company is meeting the stringent requirements of IPC-4101 and delivering materials based on those requirements.

Companies who have submitted materials specification sheets for the proposed Amendment 1 to the current IPC-4101E, will be required to obtain the required QPL listing. The material specification sheets will not be accepted for review until the QPL listing is met.

IPC's Validations Services QPL/QML Program was developed to promote supply chain verification. It also provides auditing and certification of electronics companies' products and identifies processes which conform to IPC standards.

"IPC realizes that many companies use the inclusion of their products specification sheets in the IPC-4101 standard to provide some validity of their products in the marketplace," said Dave Bergman, IPC vice president standards and technology. "At the same time, a significant amount of IPC resources and volunteer time are used in the standards development process in adding these materials specification sheets to the standard. The Validation Services QPL program for IPC-4101 has proven to be of great value to the marketplace and adding material specification sheets will further enhance the program."

For more information about IPC's Validation Services QPL/QML Program, visit www.ipcvalidation.org or contact Randy Cherry at RandyCherry@ipc.org or +1-847-597-2806.  

IPC announces the release of IPC-2591, Connected Factory Exchange (CFX).The electronics industry now has an industry standard available to all companies in the industry, regardless of size or location which can be used to quickly and easily implement “Industry 4.0” and “smart factory” applications to their manufacturing operations.

IPC CFX offers tremendous value to electronics manufacturers as well as equipment vendors, solution providers, in-house IT groups and users with applications where data is transmitted and captured. EMS companies can set up seamless data communication between all equipment on their lines and track production on all the equipment from any part of the world in real time. Machine vendors have one plug-and-play data communication solution, reducing time and travel spent on customized programming for customers. OEMs can also utilize these standards to enhance real-time control of product quality, from board assembly to box build.

Because it is an industry standard, IPC CFX creates a level playing field for any company large or small to prepare for Industry 4.0 or to simply benefit from the machine-to-business data communication. IPC CFX also was developed with simplicity in mind. Rather than days or even weeks required to implement new equipment into a line, IPC CFX can be loaded and fully workable in a matter of hours.

IPC CFX defines all three critical elements required for a true plug and play industrial IoT standard: a message protocol, an encoding mechanism and a specific content creation element. The benefits are made possible without the need for middleware, delivering significant cost savings to the manufacturer as well as improved solution reliability.

The IPC CFX standard supports the concept of “big data,” including data of different types from across the factory, data on performance, materials, resources, users, quality events, product tracking and more. The types of data included in IPC CFX are used in many ways such as, a closed-loop feedback system, live production dashboards, MES control, and active quality management are just a few. Capturing all this information leads to a “big data” environment which can be used to create value opportunities to the whole operation.

David Bergman, vice president, IPC standards and technology states, “The goal of CFX is to bring technology-based optimization for all aspects of manufacturing operations, making the adoption of automation easier and more effective, as well as bringing enhancement of flexibility. IPC would like to recognize the strong contribution of the hundreds of volunteers from industry equipment and technology vendors who have been instrumental in this revolutionary step towards digital factory standards.”

For more information on IPC CFX, visit www.ipc-cfx.org.

Responding to industry demand and member feedback, IPC created a new certification for company subject matter experts on IPC Standards. Companies need staff that understand IPC Standards at a deep level. The Certified Standards Expert (CSE) will possess a high level of expertise and serve as an in-house expert on IPC Standards. A CSE is not required to train, unlike a Certified IPC Trainer (CIT) who is required to train to maintain their certification.

Candidates may pursue CSE certification for six IPC Standards: IPC-J-STD-001, IPC-A-600, IPC-A-610, IPC-6012, IPC-7711/21 and IPC/WHMA-A-620. Upon certification, CSEs are able to navigate the IPC standard efficiently; identify relevant sections of the standard to address specific questions; act as a subject matter expert on all matters related to the standard; and apply the standard to specific company needs.  Certification is valid for two years and is available through IPC’s Licensed Training Centers.

David Hernandez, IPC vice president of education said, “After talking to IPC members and looking at internal data, we realized the need for the CSE level of certification. In the past, if you needed a higher-level of expertise than a Certified IPC Specialist (CIS) you became a Certified IPC Trainer (CIT) even if you didn’t train anyone. Now we offer a comparable certification to the CIT without the training component. A CSE is not required to train.”

IPC has also shifted the training materials to online-only delivery streamlining the registration and fulfillment processes. “The feedback we received from our beta-testing has been very positive and we continue to look for better ways to serve our customers,” added Hernandez.

For more information on the new Certified Standards Expert certification, visit  http://www.ipc.org/CSE.

In conjunction with ELECTROSUB 2019, Microsolder and IPC conducted the second regional European qualification for the IPC Hand Soldering Competition in Budapest, Hungary on April 3-5, 2019. The competition in Budapest drew 33 professional hand soldering competitors for the coveted hand soldering regional competition crown. In addition to this year’s professional competition, 34 beginners from local high schools competed for first, second and third place cash prizes over the three-day period.

This year, the first and third place winners came from the same company Elektromont Kft. The first-place winner, Istvan Bidlek won a cash prize of 96000 Hungarian Forint and the opportunity to compete at the IPC World Hand Soldering Championship in November 2019, located at productronica in Munich, Germany. Coming in second place was Adam Istvan, from Eurocircuits Kft. Who received a cash prize of 64000 Hungarian Forint. The third-place winner, Imre Papp took home a cash prize of 32000 Hungarian Forint for his strong efforts.

IPC’s local training center partner Microsolder helped to organize the hand soldering competition and provided the independent judges for the competition. The competitors were evaluated on completing a finished assembly, based on workmanship, overall functionality, compliance with IPC-A-610 Class 3 criteria and speed, with a 60-minute time limit.

Thirty-four competitors participated in the student hand soldering competition. Varga Balazs, took first place and received a cash prize of 10000 Hungarian Forint. In second place, Toszegi Mate received a cash prize of 7000 Hungarian Forint.  Balazs Markus took third place with a cash prize of price of 4000 Hungarian Forint.

“The best-of-the-best hand soldering talent in Hungary came to compete at ELECTROSUB 2019,” said David Bergman, IPC vice president of standards and technology. “The competition was tough, but each competitor rose to the challenge. We look forward to hosting more hand soldering competitions across the globe.” Bergman added, “IPC would like to thank hand soldering competition gold sponsors: JBC, HAKKO, and Thales; silver sponsors: Optilia, The Daylight Company, Almit, Zestron et NCAB, Microsolder; for their support.”

IPC is planning additional regional hand soldering competitions in Europe. Watch for announcements from IPC with locations and times and on IPC’s Hand Soldering Competition web page. For more information on IPC events, visit www.ipc.org/events.

First-quarter 2019 results from IPC’s Pulse of the Electronics Industry global data service shows an electronics industry that is still riding the crest of the current growth cycle, despite cooling enthusiasm in some regions and industry segments.

The 167 participating companies worldwide reported average quarterly sales growth of 8.4 percent in the fourth quarter of 2018. Their average forecast for first-quarter 2019 sales growth was a bullish 9.8 percent worldwide.

The industry’s outlook on the current direction of the business environment worldwide rebounded in the first quarter of 2019 after scores edged downward in the last three quarters of 2018, although they remained positive all year. Most participating companies reported the current direction for sales, orders, order backlogs and profit margins as moving in a positive direction. Increasing labor and materials costs and recruiting challenges were the main factors negatively affecting the current-state score.

The companies’ outlook for the next six months also strengthened in the first quarter of 2019. Growth in sales, production, number of full-time employees, markets, capital investment and exports contributed to the strong six-month outlook. The 12-month business outlook also strengthened in the first quarter, with 88 percent of responding companies indicating a positive outlook.

The strong current-state score and six-month outlook were driven by results from companies in the Americas and global businesses. Asia and Europe had negative current-state scores. Their six-month outlook was positive, but weaker than the outlook for companies in the Americas and global businesses. Among the industry segments, the current-state score was strongest for OEMs and weakest for materials suppliers, although all industry segments indicated positive current-state scores in the first quarter of 2019.

Respondents comment every quarter on the trends or conditions that are driving or limiting their business growth. The comments reveal that component shortages have begun to ease, while there is growing concern about the shortage of qualified workers as the major factor limiting growth. Workforce issues now appear to be the biggest concern in all regions and segments of the industry, followed by tariffs and trade disruptions.

The second-quarter 2019 survey is now online with a deadline of April 19. Electronics industry executives with knowledge of their companies’ performance are eligible to participate. The confidential IPCPulseQ22019 survey is brief and easy for company management to answer, and there is no cost to participate. All eligible participants who complete the survey by April 19 will receive a report on the findings.