IPC APEX EXPO 2021 Rescheduled for March 6-11

In-person event to include virtual exhibition options

With health and safety top of mind for all IPC APEX EXPO exhibitors, attendees, staff and business partners, IPC has made the critical decision to move IPC APEX EXPO 2021 to March due to ongoing concerns with COVID-19. Originally scheduled for January 23-28, 2021, IPC APEX EXPO will be held March 6-11, 2021 at the San Diego Convention Center in San Diego, Calif. This will be an in-person event with options for virtual exhibition.

“We didn’t consider the decision to move APEX EXPO to March, lightly,” said John Mitchell, IPC president and CEO. “When events staff became aware of open dates in March at the convention center, we reached out to exhibitors and prospective attendees and asked for their input. Feedback from those we surveyed indicated a strong desire for a rescheduled in-person event as opposed to a virtual one.”

Mitchell added, “IPC will implement several infection control and prevention guidelines for IPC APEX EXPO 2021, including social distancing protocols, face mask requirements and daily temperature checks and other screening measures. We will ensure our plans follow the recommendations of public health experts and standards set by the federal, state and local governments. And, as safety guidelines and measures evolve, we will communicate these details as soon as they become available.” 

In addition to IPC’s safety protocols, the San Diego Convention Center (SDCC) will implement a program of stringent processes for cleaning, disinfection, and infectious disease prevention under its Global BAC STAR™ facility accreditation. For more information, please visit: https://visitsandiego.com/safe-meetings.

Registration will open early-October. Additional event details including networking opportunities, schedule, travel, and more is available at www.IPCAPEXEXPO.org.

IPC Issues Statement on NDAA Provisions Aimed at Bringing Resiliency and Security to Supply Chains

Today, IPC, the global association of electronics manufacturers, issued a blog post in support of the FY 2021 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) provisions that would bolster the resiliency and security of the electronics manufacturing ecosystem, including printed circuit board (PCB) fabrication and printed circuit board assembly (PCBA), the green-and-gold hardwiring at the core of all electronics systems. These provisions, approved in both the U.S. House and Senate, aim to improve the security of electronics purchased by the Defense Department. Excerpts from the blog post argue the following:

“The NDAA provisions aim to improve the security of electronics purchased by the Defense Department by developing an affirmative list of allied, trusted countries from which the DoD can source those boards and assemblies. The United States should not be sourcing electronics for national security systems from countries it deems a current or potential security threat. Nor should any other country, for that matter.

“Today, without this requirement, there are potential national security risks associated with systems that are built with PCBs and PCBAs from sources that are beyond the visibility of the DOD. These risks have been well-documented by the Defense Department and outside experts.

“The opposition fears the new requirements will disrupt their established supply chains in countries that are not affirmatively covered. But the provisions explicitly authorize the Secretary of Defense to add countries to the list of locations from which PCBs and PCBAs can be sourced. And, with over $10 billion of PCB manufacturing today in allied countries and the U.S., there is ample capacity today to meet DoD demand for military and commercial off-the-shelf electronics. 

“In addition to down-stream electronics industry support, the provisions have over four dozen supporting members of Congress from both sides of the aisle in the House and the Senate. Not a single member of Congress has risen in opposition. 

“Moreover, both the full House and Senate have voted to include these provisions in the bill, so in keeping with committee precedent, the broad parameters of issue are settled.

“The NDAA provisions offer the ancillary, but meaningful, benefit of strengthening supply chain resiliency by growing the market for electronics manufactured in the United States and its allies. In fact, U.S. CEOs have indicated a desire to grow their manufacturing operations in the United States but are hedging for the moment. They are waiting for the passage of the NDAA and the demand signal it will send.” 

IPC and PSMA Form Powerful Partnership, Sign MoU Focusing on Standards Development, Education and Training

IPC and Power Sources Manufacturers Association (PSMA) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) pledging to build a strong complementary relationship between the two entities with a focus on standards development, education and training.

“The technical interest areas, expertise and goals of PSMA and IPC are closely aligned, making collaboration a clear path,” said Tracy Riggan, senior director, IPC business development. “One example is the IPC standard, IPC-7092: Design and Assembly Process Implementation for Embedded Components, which contributes to PSMA member needs for integration of power supplies. In turn, PSMA brings input to enhance and increase the knowledge base for IPC standards.”

“PSMA and IPC have informally collaborated for many years with many overlapping areas of interest and it is great to put some strategic direction to strengthen links and increase collaboration levels to our mutual benefit,” shared Mike Hayes, PSMA Board chairman. “We are both non-profit entities with similar but complementary missions. All electronic devices need a power source, all power sources involve electronic device/module manufacture. Both organizations have interest in developing standardized and interoperable technology platforms for high growth application areas such as Industry 4.0, smart mobility and IoT along with long established applications and this is a great way to work together and address these opportunities and challenges.”

IPC and PSMA will continue to collaborate on education and training between organizations, with PSMA sharing key technical insights in a session at IPC APEX EXPO 2021 and IPC participating in APEC, a conference hosted by PSMA and IEEE.

IPC and 40 Groups Urge European Commission President to Postpone Reporting Deadline for SCIP Database

IPC, the global electronics manufacturing association, today joined with almost 40 other groups in calling on European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen to postpone the January deadline for a new chemicals database and to study related issues further before it goes forward.

Under current plans, companies supplying articles containing substances of very high concern (SVHCs) to the EU market will be obligated to submit information on these articles to the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) beginning on 5 January 2021.

“IPC supports the intent of the SCIP database to make information about SVHCs available throughout the life cycle of products and enable circular economy efficiencies,” said Dr. Kelly Scanlon, IPC director of EHS policy and research. “However, the  development and implementation of the database has raised doubts regarding its workability, proportionality, and value.” 

Specifically, the groups say ECHA failed to finalize the database within a timeframe that would enable companies to develop, test and adapt their own systems to meet the January deadline. Moreover, contrary to the EU Better Regulation principles, the requirements were adopted without any prior stakeholder consultation or impact assessment.

A link to the industry joint news release and the list of signatories is here.

“IPC will continue to work on this topic with our industry colleagues and European policy makers, and we will keep our members engaged as it develops,” said Alison James, IPC senior director for government relations in Europe.

IPC Releases IPC-6012EM, Medical Applications Addendum to IPC-6012E, Qualification and Performance Specification for Rigid Printed Boards

IPC is known for developing addendums to some of its most widely used standards for specific industry sector use, including military/aerospace, space flight, automotive and telecommunications.  Now, IPC has responded to requests from the medical device segment of the electronics industry and has released IPC-6012EM, Medical Applications Addendum to IPC-6012E, Qualification and Performance Specification for Rigid Printed Boards.

The IPC D-33AM Task Group developing IPC-6012EM realized that there are two different focuses for electronics in the medical device industry sector: the relatively high-volume production of “standard-sized” printed boards for medical diagnostic equipment applications; and the miniature, high density printed boards for very small devices which are often human body implantable.

“We understand the medical industry utilizes electronics in laser surgical devices, radiation emitting devices, x-ray machines, ultrasound devices and implantables where product failure can result in the high risk of injury to the patient,” noted John Perry, IPC director of printed board standards and technology. “IPC recognized the industry’s desire for more stringent printed board fabrication requirements than can be provided within the current IPC Class 3 Performance class for these types of medical devices. The IPC D-33AM Task Group was created to develop an addendum to the base IPC-6012E printed board performance specification that addresses those technological needs.” 

IPC’s family of printed board design standards (IPC-2220 series) and board performance specifications IPC-6010 series) make use of three IPC producibility levels, intended to convey to the end user an increasing cost and sophistication with respect to fabricating printed board features of smaller and smaller size. IPC-6012EM is the first addendum to an IPC specification that makes use of a new design level “D”, which was created to address the miniaturization level of medical devices. This new design level “D” goes beyond the typical feature sizes of what is typically considered “high density interconnect” (HDI) and addresses conductor width/spaces below 60 µm as well as via structures below 100 µm.

Many regulatory requirements provided by both the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the European Union (EU), help ensure the safety and security of human beings (and animals) with respect to not only human and veterinary drugs and biological products, but also electronic medical devices. Examples include the EU Medical Device Directive, EU Active Implantable Medical Devices Directive and the EU Commission Regulations. As noted by Andres Ojalill, IPC technical staff liaison to the IPC D-33AM Task Group, “IPC-6012EM has been written to streamline the production of high reliability printed boards for medical devices in accordance with regulations mentioned above so that there are no gaps between technical and regulatory requirements.”

For more information on IPC-6012EM, visit https://shop.ipc.org/IPC-6012EM-English-D.

IPC E-Textiles Europe 2020 | Virtual Summit Highlights E-Textiles Labs in Four Countries in Two Days

Event to feature e-textiles laboratory demos and keynote from European Commission

IPC E-Textiles Europe 2020 | Virtual Summit, a two-day technical education conference for innovators, technologists, and brands/OEMs, will provide a platform for education and collaboration among professionals interested in producing e-textiles technologies and products. Consisting of four educational workshop sessions from four university laboratories in Europe, IPC E-Textiles 2020 | Virtual Summit will take place November 19 and 20.

Workshops will include virtual demonstrations by ENSAIT GEMTEXT Lab in France, Empa in Switzerland, the Centre for Textile Science and Engineering at the University of Ghent in Belgium, and the University of West Attica in Greece.
The Virtual Summit will feature keynotes by:

  • Andreas Lymberis, European Commission – E-Textiles and Smart Wearables: A Multifaceted EU Support in Research, Technology and Innovation
  • Christian Dalsgaard, Ohmatex – Advancing the Smart Textile Industry Globally

In addition to virtual demonstrations and keynotes, each workshop will include technical instruction on a variety of topics, including:

  • Standards for wearable e-textiles
  • Smart fiber technologies for sensing applications
  • Smart textiles for first responders
  • Challenges in manufacturing e-garments

“E-Textiles Europe 2020 | Virtual Summit is an ideal event for companies actively involved in e-textiles development, such as EMS or OEM companies, as well as product innovators and materials suppliers investigating how to apply e-textiles technologies to future products,” said Vladan Koncar, ENSAIT, chair of the E-Textiles Committee, Europe.

For more information on participating in IPC E-Textiles Europe 2020 | Virtual Summit, visit www.ipc.org/E-Textiles-EU20 or contact ChrisJorgensen@ipc.org, IPC’s director of technology transfer.

IPC Releases New “H” Revision to Two Leading Standards for Electronics Assembly, IPC J-STD-001 and IPC-A-610

IPC has released H revisions of two leading standards for the electronics assembly industry. IPC J-STD-001H, Requirements for Soldered Electrical and Electronic Assemblies is recognized as the sole industry-consensus standard for soldering processes and materials, and IPC-A-610H, Acceptability of Electronic Assemblies, is a post-assembly acceptance standard used to ensure electronic assemblies meet acceptance requirements for the electronics industry. These two documents can be used together for the manufacture of electronic assemblies.

Revisions to these standards are completed every three years, with significant changes made to each one.

Changes to J-STD-001H and notes of significance include:

  • Representatives from 27 countries (9 new countries) worked on the standard
  • With industry approval, IPC-J-STD-001G-AM1 is now incorporated to IPC-J-STD-001H
    • Section 8 is all new - Cleaning and Residue Requirements
    • 1.56 µg/NaCI equivalence/cm2 value for resistivity of solvent extract (ROSE) – no longer acceptable basis for qualifying a manufacturing process
    • IPC-WP-019B provides explanation and rationale for Section 8
  • Added Appendix D – Using X-ray for Acceptance for Solder Connection
  • Removed references to international space station symbol
    • Rationale, IPC-J-STD-001H is a base document
    • The space addendum covers space, military, aerospace requirements
  • New criteria for wrapped terminals

Changes to IPC-A-610H and notes of significance include:

  • Representatives from 29 countries (11 new countries) worked on the standard
  • Removed all target conditions – following the steps in IPC/WHMA-A-620D
  • New criteria on wrapped terminals 
  • ESD moved to a separate appendix
  • Separation of board assembly vs. cable and wire harness
  • General updates throughout the standard
  •  Jumper wire criteria folded into their own chapter

“The pandemic hit just as our dedicated committee members were deep in the revision process for these critical standards,” said John Mitchell, IPC president and CEO. “While sheltering in place all over the world, they found a way to work together to ensure that these documents were finished early. It is a remarkable achievement, and we are so grateful for their dedication.”

In addition to the new revisions for IPC-J-STD-001H and IPC-A-610H, redline documents are also available along with the revised white paper, IPC-WP-019B, “An Overview on Global Change in Ionic Cleanliness Requirements.” To purchase the revised standards and redlines, as well as IPC-WP-019B, visit the IPC Online Store.