Because IPC APEX EXPO will be held in January for the next five years, IPC will move its standards development committee meetings normally scheduled in Fall to June in 2019. This decision follows a survey of the standards committees where respondents indicated they would prefer to hold in-person standards development meetings in the summer months to have ample time to work on documents. IPC previously hosted its Fall Committee Standards Development meetings in conjunction with SMTA International (SMTAI).

IPC's Validation Services Program has awarded an IPC/WHMA-A-620 Qualified Manufacturers Listing (QML) Class 3, to AirBorn Inc. For its two locations, one in Georgetown, Texas and the other, in Lake City, Pa. Following an initial audit by IPC, AirBorn Inc. becomes one of the original equipment manufacturer (OEM) trusted sources and suppliers meeting the stringent requirements of the Qualified Manufacturing Listing (QML) based on one of IPC's foremost standards: IPC/WHMA-A-620, Requirements and Acceptance for Cable and Wire Harness Assemblies.

IPC, in conjunction with What’s New in Electronics Live and ART-- Advanced Rework Technology Ltd., conducted the IPC Hand Soldering Competition in Birmingham, United Kingdom, on 25-26 September 2018. Seventeen competitors went soldering iron to soldering iron, with the hope of winning the coveted hand soldering competition crown.

On September 25, representatives from prominent automotive and rail original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and Tier 1 suppliers met in Frankfurt, Germany to launch the IPC Transportation Electronics Reliability Council (ITERC). The inaugural group included key technologists with core expertise in electronic hardware development, manufacturing technology, PCB design, quality, and environmental reliability. The council was partly developed in response to positive encouragement from IPC members and automotive industry leaders, who had attended IPC’s debut Automotive Electronics Reliability Forum in Nuremberg earlier this year in June.

On behalf of the electronics industry, I commend the White House for the release today of a sweeping and detailed assessment of the nation’s defense industrial base. The report reflects more than a year of painstaking data collection, sector by sector analysis, and industry engagement.

IPC announced today the August 2018 findings from its North American Printed Circuit Board (PCB) Statistical Program. Year-over-year growth continued for industry sales and orders. The book-to-bill ratio for August held steady at 1.05.

On behalf of the electronics industry, I want to extend my congratulations and appreciation to the governments of the U.S., Mexico and Canada for their many months of tireless negotiations on a new trilateral trade agreement.

On September 13, representatives from the e-textiles ecosystem, including product innovators, material suppliers, electrical engineers and academia, came together for IPC E-Textiles 2018, a first-time e-textiles event for IPC. The workshop was developed by leaders from the e-textiles supply chain, who approached IPC to host a collaborative educational event for two converging industries—textiles and electronics.

IPC’s Hand Soldering Competition returns to the United Kingdom and What’s New in Electronics Live on September 25-26, 2018. This year, the competition will be run in association with Advanced Rework Technology Ltd.

John Mitchell, IPC president and CEO, issued the following statement on the decision of the U.S. government to impose additional tariffs on about $200 billion worth of Chinese imports, the third such list announced this year.