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.
Sixty-six percent of manufacturing companies say that their leadership does not have a clear vision for the digital future. As manufacturing moves toward the Smart Factory and Industry 4.0, IPC and i4.0 Today will offer members of the electronics industry an opportunity to learn about the technology and future surrounding Industry 4.0 with a two-day i4.0 Connect Forum, to take place in Silicon Valley, Calif., November 6-7.
In direct response to requests from industry to provide training and certification in various aspects of the electronics industry, IPC is introducing its newest certification course, the IPC Certified Electronics Program Manager (CEPM) Training and Certification. CEPM is a six-week, online, instructor-led course providing all aspects of program management specific to the electronics industry.
The North American electronics manufacturing services (EMS) industry has an $81 billion served available market with great potential for further growth, according to IPC’s 2018 Annual Report and Forecast for the North American EMS Industry, published this week. An analysis of the market indicates that the North American EMS industry has penetrated only about 28 percent of the total available market based on what OEMs in the region could outsource. Forecasts contributed by New Venture Research predict steady growth for the EMS industry through 2022, both globally and in North America.