What are IPC standards, and why are they important for PCB manufacturing?

The Association Connecting Electronics Industries (founded in 1957 as the Institute for Printed Circuits) developed an industry standard set of guidelines, IPC, with the goal of streamlining workmanship through training and certification processes. These standards were developed collaboratively and with industry consensus; IPC members, academics, government agencies, OEMs, and electronics manufacturing services firms (like ACDi) together hold the belief that effective use of the IPC standards ensures continuity and an equal understanding across the industry.

When an EMS manufactures and assembles a printed circuit board to IPC standards, boards achieve higher levels of quality, reliability and consistency.

And that’s why ACDi adheres to IPC standards.

Direct from IPC, the goals of adherence to their standards include:

• To provide a standardized set of industry developed, recognized, approved and traceable training programs to enhance understanding and appropriate application of criteria in the standard.

• To provide an understanding of accept/reject criteria to enhance an individual’s motivation and ability to consistently and correctly apply the technical discrimination criteria.

• To teach methods and processes to improve an individual’s skills and ability to achieve acceptable workmanship.

• To teach methods and techniques how to use, navigate, locate and to apply the criteria contained in a document to the appropriate class or classes of production.

To be accountable, reliable, and credible to our suppliers and also our customers, this is why ACDi values the adoption of IPC standards. Our customers can be assured we build only the highest quality products on their behalf, and that they can, in turn, reassure their own end users that products will perform.

Designers, manufacturers, assemblers, testers all speak the same language when IPC standards are followed. It is this commonality of language that allows all stakeholders to come together, eliminating confusion, speeding verification, and reducing costs.

ACDi believes in the value of IPC standards to manufacture our clients’ high quality, high reliability printed circuit board technology.

Contact ACDi to learn more.