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IPC--Conquering Chaos with Standards
December 31, 1969 |Estimated reading time: 6 minutes
By Dick Schedtler
This is the first in a series of articles about APEX, held January 22-24 in San Diego. IPC Standards Development Meetings are being held January 19 through 24th.
Companies who are members of IPC have a long list of concerns, from materials to fabrication to assembly to cleaning, test and beyond. The need for technical standards is obvious. They promote lower costs, build customer confidence in the electronics industry, and draw a roadmap for continued growth.
As great as the members' motivation to build industry standards is the desire to protect the environment and the public health from any hazards that are part of electronics manufacturing. To this end, IPC enables members to work with local, state and federal government agencies, speaking with one voice and providing accurate scientific and commercial background to the debate over protective legislation.
Out of the array of concerns that reflect the broad scope of IPC membership, however, a few items show up on nearly everyone's list:
- Optoelectronics is a technology that has grasped the attention of many members in the past two to three years.
- Lead-free soldering continues to spawn a lot of attention outside the industry.
- Design standards are more important than ever.
Optoelectronics and the New Rules of LightThe computer and its peripherals have driven electronics for several generations. Processors, chip sets, busses, disks, drives; prepreg, FR4, solder, flux; these words represent the greater part of the energy expended in the electronics business and within IPC for 30 years.
All the items on this old list of topics still have IPC members' attention. An abrupt shift of direction from this list, however, is aptly summarized in the working draft of the IPC document J-STD-040, Optoelectronic Assembly and Packaging Technology.
"Telecommunications has replaced the computer as the most important market driver. The Internet is the worldwide hub for global communications and has embraced photonics as the highly preferred mode for terrestrial and undersea communication. The packaging and assembly industry are learning the new rules of light..."
The ChallengeAs is often the case, industry-wide standards have lagged behind the design and manufacture of most of the components, packages and optical fibers presently in use in optoelectronics. The IPC 5-25 Task Group is working hard to establish standards for all phases of the process.
Not everyone appreciates the value of such standards. Some companies even resist the move to any standard that requires a change in the design or manufacture of the products they supply to the optoelectronics market. They justifiably contend that their early investment in R&D made optoelectronics possible. These pioneering firms believe they should be protected from competitors who did not have the courage or the foresight to make that investment.
But as Jack Crawford of the IPC observes, "Standards level the playing field. For designers, buyers, production managers, and everyone else in this industry, the establishment of standards improves efficiency and quality and lowers overall costs. This allows people who buy our new products to be confident that they will be able to find support from multiple suppliers in the areas of training, technical support, spare parts and upgrades."
Because the cost of optoelectronics systems is a significant barrier to entry by any but the largest and wealthiest companies, the cost-reducing benefits of industry standards is a critical driver.
Lead-free - Politics and ProductionThe history of the lead-free soldering debate is summarized in the following list of concerns:
- Debate and disagreement over the adverse effects of lead on human health
- The need for lower temperature solders (melting point <183 degrees C) to protect temperature-sensitive components
- The need for higher temperature solders (melting point >210 degrees C) for components or assemblies that will be soldered into a higher level assembly
- Fine pitch devices will require bonding materials possessing particle diameters smaller than those in 63Sn/37Pb solder.
The electronics industry accounts for approximately 1 percent of the total amount of lead used in U.S. manufacturing. When compared with the amount of lead used in automobile batteries, about 80 percent of the total, the lead used in electronics would appear to be a small target for regulation. Yet the electronics industry remains squarely in the sights of regulators. In response, IPC created a dedicated Web site: www.leadfree.org.
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) uses this designation for known toxins such as PCB and DDT. A ruling in January 2001 reduces the reporting threshold for the Toxic Release Inventory (TRI) from 10,000 lb per year to 100 lb per year of lead. Administrative costs associated with this ruling, especially for small electronics manufacturing companies, will further erode profitability. The ruling doesn't reduce the use of lead; it just increases the reporting of it.
IPC members are committed to protecting public health from hazards associated with electronics production. However, simply imposing tighter reporting of lead use does not necessarily improve public health. IPC has joined with the Ad Hoc Metals Coalition in a lawsuit against the EPA ruling, arguing that the ruling is not based on sound science. The EPA promised to have its Scientific Advisory Board (SAB) review the scientific foundations for the designation of lead and other metals as PBTs. To stay up to date on the progress of the lawsuit, as well as the entire lead-free debate, log onto www.leadfree.org.
On the standards side of lead free soldering is J-STD-006, Requirements for Electronic Grade Solder Alloys and Fluxed and Non-Fluxed Solid Solders for Electronic Soldering Applications. Revision A establishes for the first time the maximum possible levels of lead contamination for an alloy to be called lead free. This document will be a model for development of an international standard for solder alloy.
Most of the lead-free alternatives have higher processing temperatures than tin/lead solder. IPC/JEDEC documents J-STD-020, Revision B, and J-STD-033, Revision A are in the process of being updated. They will provide guidance for production at the higher temperatures required by these lead-free solders.
Design Standards
Data TransferIPC series 2510 standards provide data file formats that enable board designers to communicate their designs to board manufacturers. The goal is summarized in the introduction to each document: "The GenCAM format is intended to provide CAD to CAM, or CAM to CAM data transfer rules and parameters related to manufacturing printed boards and printed board assemblies."
Eight documents from the 2510 series of standards are available for free download at www.ipc.org:
- IPC-2511A gives generic requirements for implementation of product manufacturing description data and transfer in a neutral format.
- IPC-2512A provides standards for buyers when they order, request a quote or ask for a change on a circuit board.
- IPC-2513A documents standards for board drawings and documentation methodology.
- IPC-2514A offers standards for data related to board fabrication.
- IPC-2515A provides information on bare board product testing requirements and documentation methodology.
- IPC-2516A defines assembled board product manufacturing data description standards.
- IPC-2517A documents assembly in-circuit test requirements.
- IP-2518A gives information on requirements for parts lists and bill of materials methodology.
Other Standards in ProcessIn addition to the IPC-2510 standards on data transfer, many other critical areas of electronics manufacturing are being addressed. Some of these are a set of standards for chip scale devices. J-STD-026, and -028 are published, and J-STD-027 and -029 are in final draft.
Other important documents that are already published or near publication deal with equipment characterization (IPC-9850), stencil design (IPC-7525), temperature profiling for reflow and wave soldering (IPC-7530), cleaning (IPC-CH-65A, IPC-AC-62A and IPC-SA-61A), rework (IPC-7711 and IPC-7721), and requirements for acceptance of cable/wire harness assemblies (IPC/WHMA-A-620).