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IEC Electronics: IPC Standards Define Expectation Levels
December 22, 2010 |Estimated reading time: 4 minutes
Improved performance and smaller size are common expectations for both those who develop products and the customers who use them. An equally important expectation is that quality won’t be a problematic issue.
High quality levels are considered a basic aspect of product development and production, but actually fulfilling this requirement is anything but routine. Many steps must be taken from the initial concept through final production to ensure that product failures occur only rarely.
As the electronics industry has embraced outsourcing, industry standards have become an increasingly important tool for product developers and manufacturers who build quality into their systems. Standards set expectation levels, ensuring that all parties agree on the definitions of quality output. They also improve communications within the company and throughout the supply chain, ensuring that everyone is using the same terms with the same definitions.
“For contract manufacturers, the IPC standards define reasonable expectations for products. It adds some sanity and clarity for manufacturers and customers. It’s nice to have a document that defines the requirements,” said Jake Slezak, manufacturing engineer at IEC Electronics Corp.
Standards provide a known set of requirements that were written with input from customers and end users who want to provide the highest quality without driving costs up by writing tolerances that are difficult to achieve. When all parties agree to use the specifications written by standards bodies, there’s no ambiguity about quality.
“We have many, many customers that we work with every day. Sometimes customers reject parts because they don’t like them or they think they look funny. The IPC specs provide a nice standard to go to, we can say this meets the requirements we contracted to do,” said Mark Talmadge, director of new product introduction.
“Our customers take great comfort in having these standards,” Slezak added.
These definitions go well beyond appearance. When documents clearly define what’s acceptable and what isn’t, they will supersede marketing terms. Often, marketers use terms that are vague. If these marketing terms are taken literally, manufacturers and customers might never get anything out of the factory.
For example, surface mount contact alignment that ranges from 3 to 25 percent off is acceptable for Class 3 parts. That meets the technical definition of a word like “perfect” even though a picky inspector operating without standardized documentation could easily set tolerances at 1 percent. That wouldn’t provide a performance or quality benefit, but it would sharply increase the number of rejects.
“Our policy at IEC Electronics is ‘absolutely, positively perfect and on time.’ Without a standard, a part that’s 2 percent off could be returned for rework,” Talmadge said. “The IPC standard gives us a window, since in the real world perfect doesn’t usually mean literally perfect, just within tolerances.”
That can actually provide better quality for end users. When too many boards are sent back for realignment, quality levels may fall instead of improving. “If you’re reworking boards, it can actually degrade performance since all the parts have to go through additional heat cycles,” Talmadge said.
Producing boards that have good quality levels doesn’t happen without a lot of effort. Setting up automated equipment and keeping it running within tolerances requires a high level of skill. Companies routinely make sure that their employees are up to the challenge.
But proper training and accreditation prove that workers know what they’re doing. When staffers can show that they have passed well-known tests administered by a group like IPC, customers know that these workers are indeed qualified to do their jobs well.
“Ten or so years ago, we complied with IPC-A-610, but our employees weren’t certified by IPC,” Talmadge said. “Now we’ve got certified people, which puts teeth in our program and shows customers we’re serious. Our customers know we’re at that level, so it lets us move on to other issues.”
Cost, quality and capability are a few of these issues. In today’s global economy, customers can easily select suppliers located anywhere around the globe. Competitors in low wage regions can often undercut suppliers in the U.S. and other better-paying locales. Standards help level the playing field by providing a well-understood yardstick for measuring the skill and quality levels of companies.
“We don’t do a lot of business outside the U.S., but the IPC standards are still helpful when companies want to compare us to our competitors in foreign countries,” said Mark Northrup, director of advanced technical operations at IEC Electronics Corp.
Having well-understood acceptance criterion also helps contract manufacturers improve efficiency and trim costs. When all parties agree to common requirements, it’s simpler to set up equipment so it runs at peak rates until production starts to move toward tolerance limits. “Having an IPC standard like the IPC-A-610 creates a standard way to do things, which helps our quality approach and effectively minimizes waste,” Northrup said.
IEC Electronics technologists also find benefit in staying abreast of IPC standards and helping create them. They are on a number of IPC committees that write the documents. Other employees who aren’t on committees regularly attend seminars and trade show sessions to get the latest insight into how the documents are evolving.
Meeting people face to face in these environments can provide even more benefits. “You make contact and make a connection, which can open doors. That can help in many ways, including getting your foot in the door for potential business,” Talmadge said.