Reasons for Obtaining IPC Certification for Your Assembly and Inspection

In the electronics manufacturing supply chain both original equipment manufacturers as well as electronic manufacturing services companies desire to have legitimacy for their clients. This legitimacy stems from producing a quality product, being up to the latest in technical standards and having clear communications with suppliers and customers. This means your company should hire and train your staff to the latest IPC certifications in order to maintain and add to your company’s relevancy in the electronics supply chain.

Three major benefits of receiving or renewing IPC certification in electronic assemblies and inspection include building quality products consistently being aware of and practicing the latest industry standards and finally improving communication both above and below your company in the electronics supply chain.

Building Quality Products Consistently

Building products consistently at a high-quality level is one of the keys to building products profitably and successfully. By having operators, manufacturing, operations and quality personnel all understand and be certified to applicable IPC inspection standards, a consistent product will be built. The major IPC inspection standards with the associated certifications include:

IPC-A-610 Acceptability of Electronic Assemblies

IPC-A-620 Requirements and Acceptance for Cable and Wire Harness Assemblies

IPC-A-600 Acceptability of Printed Boards

Inspecting final assemblies to these standards will make for an efficient and consistent production process. This consistency has a direct bearing and correlation to customer satisfaction and repeat business. Building products to IPC’s worldwide accepted set of standards results in savings for all in the supply chain thereby driving down the costs basis for all the players. If not for these standards there would be a mass duplication of effort costing the industry millions of man hours. Non standardization would create waste and chaos in the electronics supply chain.

Being Aware of and Practicing the Latest Industry Standards

Adhering to industry standards will lead to less scrap and reduce the overall costs for building your or your customer’s product. By adhering to the same industry standards for each build process documentation can be streamlined and be consolidated. This will help reduce rework, touch-up and rebuild costs. Programming time for inspection and test equipment can be written much more efficiently thereby helping to drive down costs. In addition, any deviation from the industry specification required by the end customer will be identified early on resulting in better dialogue between suppliers and customers. These deviations, if identified in the contract negotiation phase, can be handled more smoothly with the resulting impact of lowering costs, while increasing yields and containing costs.

Improving Communications to Suppliers and Customers

After receiving your IPC certifications, your company can become a trusted provider of electronics assembly services as it more effectively communicates with both vendors as well as customers in the electronics assembly supply chain. This will help your company grow as it gets more well-known and respected as a provider of electronics assembly services. Miscommunications can lead to quality problems as well as inconsistencies in production quality and delays. For example, if specifications and terminology are not consistent from job to job or from customer to customer, material orders may be delayed or be incorrect thereby delaying the work. By speaking the same language as defined in the IPC TM-50 Terms and Definitions for Interconnecting and Packaging Electronic Circuits suppliers and customers can "speak the same language" thereby making the communications more effective with less ambiguity and chance for error.