IPC is introducing three new quarterly subscription reports. These exclusive reports provide electronics manufacturers a competitive edge that comes from having solid, timely and reliable market research data. Reports include:

• Global Solder Market Report  – The report covers trends in solder and flux consumption, including growth rates, tin/lead vs. lead-free ratios, and industry growth outlook for coming year. It will also be available soon in Mandarin Chinese.
• PCB Assembly Equipment Market Report  – The report includes trends in the equipment market, growth rates, and industry outlook for the coming year.
• Global Process Consumables Market Report  – The report shows growth rates in the wet chemistry market and industry growth outlook for the coming year.

These reports are based on IPC’s current industry surveys. This means the information subscribers receive is built on reliable data gathered from representative samples of companies. Combining the latest data with insightful graphs, these special reports help electronics industry executives identify opportunities, understand trends, and plan for changes in the business environment.

“The value of these reports is the unique quality of the data, which is collected directly from the industry by IPC and is not available from any other source,” said Sharon Starr, IPC director of market research.

The three quarterly reports are in addition to PCB and EMS reports based on statistical program data from North American companies that manufacture and assemble PCBs: the monthly North American EMS Market Report, the monthly North American PCB Market Report and the quarterly North American EMS Business Performance Report. Annual subscription prices for a one-year single-user subscription are $600 (IPC members) and $1,200 (nonmembers) for most of these reports.

More information on these and other IPC reports can be found at www.ipc.org/market-research-reports or by contacting the IPC market research team at marketresearch@ipc.org or +1 847-597-2868.

IPC’s Study of Quality Benchmarks for Electronics Assembly 2016 is now available. The annual study provides valuable benchmarking data to electronics assembly companies interested in comparing quality measurements to industry averages.

The quality control measurements covered by the study include first-pass yields for various test methods in use as well as the percent of products subjected to these tests. Yields and defect rates at final inspection, internal yields of key processes, and DPMO and yield targets are also covered. Average cost of poor quality as a percentage of sales for rework, scrap and labor time for touch-up after wave soldering are reported. The study also reports on the use of various quality control methods.

Customer satisfaction and supplier performance metrics are covered in the study, as well as the industry’s adoption of major quality certifications.

The data — in averages, medians and percentiles — are segmented by company size tier, by region, and by type of production including rigid PCBs, flexible circuits, end products, mechanical assembly, cable and harness, discrete wiring terminal and connectors, and rigid back planes.

The aggregate data represent 94 electronics assembly companies of all sizes from North America, Europe and Asia.

The 150-page report is free to companies that participated in the survey. It is available for sale to IPC members for $675 and to nonmembers for $1,350. For more information or to purchase the report, visit www.ipc.org/AssemblyBenchmark2016 or contact IPC’s market research department at marketresearch@ipc.org.

For information on all of IPC’s market research programs, visit www.ipc.org/IndustryData.

These standards committee reports from IPC’s 2016 Fall Committee Meetings have been compiled to help keep you up to date on IPC standards committee activities. This is the second in a series of reports.

Assembly and Joining

The 5-20 Product Assurance Committee reviewed the status of the projects in its scope and started planning for the meetings to be held at IPC APEX EXPO 2017.

The 5-21a Component mounting subcommittee met to discuss the update of the Guidelines for Printed Board Component Mounting. The new document, IPC-7070 will be created by combining parts of IPC-770, IPC-7351B, IPC-7093 and IPC-7095. The goal is to gather all the component information into one document to make it more user friendly.

The 5-21f Ball Grid Array Task Group continued its review of action items for IPC-7095D, Design and Assembly Process Implementation for BGAs. Particular focus at this meeting was spent on incorporating new information on column grid array (CGA) technology.

The 5-21g Flip Chip Mounting Task Group made the determination that it will go into full revision and not just an amendment for IPC-7094, Design and Assembly Process Implementation for Flip Chip and Die Size Components. A working draft IPC-7094A will be distributed to the task group before the end of 2016.

The 5-21h Bottom Termination Components Task Group reviewed a major overhaul proposed for the document for the A revision of IPC-7093, Design and Assembly Process Implementation for Bottom Termination SMT Components. These changes are being led by Matt Kelly with IBM and Udo Welzel with Bosch, who will present a polished working draft for task group review and comment in early 2017. Additionally, Matt Kelly was named vice-chair of the task group, replacing Vern Solberg, who stepped down from this role after years of service.

The 5-22a J-STD-001 Task Group reviewed comments on IPC J-STD-001, Requirements for Soldered Electrical and Electronic Assemblies. This task group met to resolve comments on criteria common to both IPC J-STD-001, Requirements for Soldered Electrical and Electronic Assemblies, and IPC-A-610, Acceptability for Electronic Assemblies. For the first time, the group also met at the same time with the Task Groups working on IPC-A-610, Acceptability for Electronic Assemblies and IPC/WHMA-A-620 Requirements and Acceptance for Cable and Wire Harness Assemblies to resolve differences between the three documents addressing the same criteria.

The 5-22ad Requirements for Military Systems Work Group continued a discussion on content to address hardware contracted by the U.S. Department of Defense and used in military systems. They previously discussed a separate addendum, however during this meeting, they took action to review the J-STD-001FS, Space Applications Electronic Hardware Addendum to IPC J-STD-001F Requirements for Soldered Electrical and Electronic Assemblies. They are considering a joint effort with that Task Group.

The 5-22as Task Group discussed review comments from the Final Industry Review of the addendum to 5-22as, Space Applications Electronic Hardware Addendum to IPC J-STD-001F Requirements for Soldered Electrical and Electronic Assemblies.

The 5-22f Task Group discussed comments to the document and prepared for a draft for Final Industry Review of the Handbook and Guide to Supplement J-STD-001.

The 5-22h Thermal Profiling Guide Task Group is preparing the ballot version of IPC-7530A, Guidelines for Temperature Profiling for Mass Soldering Processes (Reflow & Wave), once all comments from the Final Draft for Industry Review have been resolved. The task group plans to ballot IPC-7530A by the end of October and to publish by APEX EXPO 2017. This will be the first revision since its publication in 2001.

The 5-22k Bottom Termination Components Test Methods Task Group reviewed comments from the working draft distribution of IPC-TM-650, Test Method 2.4.35, Dye and Pry Test Method. The task group approved the draft to go to the 7-11 Test Methods Subcommittee for comment. The group will also seek out companies and test labs to participate in a gage R&R for the test method.

Product Assurance

The 7-30 Product Assurance Committee reviewed the status of the projects in its scope and started planning for IPC APEX EXPO 2017.

The 7-31b IPC-A-610 Task Group reviewed comments on IPC-A-610, Acceptability for Electronic Assemblies.  The Task Group met to resolve comments on criteria comment to both IPC-A-610, Acceptability for Electronic Assemblies, and IPC J-STD-001, Requirements for Soldered Electrical and Electronic Assemblies.

The 7-31f Task Group met to discuss the comments received during the draft for final industry review period for IPC/WHMA-A-620, Requirements and Acceptance for Cable and Wire Harness Assemblies.

The 7-31k Wire Harness Design Task Group and 7-31h IPC-HDBK-620 Handbook Task Group continued working IPC-HDBK-620, Handbook and Guide to Supplement IPC-A-620. 

The 7-31j Task Group continued working on a revision to IPC-A-630, Acceptability Standard for Manufacture, Inspection and Testing of Electronic Enclosures.

The 7-31m Fiber Optic Cable Acceptability Task Group met to discuss final changes and to resolve comments for IPC-A-640, Acceptance Requirements for Optical Fiber, Optical Cable and Hybrid Wiring Harness Assemblies. The task group plans to ballot the draft standard by the end of the year, so it will be approved for publication before APEX EXPO 2017.

 The 7-34 Repairability Subcommittee reviewed comments submitted to IPC-7711/21, Rework, Modification and Repair of Electronic Assemblies, during the draft for final industry review period.

The deadline for participation in IPC’s annual Quality Benchmark Survey for Electronics Assembly has been extended to Friday, June 16. This confidential survey is open to OEMs and contract manufacturers that do electronics assembly. Participants who complete the survey will receive a report on the findings at no cost.

The survey is online at  www.ipc.org/2017BenchmarkSurvey in English. The survey in Mandarin Chinese is at IPC 2017年电子组装质量标杆调研.

The study covers the industry’s most important quality measurements, such as yields, defect rates, test and inspection methods, customer returns, supplier performance, certification status and more. Companies use the results to benchmark their operations to world-class quality metrics.

Participants will be asked to enter their IPC company ID number, which is one of many tools IPC uses to protect the confidentiality of participants’ data. Contact IPC at marketresearch@ipc.org if you need your ID number or have any questions.

Delta Group Electronics in Albuquerque, N.M. recently hosted the production of two new IPC Training Videos: Handling During Electronics Assembly and How to Inspect Electronic Assemblies.

The week-long video shoot was arranged by Delta Group’s Director of Corporate Quality, Tod Cummins. Production coordination was provided by Irene Romero, QA Manager and Master IPC Trainer (MIT).

An additional IPC video, Wire Assembly Terminology Training, was videotaped last year at Delta Group’s facility in Rockledge, Fla. Bill Blinn, manufacturing project lead, provided the production coordination for the wire terminology video, and for segments of another IPC training video, Component Identification.

Tod Cummins commented, “Participating in these efforts has been very exciting and a most welcome experience. It has reinforced the understanding throughout the company of the effort that goes into these videos, garnering a higher respect for the training throughout the employee base. The newer generations coming into the industry are more accustomed to computer-based training and now expect this quality level of training to be provided day one. I see the IPC training videos as a critical piece of the future of electronic manufacturing.”

Delta Group Electronics uses IPC videos as baseline training for both new employees as well as refresher training for seasoned industry veterans. Founded in 1987, Delta Group Electronics Inc. is an electronics manufacturing services (EMS) provider with five facilities — servicing the southern portion of United States from coast to coast. More information can be found at www.deltagroupinc.com.

IPC deeply appreciates Delta Group’s contribution to the educational efforts of our industry. Mark Pritchard, director of IPC video training added, “They made us feel completely welcome during production. Everyone we worked with appeared to enjoy their acting experiences. It was a very productive and enjoyable experience for us as well.”

If your company would like to consider hosting the production of an IPC training video, we would welcome your invitation. Contact Mark Pritchard at MarkPritchard@ipc.org.

Mark Pritchard (camera operator), IPC, works with Irene Romero, Delta Group Electronics, on a shot for the new IPC video, Handling During Electronics Assembly.

IPC recently shot two new training videos at Delta Group Electronics in Albuquerque, New Mexico, “Safety in Electronics Assembly” and “Convection Reflow Soldering.”

Both of these programs will soon be available in the new IPC EDGE 2.0 Online Video Training Library.

Tod Cummins, Delta Group’s Director of Corporate Quality was responsible for arranging and coordinating the shoot. According to Tod, “The new safety and reflow soldering videos are a great addition to the IPC training video library. I am looking forward to putting them to use with individuals beginning a career in electronic manufacturing as well as refresher training for the current employee base. Both videos will play a key role in the training plan for their respective disciplines. As always the experience working with the IPC production team was excellent. “

IPC deeply appreciates the generous cooperation of Delta Group – and the participation of all of the assembly operators who enthusiastically appear in these latest IPC training videos.

By Sharon Starr, director, IPC market research

The North American electronics manufacturing services (EMS) industry continued to enjoy positive year-to-date growth in the first quarter of 2019, but growth rates for both sales and orders are slowing, according to IPC’s first-quarter 2019 North American EMS Market Report. Order growth contrasts sharply with last year’s business results. EMS orders in 2018 were 13.5 percent above the previous year. In Q1 2019, orders were up just 1.0 percent year over year.

Rapidly slowing growth is also in the forecasts for the industry in 2019 and 2020. The report contains IPC’s own four-quarter sales forecast and a North American market forecast from New Venture Research, and their prognoses as of Q1 2019 are consistent.

The first-quarter data showed some interesting differences between markets. First-quarter sales growth was strong for box build and other production, but modest for PCB assembly. Among the industry’s vertical markets, first-quarter sales to the military and aerospace market was up 25 percent this year to date. Sales growth to the lighting and medical/instrumentation markets was also strong.

This year the IPC North American EMS Statistical Program began collecting data on sales and orders of wire harness and cable assemblies by EMS companies. Although growth data from this new segment will not be available until next year, we noted with interest that this type of business is heavily concentrated in the smallest company size tier. Among the EMS companies in IPC’s survey sample, wire harness and cable assemblies accounted for nearly 14 percent of the quarter’s sales for companies with annual sales of less than $10 million. No revenue from this type of production was reported by the largest-company size tier in Q1 2019.

The quarterly North American EMS Market Report is available free to participants in IPC’s EMS Statistical Program. It is available to others by subscription in IPC’s online store.

We welcome your feedback and insights about what may be driving the industry’s business results. Is box-build becoming a larger part of your business? What about vertical markets? Last year, automotive grew the most. This year, mil/aero is off to a roaring start. Are more military equipment makers outsourcing assembly? There is always lots to discuss in this ever-changing industry.

For more information on IPC’s market research services, go to www.ipc.org/IndustryData,
or contact the market research team at MarketResearch@ipc.org or +1 847-597-2868.

IPC’s award-winning library of training videos on electronics assembly has added five new industry awards during 2019:

• Omni Award for Convection Reflow Soldering (120) – Jonathan Vermillion, Ball Corporation/Technical Advisor
• Telly Award for Terminal Soldering (118) – Chris Barrett, Safari Circuits/Technical Advisor
• Communicator Award for How to Inspect Electronic Assemblies (190) – Floyd Bertagnolli, STM Training/Technical Advisor
• AVA Digital Award for Handling During Electronics Assembly (124) – Marg Drouin, Aved Electronics/Technical Advisor
• Omni Award for Component Identification (160) – Dave Stewart, Intervala LLC/Technical Advisor

According to Marg Drouin, training manager, Aved Electronics, “Contributing to the IPC Training Media has become a key part of my professional commitment to helping employees learn and improve their manufacturing skills and techniques. These videos are so effective because many of our employees are either visual learners or English is their second language. These videos overcome language barriers that are typical in manufacturing environments. With technology continuously evolving, I look forward to continuing to contribute to IPC in the coming years.”

IPC training videos are produced in cooperation with our members to help insure technical accuracy and minimize commercialism.

Our sincere thanks to the technical advisors who help develop the contents and review the comments from IPC member circulations.

If you have an interest in working to help create new training videos for our industry, please contact Steve Donaldson, IPC assistant director, education.

All of these new videos are available through the new IPC EDGE learning portal.

By Sharon Starr, director, market research

IPC’s biennial Wage Rate and Salary Survey for the North American Electronics Assembly Industry is much more than its name implies. It collects data on compensation for 40 hourly and salaried technical, manufacturing and sales positions at original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and contract electronics manufacturing services (EMS) companies in North America. In addition, it covers salary budget growth, planned increases for 2020, and employee benefits and policies.

Companies can use this study to assess their competitiveness in today’s labor market. The survey covers 25 hourly, 11 salaried and four sales positions, including commission rates for both internal sales and customer service staff as well as independent manufacturers’ representatives. The report on the results will show the data in averages and percentiles. It will be segmented by company type, size and region, enabling companies to assess their competitive position as employers within their region and company-size tier. Job descriptions are also included in the report.

The study will enable companies to benchmark their employee benefits and HR policies against industry norms. The survey covers the use of various types of insurance and retirement plans, flexible hours, paid leave, performance appraisal methods, tuition reimbursement and many other policies, making the results a valuable resource for companies wishing to update their human resource management strategies. The study is unique in in its focus on the North American electronics assembly industry. Survey participants will receive the report on the findings at no cost.

The survey is intended for HR professionals and executives who can provide data on a range of positions and policies. The survey is open now with an extended response deadline of November 8. The survey can be accessed at www.ipc.org/WageSurvey2019.

Participants are asked for their IPC company code to start the survey. They can obtain their codes by contacting IPC’s market research team at marketresearch@ipc.org or calling +1 847-597-2868. The company code is used to protect the confidentiality of participants’ data. IPC publishes only aggregate numbers and maintains strict confidentiality. The report will not identify participating companies.