-
-
News
News Highlights
- Books
Featured Books
- pcb007 Magazine
Latest Issues
Current IssueThe Hole Truth: Via Integrity in an HDI World
From the drilled hole to registration across multiple sequential lamination cycles, to the quality of your copper plating, via reliability in an HDI world is becoming an ever-greater challenge. This month we look at “The Hole Truth,” from creating the “perfect” via to how you can assure via quality and reliability, the first time, every time.
In Pursuit of Perfection: Defect Reduction
For bare PCB board fabrication, defect reduction is a critical aspect of a company's bottom line profitability. In this issue, we examine how imaging, etching, and plating processes can provide information and insight into reducing defects and increasing yields.
Voices of the Industry
We take the pulse of the PCB industry by sharing insights from leading fabricators and suppliers in this month's issue. We've gathered their thoughts on the new U.S. administration, spending, the war in Ukraine, and their most pressing needs. It’s an eye-opening and enlightening look behind the curtain.
- Articles
- Columns
- Links
- Media kit
||| MENU - pcb007 Magazine
The Importance of Harmonized Standards that Benefit All
May 26, 2015 | Pete Starkey, I-Connect007Estimated reading time: 2 minutes

I-Connect007 Technical Editor Pete Starkey caught up with Amphenol applications engineer Sean Keating at IPC APEX EXPO in San Diego. Keating explains his company’s commitment to proactive participation in the establishment of standards, his personal experience working on standards committees, and his view on the importance of harmonised global standards.
Pete Starkey: It’s nice to see you here at IPC APEX. I understand Amphenol is strongly interested in standards and that you are personally active on some committees. Start by telling us about that.
Sean Keating: Amphenol UK is very proactive in a number of the standards, in particular the certification standards. I have been working closely with IPC for about six or seven years now. My secondary reason for being here is that this is a fantastic forum for problem solving.
Any problems that have cropped up over the weeks or months prior to the show can often be resolved using the immense technological think tank that’s here on the show floor, in the meetings, or even in the bar!
I’m on nine committees right now, from low pressure overmoulding to electronics in space, and I would say we’re probably working 10+ hours a day. It’s a busy week for a number of the standards; much of my focus is on the IPC/WHMAA-620 cable and harness training committee, which is meeting on Thursday to discuss training. We are looking at having a more robust practical course that will be certifiable.
This will mean that when you certify to that standard you have demonstrated the skills and proven ability to actually build a harness—not just inspect it. Perhaps, depending on how the committee decides, there will be different levels of harness ability or skill, but we will have to wait and see on that one!
Starkey: IPC and IEC are really recognized as the world’s standards authorities, but do you notice that some of the standards are originating from Asia and taking some prominence?
Keating: Certainly not with anything we’re doing in Europe, but I cannot answer for the whole group as we have facilities in more than 40 countries, worldwide. IPC, without doubt, has the lion’s share of standards, which are imposed on us by our major customers. As a design and manufacturing facility we get standards imposed on us as well as what we pass onto our subcontractors. Virtually all of our major customers now have IPC standards of one type or another noted on their drawings. I’ve been with Amphenol for 26 years and for the last 10–12 years this has grown from occasionally seeing an IPC standard called out to the point now where nearly every single callout references an IPC standard.
Starkey: Provided that there is some international cooperation and our colleagues in Asia are prepared to recognize Western standards and cooperate with them, there is worldwide harmony.
Keating: Absolutely, and with Amphenol being a global company, we actually help train and facilitate at our India and China locations, so that within Amphenol worldwide, we’re working to the same standard. And that harmony is absolutely imperative. It also means that when we talk to them, when we look at them as low cost manufacturers, we can talk at exactly the same level and about the same things. So it really has been helpful.
Starkey: Sean, thanks very much for your time.
Keating: Thank you, Pete.
Editor's Note: This article originally appeared in the May 2015 issue of The PCB Magazine.
Suggested Items
Advancing Aerospace Excellence: Emerald’s Medford Team Earns Space Addendum Certification
06/30/2025 | Emerald TechnologiesWe’re thrilled to announce a major achievement from our Medford, Oregon facility. Andy Abrigo has officially earned her credentials as a Certified IPC Trainer (CIT) under the IPC J-STD-001 Space Addendum, the leading industry standard for space and military-grade electronics manufacturing.
Magnalytix and Foresite to Host Technical Webinar on SIR Testing and Functional Reliability
06/26/2025 | MAGNALYTIXMagnalytix, in collaboration with Foresite Inc., is pleased to announce an upcoming one-hour Webinar Workshop titled “Comparing SIR IPC B-52 to Umpire 41 Functional & SIR Test Method.” This session will be held on July 24, 2025, and is open to professionals in electronics manufacturing, reliability engineering, and process development seeking insights into new testing standards for climatic reliability.
IPC Rebrands as Global Electronics Association: Interview With Dr. John W. Mitchell
06/22/2025 | Marcy LaRont, I-Connect007Today, following a major announcement, IPC is embracing the rapid advancement of technology with a bold decision to change its name to the Global Electronics Association. This name more accurately reflects the full breadth of its work and the modern realities of electronics manufacturing. In this exclusive interview, Global Electronics Association President and CEO Dr. John W. Mitchell shares the story behind the rebrand: Why now, what it means for the industry, and how it aligns with the organization’s mission.
Global Electronics Association Debuts; New Name Elevates IPC’s 70-Year Legacy as Voice of $6 Trillion Electronics Industry
06/25/2025 | Global Electronics AssociationToday begins a new chapter for IPC as it officially becomes the Global Electronics Association, reflecting its role as the voice of the electronics industry. Guided by the vision of “Better electronics for a better world,” the Global Electronics Association (electronics.org) is dedicated to enhancing supply chain resilience and promoting accelerated growth through engagement with more than 3,000 member companies, thousands of partners, and dozens of governments across the globe.
I-Connect007 Editor’s Choice: Five Must-Reads for the Week
06/20/2025 | Andy Shaughnessy, I-Connect007It’s been a busy week in this industry, and we have news and articles from the PCB design, fabrication and assembly communities. Some of this news is out of this world. We may be losing the high ground—the really high ground. Columnist Jesse Vaughan explains how the U.S. seems to be falling behind in space, and how this could affect our ability to defend ourselves in the future. We have an update on the U.S.-China tariff talks, which seem to be moving forward, though sometimes at a snail’s pace.