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IPC Europe: Raising the Industry Flag of Support
January 2, 2024 | Barry Matties, I-Connect007Estimated reading time: 1 minute
Barry Matties recently visited with Philippe Leonard, senior director for IPC Europe, and Francisco Fourcade, electronics technology standards manager for IPC Europe, about their priorities for IPC and the challenges they face moving into next year. The IPC Europe team has focused on collaboration, cooperation, and perhaps most importantly, educating policymakers on the impending needs of PCB and PCBA companies in Europe.
Barry Matties: Philippe, what is your most important mission right now with the European side of IPC?
Philippe Leonard: The priority for us in Europe is to raise the visibility of the IPC brand in the different territories and for the industry to identify IPC as the most supportive organization for them. We strive to promote engagement, which means getting more European companies to take ownership of IPC standards. As you know, IPC standards are made by the industry for the industry, and participation in IPC standardization committees is free. You don't need to be a member. Most of the industry players here don't know that, and we are advocating for that.
We have to make it clear to them that they are stakeholders, that they can have a voice. They can influence these standards because, even though by law IPC standards are not mandatory for their businesses, they are compulsory because their customers require them to be applied. So, European manufacturers need to know that they can have an influence on those requirements.
In an ideal world, to make it a fair game, all regions in the world would be involved in standards discussions. We are not there yet, but that is our goal. Further, we want IPC to be the unified voice of electronics manufacturers in Europe to the policymakers, the European Commission, and the governments, to make sure that the European Chips Act or any future framework conditions and legislation are friendly to this industry and allow for better development, success, and ultimately, a better European economy around the electronics industry.
To read this entire conversation, which appeared in the December 2023 issue of PCB007 Magazine, click here.
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