The Journey to IPC-1791 Validation

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How does a company protect its most valuable electronics manufacturing information? How can designs and processes be kept safe? IPC-1791 is an industry-driven and industry-written standard that focuses on protecting two things: controlled unclassified information (CUI) and controlled technical information (CTI)—the information that would be devastating for a company to lose.

IPC Validation Services plays a critical role in ensuring that you can keep your information safe. This is the team that performs the Qualified Manufacturer List (QML) audits, validating the manufacturing process to the four pillars: quality, supply chain risk management, security, and chain of custody.

To learn more about how IPC members participate in the process, we spoke with John Vaughan, vice president of strategic markets at Summit Interconnect, who provides insight into his company’s IPC Validation Services journey. If you’re working with defense primes, he says, this certification is vital.

John, please tell us a little about Summit Interconnect.
Summit is the largest privately-held printed circuit board manufacturer in North America, featuring eight highly integrated facilities, over one-half million square feet of advanced technology processing capability, and approximately 1,300 employees.

Why did Summit Interconnect decide to certify to IPC-1791?
We operate in very compliance- and certification-driven markets, and we support a heavily DoD and military prime customer set. Our customers have very high expectations in terms of Summit protecting controlled unclassified information (CUI), supply chain risk management (SCRM), chain of custody (CHoC), quality systems (AS 9100), ITAR/EAR, and compliance to NIST 800-171. The IPC-1791 audit and standard is focused on compliance to all these and our position on the IPC-1791 Qualified Manufacturers List (QML) as a Trusted Fabricator gives our customers third-party assurance through the IPC Validation Services that Summit meets specific criteria that are important to them.

To read this entire conversation, which appeared in the Spring 2023 issue of Community Magazine, click here.