Standards: The Roadmap for Your Ideal Data Package
May 29, 2025 | Andy Shaughnessy, Design007 MagazineEstimated reading time: 1 minute
Whether you’re designing a simple commercial PCB or a cutting-edge board headed for Mars, you’ll still need to create the perfect design data package—hopefully one that’s complete and accurate.
In this interview, IPC design instructor Kris Moyer explains how standards can help you ensure that your data package has all the information your fabricator and assembler need to build your board the way you designed it, allowing them to use their expertise. As Kris says, even with IPC standards, there’s still an art to conveying the right information in your documentation.
Andy Shaughnessy: Kris, when it comes to creating the ideal design data package for your particular design, you say everyone will have a slightly different data package, because each design has different requirements. What do designers need to know about creating their ideal data package?
Kris Moyer: First, if you look in the IPC standards for documentation, especially the IPC-2610 series, we've defined various levels of documentation and what we call completeness. It's a grading system. The completeness mode defines whether you're at an engineering concept, consumer good level of documentation, a prototype level, or a full high-reliability production level, and what levels and types of information and completeness of information are needed.
So, having an understanding of that is definitely a good first step. Beyond that, it’s critical to know what markets you're in. For example, if you're in military and aerospace, where you need to define a product with a shelf life of a half-century and must be manufactured the same way for 50 years, you need a different level of documentation than a consumer good that will be obsolete in 18 months. Understanding your market segment, what is required of it, and the reliability goal all go back to IPC performance classifications.
To read the entire interview, which originally appeared in the May 2025 issue of Design007 Magazine, click here.
Testimonial
"The I-Connect007 team is outstanding—kind, responsive, and a true marketing partner. Their design team created fresh, eye-catching ads, and their editorial support polished our content to let our brand shine. Thank you all! "
Sweeney Ng - CEE PCBSuggested Items
Dana on Data: Best Practices in Interpreting Drawing Notes—‘Use Latest Revision’
08/07/2025 | Dana Korf -- Column: Dana on DataThe global nature of electronics manufacturing requires clear, consistent, and precise communication, particularly in technical documentation. An area where miscommunication often arises is in interpreting drawing notes—small lines of text with the potential to dramatically impact product quality, manufacturing efficiency, and customer satisfaction.
Creating Connections in Mexico
07/30/2025 | Michelle Te, Community MagazineA concerted effort by the Global Electronics Association—Mexico team over the past year has created inroads for the Global Electronics Association (formerly IPC) with leading electronics companies, government offices, and academic institutions in Mexico. “Our goal is to bring more awareness to what the Global Electronics Association is and what it offers,” says Lorena Villanueva, senior director. “We also aim to increase our membership. Of 3,200 members of the Global Electronics Association, only 180 are in Mexico.”
Powering Progress: Summer 2025 Community Magazine Now Available
07/22/2025 | Community MagazineIn the new Summer 2025 edition of Community Magazine, members of the Global Electronics Association demonstrate what progress really looks like—through innovation on the factory floor, influence on public policy, and investment in the next generation of engineers.
TRI to Exhibit at SMTA Queretaro Expo 2025
07/16/2025 | TRITest Research, Inc. (TRI), the leading provider of test and inspection systems for the electronics manufacturing industry, is pleased to announce plans to exhibit at the SMTA Querétaro Expo 2025, scheduled to take place on July 24, 2025, at the Querétaro Centro de Congresos y Teatro Metropolitano.
Global PCB Connections: Let the Spec Fit the Board, Not Just the Brand
07/17/2025 | Jerome Larez -- Column: Global PCB ConnectionsIf you’ve ever seen an excellent PCB quote delayed, or worse, go cold because of a single line on the fab print, you’re not alone. Often, that line reads something like, “Use 370HR only,” or “IT-180A required.” These and other brand-name materials are proven performers, but unless your design needs that specific resin system (say, for RF performance, thermal reliability, or stringent CAF resistance), you may inadvertently be holding your job hostage.