New Course Presents a Comprehensive Guide to IPC Standards

Estimated reading time: 2 minutes

Francisco Fourcade, electronics technology standards manager for the Global Electronics Association, has spent years helping companies understand and implement the standards that keep the electronics manufacturing industry moving forward. In this interview, he shares updates on ongoing standards development efforts and previews a new course, "IPC Standards: A Guide for the Electronics Industry,” which starts Oct. 14.

Marcy LaRont: Fran, what have you been working on in the past several months? 

Francisco Fourcade: We have been keeping busy, continuing to develop many new standards while revising existing ones, following industry needs and bringing solutions to our members and partners in electronics manufacturing. 

LaRont: Tell me about the new course that starts this week. It sounds like it will be a comprehensive guide to IPC standards throughout the supply chain, from design through test.

Fourcade: This new course focuses on educating industry professionals on how to navigate our extensive library of standards. Using a natural product flow approach, participants will learn about relevant standards starting with design, through fabrication, into assembly, cleaning, coating, and testing of electronic assemblies. 

LaRont: Which IPC standards will you cover during the course?

Fourcade: The course is geared towards the applicability of all IPC standards related to producing PCB and wire harness assemblies. The list of standards is extensive; participants will be given a pragmatic approach to every step involved in electronics manufacturing covered by an IPC standard.  

LaRont: Of the areas pertaining to standards, what sticks out as particularly complicated or not as well understood as some of the others? 

Fourcade: In general, the areas covered will span many aspects of electronics manufacturing. Depending on the knowledge base of each participant, some sections might feel more complicated than others. However, the approach is to explain the processes and how related IPC standards support them.

LaRont: This course is divided into three sessions, each with a slightly different focus. How long will each session be, and will there be breakout sessions or live Q&A during the live virtual session? 

Fourcade: The course has three two-hour sessions. Each session has two topic sections, following a typical process for producing an electronic assembly. We start with an introduction to standards, expanding common knowledge, followed by PCB design, PCB fabrication, PCB and wire harness assembly, cleaning and coating, inspection, and reliability testing. Participants will be able to ask questions during the live virtual session and will be quizzed at the end of each section to reinforce the knowledge they have acquired.

LaRont: Will the recording also be available to registrants after the live virtual sessions? 

Fourcade: Indeed, every session will be recorded so that students can review it for a 90-day period to refresh their knowledge. 

LaRont: Fran, what makes these types of educational opportunities so valuable for attendees? 

Fourcade: These types of educational opportunities hold a substantial value supported by the expertise and experience of the instructor, enriching the content and answering participants' questions live to enhance their knowledge retention.

LaRont: In closing, is there anything else you would like potential registrants to know? 

Fourcade: Get ready to immerse yourself in our extensive library and learn to navigate it finding the IPC standards applicable to each one of your electronics manufacturing processes.

Click here to register for the course.