IPC International Community magazine an association member publication
Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/1488860
12 in Germany and dealing with High Voltage >300V to 1000V in SIR. We are also heavily involved with CAF testing where our AutoCAF is being used to test at 4000V for 4,000 hours. We are indebted to our collaboration program with Microtek Laboratories in China, owned by our good friend Bob Neves, chairman of the Board of Directors at IPC. Would you share an obstacle or challenge that your company has overcome? The financial crash of 2008-09 hit us hard, and it took more than three years to recover. In 2013, we then faced total equipment rede- signs because of widespread com- ponent obsolescence. Of course, like everyone else, we had to deal with the most recent pandemic. We greatly appreciate our won- derful staff, some of whom have been with us for more than 20 years. Would you tell us your member story considering your IPC contributions/activities? In 2002, my company bought Multicore Solder- ing Process Instrumentation Division from Hen- kel and we attended our first Solderability Testing Committee Meeting 5-23—and we knew nothing. I was asked a related question and my response was, "You might as well be talking to me in Swahili." Nevertheless, we volunteered with new research for lead-free alloys for which we received awards. Not bad for someone new to the subject. What does IPC membership mean to you and what value does it provide? It's all about networking. Our company was orig- inally named Concoat, and we joined IPC in 1988 because we had a specific interest in conformal coating and cleaning. When both the U.S. and Brit- ish military standards were cancelled in 1985, the result was IPC's increased involvement in stan- dards development, and it was obvious that we needed to be there. The networking introduced us to a huge number of industry professionals work- ing with companies we would have had a hard time finding, and the doors were opened when it came to our helping develop new standards. Would you tell us about your staff's work on standards committees? Our staff has won more than 20 awards for our work on committees—solder- ability, SIR, CAF, ionic contamination testing, and conformal coating— some of which were for committee leadership. We were largely re- sponsible for introducing SIR test- ing that benefitted from significant research that was conducted by the UK National Physical Laborato- ry, a group with whom we enjoy an al- most symbiotic relationship. What IPC member benefits do you take advantage of? We have exhibited at every IPC APEX EXPO since its inception. We have attended most of the IPC Standards Development meetings since 1988 and chaired many committees. This ongoing com- mitment has helped us enjoy continuous product development to, and beyond, the very best IPC standards. Andrew Naisbitt, CEO, and Graham Naisbitt, pres- ident, helped celebrate the company's 50th anni- versary. GEN3 was established by Arthur Naisbitt in 1969, and the celebration had to be postponed three years due to shutdowns during the pandemic. Why are you an IPC member? "Because IPC is our front dr to the market."