IPC International Community magazine an association member publication
Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/1497169
IPC COMMUNITY 24 SPRING 2023 is exceptional. The engagement almost feels like a concierge service expertly guiding you through the process, the gap analysis, the improvement process, and the qualification. I highly recommend this IPC team. Do you think other companies will follow Summit's example? What is the benefit to them? I just reviewed the QML for IPC-1791 online and 34 companies are now qual- ification, so adoption of the qualification across the industry is happening. If you take a closer look at the company names on that list, you will find the indus- try leaders across both the EMS and PCB landscape, with a sprinklin g of mil- itary primes that also have b e c o m e c e r t i f i e d as they have captive oper- ations that design, build, and assemble P C B s t h a t a r e p a r t of the DoD systems. If your market is the DoD, I believe it is a very instructive QML for you to analyze. Smart companies make s m art decisions and plan for the future of their market. You've looked at Validation Services from two market segments: an EMS company and a PCB fabricator. Why is it in the best interest of each segment to participate in Validation Services? If you are a U.S.-based PCB fabricator or EMS provider, your core market may be in support of the DoD and military primes. In the very near future, it is my expectation that the DoD will underscore the importance of trust across both the PCB and EMS sectors and will include DFARS flow downs in their contracts to the mil- itary primes that will point directly to IPC-1791 as a prerequisite to building electronic prod- ucts on DoD programs. My recommendation is to start the IPC-1791 process now to protect your contract flow and your business, and to differentiate from your competitors that did not have the foresight to become a trusted source. How did you convince the companies you worked for to partici- pate in the Validation Services journey? How was it different to pursue this with an EMS company vs. a board shop? My former employer, Zentech Manufacturing, an EMS company located in Baltimore, Maryland, was a beta site for the audit and among the first companies qualified to IPC-1791. We were already in the prede- cessor NSWC Crane Tech- nology Exchange process when IPC agreed to take over the formal stan- dard c r e a t i o n . I w a s a n owner of Zentech then and part of the original IPC Trusted Source Task Force that guided the creation of the stan- dard, so I've had a very long legacy of partici- pation in the process that eventually became IPC-1791. Now I'm vice president of strategic markets at Summit Interconnect, and our CEO, Shane Whiteside, is the immediate past chair of the IPC Board of Directors. During his ten- ure, IPC drove the early adoption of security assurance across our industry, including both IPC-1791 and the creation of the U.S. Partnership for Assured Electronics (USPAE), which is In the very near future, it is my expectation that the DoD will underscore the importance of trust... continues on page 26