IPC International Community magazine an association member publication
Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/1497169
IPC COMMUNITY 62 SPRING 2023 I t's fair to say that cables connect everything, from our phones and toasters to electric cars and the rockets that launch satellites into space. It's also a technology that evolves rapidly. Standards, such as IPC/WHMA-A-620, were developed to provide structure and best practices to that technology, but it requires constant review and revisions. Revision E, which refines both text and figures, was released recently and sets the stage for an even bigger revision in two years. "The A-620 standard acts as a neu- tral third party," says Cathy Hanlin, an employee of Precision Mfg. Co., and co-chair of the 7-31F IPC/WHMA-A-620 Task Group. "It's not me or my com- pany saying what is right on a harness. It's a third party—with no vested interest—saying what a good crimp is, what a good solder is, or what length should be looked at. It's just an indus- try standard for best prac- tices." Once a standard or its revision has been released to industry, there are opportunities for comments to be made about the standard. "We receive hundreds of com- ments around the world from users, customers, manufacturers, and oth- ers, and revisions are based on those comments," says Teresa Rowe , I P C s e n i o r d i re c to r, assembly and standards tech- nology. "The committee considers every com- ment." While some comments may not be accepted, or they may be modified, Teresa says the com- mittee will always provide feedback about the comment. "We find that data helps us a lot," she says. "We have several small teams that worked on specific areas of the document to make sure that the criteria and the content were ultimately accepted by industry through a consensus ballot, which is IPC's process for releasing a new standard." In fact, this particular A-Team, affec- tionally known as Wire Nutz, met to review and make decisions about every comment Revision D received. "I feel our A-Team is very effec- tive because there are very few comments that come up during discussion with the entire committee that we probably have not already touched on during an A-Team meeting," Cathy says. "It speeds up the process with the committee when the A-Team has already heard the arguments, and we have either researched the question(s) or know who we can direct it to for an answer." IPC/WHMA-A-620E: Making the Connection STANDARDS By Michelle Te Fun fact: Wire Nutz won a Golden Gnome Award in 2022 for best team name.