IPC International Community magazine an association member publication
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IPC COMMUNITY 29 WINTER 2024 You have an excellent idea for a new stan- dard in the electronics manufacturing indus- try. How do you turn that idea into a reality? It's simple: You ask the TAEC to create a PIN for the SDOC. Now, what does that even mean? To develop a new standard, you need the help of the IPC Technical Activities Executive Committee (TAEC) Global. Ideas for new IPC standards are submitted via a Project Iden- tification Notification (PIN) to TAEC Global, which conducts an initial review. The PIN is then sent to the general TAEC standards development oversight committee for review and approval. How do they review it and who comprises the committee? Karen McConnell, Northrop Grumman, IPC Hall of Famer, and long-time IPC volunteer, joins other TAEC members to provide clarity and insight into the critical role the TAEC plays in the standards developed by IPC members. She's currently serving her second term as TAEC chair and describes it as "the commit- tee that cares about all the standards, not particular ones. Each of the family of standards has a vote on the TAEC." Language in standards needs to be con- sistent, she says, so that someone trying to change jobs doesn't have to learn a new language when they go from fabrication to assembly or design to manufacturing. "The TAEC is the overseer of consistency," she says. TAEC Global includes the chair, vice-chair, and two members each from Europe, India, and Asia. The TAEC meets yearly at IPC APEX EXPO and SummerCom, providing updates on leadership at IPC and new committee mem- bers. "The TAEC needs global representation," Karen says. "TAEC Global reviews the PINs and ensures they are complete before sending them to the TAEC for a vote. The most impor- tant thing is to make sure that everyone gets to speak." The TAEC is comprised of the chairs of the IPC General Committees. General refers to the oversight committees with subcommittees and task groups underneath them. For exam- ple, the 5-20 Assembly and Joining Commit- tee has Subcommittees (e.g., 5-22) and Task Groups (e.g., 5-22A) underneath it. The chairs of the 5-20 Committee have representation on the TAEC. TAEC Demystifying the Technical Activities Executive Committee By Linda Stepanich, Contributing Editor, IPC Community