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IPC COMMUNITY 42 SPRING 2025 "Tibi is my coach," Feng says. "I enjoy working with him and Chris." IPC-9716 is the first of the series, and the team expects to be kept very busy with edits, revisions, and new standards in the months and years ahead. "Because technology changes so fast, the committee will have ongoing work to meet the industry's demands," Feng says. "You're doing the inspection on the manufacturing line. The defects are what we want the machine to capture. For the team, it's like we have a big test pool. The key ques- tion is whether the product doing the inspection uses the technology correctly. The equipment will be similar, but each part of process control will be different. That's why we know it will take five to six years to complete the series, and they will be continually updated." The team is currently working on a standard for IC substrates, with another on extra inspection for car assembly in the planning stages. A Strong A-Team Feng has high praise for his A-Team, Hercule. "I have a really great A-Team, with key members from Europe and Asia, and I have learned so much from them," he says. "I really enjoy the discussions I have with them. Because there are so many different things to cover in this series, and no one is an expert in each area, it's a wonderful learn- ing process. The A-Team members have a hand in all the equipment that we are discussing." Significantly, Feng's views on AOI have changed with his participa- tion in Team Hercule. "Being on an A-Team and meeting people from the industry worldwide gave me a whole new perspective on AOI," he says. "I look at the issue differently now. My whole concept of AOI has completely changed." Feng appreciates the opportunity IPC offers for various members of the global electronics industry to come together to make changes in the industry. "In our commit- tees, we are trying to cover the entire supply chain, which means equipment manufacturers joining the A-Team, users, and customers like IBM or Intel," he says. "So, we are looking at this thing from a 360-degree angle, and that's amaz- ing. IPC is one of the few organiza- tions that can do that." Naming the A-team "Hercule" was Feng's idea. "I told Chris (Jorgensen), since we are doing inspection, we need the name of a detective. Hercule Poirot was the name that came to mind. The second team is Sherlock, and we will keep using detective names for our A-Teams until we run out." Not only is Feng a dedicated chair for 7-25A, 7-25B, and A-Team Hercule, but he accepted the challenge presented by his former colleague Matt, who asked if he could complete the new standard within two years. Feng, who lives in Singapore and has worked for IBM for 16 years, has always worked closely with a U.S. team on Central or Eastern time, requiring him to meet with colleagues in the middle of the night. "I've been trained by working at IBM for 16 years, and my brain starts to work at full speed after I've had dinner," he says. That round-the-clock dedication of a committee using all hours of the day to create a standard enabled them to meet the challenge, com- pleting IPC-9716 in just under two years. The Scope of IPC-9716 The scope of IPC-9716 provides requirements for AOI systems to define, set up, establish, and apply process control for manufacturing printed board assemblies, including general and specific process and AOI system conditions. Requirements include inspection parameters, lighting conditions, calibration, detectability, resolution, threshold limits, and program setups, measurement system analysis (MSA), maintenance, and verification protocols. Purpose This standard sets industry-defined requirements for AOI systems to reduce false calls and ensure the quality and reliability of printed board assemblies, with improved throughput and shortened cycle times. It also supports electronics manufacturers to enable advanced manufacturing, real-time data analytics, and control capabilities.