Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/410144
November 2014 • The PCB Magazine 11 as the best of the best. And, it enhances IPC's importance in the eyes of the OEM community, including the military and governments around the world. It sets the standard. Some Precedence In 1999, PCB007 was a business built around transaction management for the PCB industry, which I was part of. PCB007 had a similar busi- ness model: to audit fabricators worldwide to a standard that would eliminate the need of OEM audits. Both the OEMs and the fabrica- tors loved the idea of single audits to replace the expense of continually auditing or being audited. In fact, many of the very large OEMs we visited hadn't audited their PCB supplier in years. The idea of an annual audit at no cost to them was intriguing as long as we were looking at the right stuff—and we were. At the time, we had Rob Scott, a longtime PCB fabricator, con- ducting the audits. He knew much more about PCBs than the OEM auditors did. He would see "behind the veil." They liked that. The transaction side of that business be- came a casualty of the dotcom bust, but the news site continued on, when my partner and I purchased the assets of the business in 2004. Conclusion At this point, I don't see a downside. Sure, there are quite a few potential roadblocks, but IPC has the clout to pull this off. If the IPC board can see the bigger picture and make a long-term investment in this effort, the indus- try wins. PCB IPC SEAL OF APPROvAL continues ray rasmussen is the publisher and chief editor for i-Connect007 Publications. he has worked in the industry since 1978 and is the former publisher and chief editor of CircuiTree Magazine. to read past columns, or to contact rasmussen, click here. Imagineering's Dhanji on Customer-Driven Technology by Real Time with...SMTAI 2014 Khurrum dhanji, Coo of imagineering inc., joins Publisher ray rasmussen to discuss the full range of his company's technology offerings—all of which are customer driven. realtimewith.com CliCk To View vIdeo InTeRvIew