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14 The PCB Design Magazine • June 2015 ees to IPC standards provides the added level of quality performance companies look for in the electronics industry. IPC has also embarked on a program, Vali- dation Services, to address the certification of a company's manufacturing assembly practices to the IPC-A-610F standard. A Qualified Manu- facturers Listing (QML) is an assessment/audit done by IPC of a company's capabilities to meet class 1, 2, or 3 of IPC's standards. The program takes certification to the next level for EMS, ODM, and OEM companies. A company's quality and success is often depicted in the form of a pyramid. IPC has adapted the pyramid as it applies to standards, training/certification and validation for EMS, ODM and OEM companies. The base of the pyramid is the use of IPC Standards. The next level of value delivered is individuals trained and certified to IPC's standards for their given companies. At the highest level of value deliv- ered is the QML recognition, which certifies the company's manufacturing and quality process. By completing all levels of the IPC pyramid, companies have an opportunity to show their customers and suppliers, they have a complete quality product as a supplier in the electronics assembly supply chain. Conclusion IPC-A-610F is a must-have standard for elec- tronics assemblers worldwide. It is available in numerous languages with more translations planned in the coming months, and many com- panies use it in conjunction with J-STD-001 and other IPC standards. Where people and process- es bring products to life, it is IPC standards that can bring consistent criteria and communica- tion to the electronics community. For informa- tion about IPC-A-610F, click here. IPC continually facilitates the evolution of industry standards, and as the industry moves forward, we anticipate the same for this essen- tial document. PCBDESIGN THE PAST, PRESENT, AND FuTuRE OF IPC-A-610 continues Figure 2: Example of a butt/I connection—solder charged termination. Teresa Rowe is IPC's director of assembly & standards tech- nology, and staff liaison for IPC-A-610. she has more than 25 years of experience in the electronics industry and stan- dards development activities. feature