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76 The PCB Magazine • December 2015 Goldman: If they say, "We build everything to A-610," then you go in and certify that they do indeed do that. As opposed to just saying so, they actually have some certification behind it. Cherry: That is correct. Once the company site passes and meets the criteria of the program, then that company is listed on a Qualified Man- ufacturer's Listing (QML), that's up on the IPC Validation Services website. That's currently an open site; anyone can view it. Goldman: How many different standards are you certifying to now? Cherry: We have several current programs. On the QML side, we have a program, as I said, for J-STD-001 and A-610. I also have the space addendum program for 001. You have to pass Class III first, and then the next step would be to go for the space addendum. I also have a QML program for the IPC/WH- MA-A-620 Standard, that's the wire-harness and cable assembly standard. We even have an intel- lectual property program standard built around IPC 1071-A. Those are our current programs that we have in place today. Goldman: How is the program going? Cherry: It's going really well. We have completed about 20 audits so far for the J-STD-001/A-610 program. We kicked off the A-620 program around the time of APEX this year, and we've got a handful of companies we're working with there. The intellectual property program hasn't really taken off yet. We're also working on an- other standard, the IPC-1072, which is intellec- tual property for companies who do print cir- cuit board assembly, like EMS companies. We're hoping that once we get the second one out, the two standards together will generate a buzz. Goldman: They would work together because you would audit both standards at one time? Cherry: That is correct. I should be clear—the 1072 is for EMS companies, the IPC-1071-A is for PCB fabricators. Goldman: Is everything in North America? And do you personally conduct the audits? Cherry: It's a global program and I design and create the programs. I do the initial beta site au- dits and just get the bugs out of the program, to where I feel it's ready to go. Then I do have other auditors that I train. I have another audi- tor here in the U.S., two out of our IPC China facility, and then I have an auditor in IPC India. Goldman: So you aren't running all over the world. Cherry: No, but I do travel to China to make sure all is going well. Goldman: How many of the companies that you've certified are in China? Cherry: Currently on the 001-610 program we've certified three EMS companies. Goldman: Are you working on a program for PCB manufacturers using IPC-A-600 and IPC-6012? Cherry: That's one of my new programs that we're going to be introducing soon. I gave a pre- sentation in September to the IPC-6012/A-600 technical committee here at Rosemont, and the presentation I gave was about the new QML program built around those two standards. We had more than 30 people in attendance and THE VALUE OF IPC'S VALIDATION SERVICES FeATure inTerview