The Value of IPC’s Validation Services

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I recently spent a little time with IPC Director of Validation Services Randy Cherry, learning more about this relatively new program and how it was evolving. I also wanted to make sure that it was something that the industry wanted and felt a need for. Randy is on top of just about everything, it turns out, and provided great detail on the various aspects of this arm of IPC, including the newest program, Standards Gap Analysis.

Patty Goldman: Randy, tell me a little about yourself and what you are doing at IPC, and then we’ll get into the nitty-gritty about your goals and some new offerings from IPC.

Randy Cherry: Thank you very much for this opportunity, Patty. I’ve been with IPC a little more than two years now and I have about 30 years of experience in the OEM industry. I spent the last 21 years working for Tellabs in Naperville, Illinois, as a process engineer.

Goldman: What can you tell us about Validation Services?

Cherry: Validation Services is basically a series of audit certification programs built around the IPC standards, mainly the more popular ones like J-STD-001, IPC A-610 and others that are used throughout the entire industry—pretty much everywhere. Basically, we certify companies to those IPC standards. Prior to Validation Services, IPC had certification programs for individual employees of companies. You could go to one of the recognized IPC training centers, take the class and exam, and you could either become a Certified IPC Specialist (CIS), or a Certified IPC Trainer (CIT). That’s all focused on the individuals of various companies.

Goldman: It was only for certain standards, right?

Cherry: That is correct. IPC Validation Services takes it to the next level and certifies the facility or the actual site, the company site, to the same IPC standards.

Read the full article here.

 

Editor's Note: This article originally appeared in the December 2015 issue of The PCB Magazine.

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