These standards committee reports from IPC APEX EXPO 2013 have been compiled to help keep you up to date on IPC standards committee activities. This is the first in a series of reports.
Supplier Declaration
The 2-18 Supplier Declaration Subcommittee discussed the need for an amendment to IPC-1751A, General Requirements for Declaration Process Management. The amendment will facilitate the harmonization of the IPC-175x family of standards with the IEC 62474 materials declaration standard. The subcommittee will also pursue a restructuring of the 175x family of standards that would make IPC-1751A a repository for all data fields necessary for each sectional standard and allow each sectional standard to pick which data fields are relevant to a specific standard. The subcommittee expects to publish an amendment by the end of 2013.
The 2-18b Materials Declaration Task Group discussed several proposed amendments that would help ensure a seamless transition toward harmonizing IPC-1752A, Materials Declaration Management and the IEC 62474 Materials Declaration standard. The task group also discussed implementing a requirement for solution providers to undergo a yearly review to ensure they follow the latest released standard, schema and IPC lists of Substance Categories and Exemptions. The task group expects to publish an amendment by the end of 2013.
The 2-18f Packing Materials Declaration Task Group discussed adding a field for declaring recycled content of the packaging material in IPC-1758, Declaration Requirements for Shipping, Pack and Packing Materials. The task group will propose an amendment to the 1758 standard to include the recycled content data field. The task group expects to publish an amendment by the end of 2013.
The 2-18h Conflict Minerals Data Exchange Task Group discussed and responded to comments received during the Final Draft for Industry Review on IPC-1755, Conflict Minerals Data Exchange. Publication of a final IPC-1755 standard is expected in mid-2013.
The 2-18j Laboratory Declaration Task Group discussed several issues raised during the Committee Draft circulation of IPC-1753, Laboratory Report standard. The committee agreed to add an optional data field for sample mass. The task group expects to circulate the next draft of the standard by summer 2013.
Environment, Health and Safety
The 4-30 Environmental, Health and Safety Steering Committee heard several presentations from industry experts. Lee Wilmot, director of EHS at TTM Technologies and 4-30 chair, provided a regulatory update and health and safety update. The committee also heard a presentation by Greg Gardner, president & CEO of Arche Advisors, on corporate social responsibility auditing. The committee then participated in a roundtable discussion on supply chain management facilitated by Amanda Davidson, program analyst at Freescale, and Michelle Lee, senior staff engineer at Qualcomm. All presentations are available for IPC members at http://www.ipc.org/ehs.
The 4-32 Equipment Safety Subcommittee discussed the continued effort to develop a joint equipment safety standard with SEMI. IPC and SEMI are in the process of signing an MOU to begin working together. Committee members present at the meeting discussed outreach to impacted stakeholders.
The 4-33a Low Halogen Guideline Task Group discussed the recent results of a failed ballot on IPC-4903, A Guideline for Defining “Low-Halogen” Electronic Products. With the exception of one company representative, the consensus among committee members present was to cease working on the guideline. The committee tentatively decided that despite more than six years of effort, a consensus guideline is not feasible at this time.
Conflict Minerals
The E-30 Conflict Minerals Due Diligence Committee discussed and resolved comments received during the ballot circulation of IPC-1081, Conflict Minerals Due Diligence Best Practices Guideline. The guideline did not pass the ballot, which is common for IPC standards. The committee directed staff to analyze the legal impacts of publishing the final product as an IPC White Paper in lieu of a guideline. The committee also decided to fully align the guideline with the OECD Due Diligence Guidance document and put all examples specific to the electronics industry in informative Appendices. Publication by the end of 2013 is targeted.
Go to Committee Home Pages for a complete listing of IPC committees, chairs, meeting minutes, document drafts and comments.
Filed under: Committees, Environment, Health and Safety, IPC, Suppliers Tagged: conflict minerals, environment, health and safety, supplier declaration
