Discrimination skills (inspection skills) are a critical facet of the electronics manufacturing process.  Equally important, is the proper and consistent application of the acceptability requirements which have been established by industry consensus, and adopted by the governing standards body, the IPC (formerly the Institute of Interconnecting and Packaging Electronic Circuits). 

In order to remain competitive in today’s commercial and DOD marketplace, manufacturing organizations must develop a keen understanding of discrimination specifications implemented in the IPC-A-610 reference document, and be consistent in its application.  This knowledge must be acquired by manufacturing personnel at all levels within the organization.  Everyone from the production line operator to the quality engineer and Managers must possess a firm grasp of the quality standards employed in today’s electronics manufacturing environment.  Manufacturers are most often required by their customers to build to the accepted workmanship specifications in the J-STD-001 reference document.  The inspection criteria references the IPC-A-610 specification.  Proficiency in these standards is gained through formal certification training courses offered by official IPC training sites such as the EMPF.

Application specialist certification (Certified IPC Specialists (CIS)) in IPC-A-610 is available as well as instructor level
training and certification (Certified IPC Trainer (CIT)). CIT’s are officially sanctioned by the IPC to instruct and certify Certified IPC Specialist (CIS) level curriculum for the IPC-A-610 specification and provides them with an intimate understanding of the Acceptability Requirements of the IPC-A-610 specification (currently revision D). 

Specific modules of instruction included in the 610 CIT training course are listed in table 5-1. The EMPF takes a vested interest in the success of newly certified 610 CIT Instructors, and offers assistance via an ongoing relationship with IPC program alumni.  Certified instructors may seek assistance from the EMPF Master IPC Trainer (MIT) who delivered their course of instruction.  As an MIT, he or she has an obligation to assist new IPC-A-610 CIT Instructors with any inquiries they may have about teaching the 610 course to CIS students.

Before leaving the training site, successful candidates in the instructor training (CIT) program will receive an Instructor Guide, training visuals on CD-ROM, written tests, and reproducible copies of forms and reports required for conducting Application Specialist (CIS) training. 

Classes for both CIS and CIT level certification in IPC-A-610 are offered at our Philadelphia location,  located adjacent to the airport.  On-site classes (customer facilities) are also available, offering customized training at your location .

For additional information please contact the Training Center Registrar via email: registrar@aciusa.org, phone:  610-362-1320, or sign up on the web site at http://www.aciusa.org