How to Conduct Effective IPC Certification Courses for CIT/CIS?

There are several elements which are important for conducting an effective IPC certification class in order to be credentialed as a CIT (trainer) or a CIS (associate):

· Experienced instructor in the subject matter at hand
· Experienced instructor in using the IPC training portal
· Experienced instructor in the standard where the credential is being sought
· Professional equipment which will lead in general to better training outcomes

The use of an experienced instructor in the subject matter at hand is one of the requirements in conducting an effective IPC certification course. In order to conduct an effective IPC J-STD-001 certification course, whether it is at the CIT or CIS level, the instructor should be a subject matter expert in electronics assembly. This means the instructor should have worked in the electronics assembly, electronics manufacturing or hand soldering and assembly areas for some of their professional career. This knowledge, background and experience level allows the instructor to relate to the students. In addition, because this particular IPC certification class requires the student to have the outcome of having to be able to demonstrate soldering skills, the instructor needs to have soldering abilities and knowledge. This includes the ability to perform and demonstrate the proper hand soldering techniques while at the same time demonstrating that to students. It also includes the instructor’s ability to inspect solder joints so that they can review and comment on the hand soldering work that the student demonstrates on their sample board. If instructing per the IPC 7711/21 PCB rework and repair standards document the instructor will have to all of the skills as mentioned above albeit at an advanced level. This requires excellent hand-eye coordination on part of the instructor on order to pull this off. In order to be an effective instructor in the IPC-A-610 knowledge of manufacturing processes and the ability to teach various inspection techniques and methods including but not limited to lighting methods, the use of magnification aids and others. In order to be effective in certification training for the discrimination skills as found in the IPC-A-610. In terms of the discrimination skills certification as found in IPC-A-600 additional skills in PCB fab should be part of being an effective instructor. With respect to IPC-A-620, the instructor should also have a background in wire harness and cable assembly when instructing on how to discriminate the condition of a wire harness or cable assembly. 

Another skill that the instructor should have in order to conduct an effective IPC certification class is to make sure that the instructor is well-versed in the IPC training portal and the hierarchy of IPC standards. With the advent of online testing and the various IPC certification prerequisites, the complication of certification program has made the IPC trainer who does quite a bit of training invaluable. In addition, when something goes awry in testing or instruction the experienced IPC trainer can navigate through the IPC training hierarchy to find solutions to problems in order to make the class instruction as compact and effective as possible.

Another instructor credential for effective IPC certification training is to make sure that the instructor is well-versed in the standard that they are providing the instruction in. If an instructor has sat in the development of the given standard they can illustrate the thinking behind the given section that is being taught.

Finally, in order to make for an effective IPC certification instruction, the instructor should have all the correct tools at hand. If the certification training is the IPC-J-STD-001 the instructor needs to have all of the proper soldering equipment, magnification aids and soldering materials available for instruction in hand soldering. If the IPC 7721 repair process is being demonstrated the student, as well as the instructor, should have the proper repair materials available for the students in order to have an effective instruction. When the instructor is holding discrimination skills based IPC certification class such as the IPC-A-610, IPC-A-620 or IPC-A-600, the instructor should have the ability to project any magnification aids in order to illustrate a given point.

All of these elements as described above make for a more effective IPC certification experience.

IPC 610 Class

The IPC A-610 Acceptability of Electronic Assemblies is a worldwide standard for the inspection of electronic assemblies published by the IPC. It is the source for end product acceptance criteria for the consumer; standard use, as well as high reliability, printed wiring assemblies.

The IPC A-610 certification program is an industry-developed and approved program. It takes training, certification and instructional materials based on the IPC A-610 is available to your company. This certification program will help you meet customer requirements as well as develop any company dedicated to ISO-9000 or other quality assurance initiatives.

If you adopt the IPC A-610 training and certification it would bring your company recognition and legitimacy through the electronics industry. A lot of companies have trained individuals in their respective organizations as Certified IPC Trainers (CITs). The IPC-A-610 training and certification provide certified IPC trainers with training materials and detailed plans for training application specialists (CIS)including those in quality, management, procurement, program management and others. It allows both suppliers and buyers of electronic assemblies to “get on the same page” with respect to the outgoing quality level of the assemblies.

          

In IPC 610 class there are numerous topics covered. They are listed below from the IPC 610 Class for CIT’s:

• Introduction 
• Roles and Responsibilities of IPC Registered Instructors 
• Terms and Definitions 
• Foreword 
• Handling Electronic Assemblies 
• Discrete Wiring Assembly 
• Component Installation Location/Orientation 
• Soldering 
• Mechanical Assemblies 
• Coatings 
• Laminate Conditions 
• Surface Mount Assemblies 
• Marking 
• Cleanliness 
• Review of Instructor Skills & Effective Use of Instructional Materials 

The typical class for an instructor is taught in a classroom and takes 4 days to administer and test out of. While there are no hand soldering or wire preparation skills taught in this class there are plenty of examples which take the student through the meaning of the specifications, drawings, and tables as found in the standard. The class itself is lecture-based and is interspersed with photos to highlight some of the specifications for illustration purposes. At the end of each teaching module in IPC 610 course, a review consisting of sample problems helps students and the instructors to see how well the material is being absorbed by the IPC 610 class instructor candidates. The testing for the IPC 610 course is done online with nearly one-half of the questions being in an open book format with the other half being in a closed book format. Instructors passing the IPC 610 class consist of a copy of the specification, an instructor’s guide, a slide set of the teaching materials and a copy of the IPC-TM50 which goes through terms and definitions.

In the IPC 610 course for application specialists (CIS candidates) the modules which are useful in the particular business are taught along with the required background modules. The background modules for the IPC 610 class are modules 1 and 2 which have to do with the administration of the program, EOS/ESD guidelines, terms and definitions as well as things like the range of magnification required for inspection of the assemblies. The business then “picks and choose” other modules which are appropriate for the business. For example, if a firm is building wire harnesses then perhaps only the sections on soldering and wires/terminals will be instructed and tested in the IPC 610 class. If the business is a contract manufacturer building circuit board assemblies then perhaps only the sections in the IPC 610 course on soldering, throughhole and SMT Repair will be useful in the business. If the business only does wire wrapping ten perhaps the module on wire wrapping will be useful to take out of the IPC 610 class.

Whatever your need come to BEST for your IPC 610 class experience!

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