In our previous blog post, we started talking about the importance of IPC certification when you’re working with electronics manufacturers and contractors in the aerospace, automotive, military, industrial equipment, medical device, telecommunications, and just about every other industry. In this post, we’re continuing the same conversation while getting more specific about the IPC/WHMA-A-620B Standard.
As we mentioned last month, IPC Standards represent the best practices for the electronics industry on a worldwide basis. Overall, the IPC Standards are developed as industry-consensus documents which offer guidance to a broad audience: electronics suppliers, manufacturers, government agencies, and pretty much anyone involved in the electronics industry. Each of the IPC Standards is a highly focused compilation of guidelines and information pertaining to a specific subject.
The IPC/WHMA-A-620B Standard pulls together necessary inspection and quality acceptance requirements for cable, wire, and harness assemblies and it presents the information in a very visual format. It is a 400-page document that includes 682 detailed, full-color illustrations. It’s the B-revision of IPC/WHMA-A-620 – “Requirements and Acceptance for Cable and Wire Harness Assemblies” and it contains significant technical updates, according to the Wire Harness Manufacturing Association (WHMA) website.
According to the WHMA, IPC/WHMA-A-620B is an important industry standard and is a joint effort of IPC – Association Connecting Electronics Industries and the WHMA. The WHMA reports, “The revision addresses more than 500 documented comments and recommendations from users throughout the industry and features 125 new or changed illustrations… Some of the most extensive changes appear in the molding and potting section, which has been expanded for increased coverage of Class 2 and 3 requirements… The document also provides new criteria for wires as small as 32 AWG…” The Standard reviews acceptable production practices related to producing soldered, mechanically secured, or crimped interconnections associated with cable and harness assemblies. The Standard covers molding inspection, crimp terminals, splices, twin axle cable assemblies, cable wraps, and more – everything involved with quality-control: design, inspection, and the overall production of cable assemblies and connectors.
That’s why it’s so important to us to have IPC-certified employees and trainers on our staff at Connectronics. During every step of the production process, our engineers and technicians perform in-process inspection of critical features and processes involved in the manufacturing of wire harness assemblies and cable connectors. With the extensive guidance IPC/WHMA-A-620B Standard certification offers we all benefit: Our customers from all types of industries know that they can rely on us to manufacture specialized electronic connectors and interconnection systems that meet and exceed both the industry standards and their own expectations!
