What are IPC grades? – IPC grade meaning

IPC stands for the Association for Printed Circuits and belongs to the trade Electronic Interconnection Industry.
IPC officially provides grades related to PCBs and is now also known as the Association of the Electronic Interconnection Industry.
IPC is an international industry of more than 4,000 companies involved in the use, design and design of printed circuit boards and components,
Including advanced microelectronics, military applications, aerospace, automotive industry, computers, industrial and medical equipment, and telecommunications.

PCB related products require safety, reliability and high performance. Quality, attention and commitment must be maintained throughout the production process.
In order to meet the specifications and expectations of users/customers, many PCB production industries use these grades to maintain consistency, high reliability, high quality and commitment.
These also help improve the process of PCB products in many aspects.

IPC Grade Requirements in PCB Production

1. Get high quality and reliability of final product control.

2. Improve communication with many employees and suppliers.

3. Reduce PCB costs.

4. Improve your reputation and create new opportunities.

In order to use these PCB classifications, users need to understand the terminology provided by IPC, which in turn helps in communicating and buying their classifications.

The terms in IPC classifications include

1. Acceptance test: Checking whether the product meets the standards according to the requirements of the PCB user or buyer or seller.

2. Assembly: It includes the connection or assembly of various parts and assembling them together.

3. Preservative: It plays a role in protecting the coating material of the product during the manufacturing and testing processes such as electroplating, etching, welding, etc.

4.Integrated Circuit (IC): Various electronic circuits are interconnected in one place with one material to perform the required functions according to the application.

5. Elastic strength: It refers to the tensile strength of the material fiber, which can be bent, folded or rotated.

6. Critical operation: It refers to the complete operation, process and characteristics of the product.

The IPC grades for PCB design, PCB production and PCB assembly are related at each stage to achieve high-quality products and maintain a competitive spirit throughout the production process.
At each stage of PCB design and production, these are interrelated and implemented successively to achieve the desired output product.

These grades are applicable to three categories of electronic products related to printed circuit boards.

Category 1: General PCB related electronic products. This category of products are daily use products, mainly used to complete integrated functions.

Category 2: Service electronic products (exclusive). It refers to the high performance, high reliability and long life of the product.
For the end-use environment that will not cause any damage, uninterrupted service is preferred.

Category 3: High-performance electronic products. Refers to continuous and on-demand performance.
Since there is no downtime equipment, it should work when needed. Ultimately, the environment may be harsh and the related products are used as life support systems.

Some examples of PCB grades in PCB design and production include IPC-2581, IPC-2221, IPC-4101C, IPC-6012B, IPC-A-600F, J-STD-001, IPC-A-610, IPC-A-620, IPC-TM-650, etc.

Soldering IPC grades are essential for the manufacturing of PCBs and PCB products. In the global industry, IPC grade IPC-J-STD-001 G is used for soldering materials and processing.
The IPC-J-STD-001 training and certification program is applicable to the soldering of electrical and electronic components during the manufacturing process.

In the modern electronics industry, PCBs are designed and manufactured using IPC grades for quality, consistency, and process streamlining. Basically,
The IPC-7350 series of grades are used for the physical design of printed circuit boards of different types and specifications.
These grades help maintain high quality, reliability, performance, time, cost, and waste during the manufacturing process.

When designing a PCB, it is also necessary to check whether the components are properly mounted on the surface. Otherwise, there may be additional costs in designing and using a specific component.

IPC grades are not always used to design components on a PCB. A software package called CAD tools makes it easy to design PCBs, components, and strategies.
PCB components are designed using 2D and 3D CAD tools, depending on the user’s requirements.

Classification of IPC standards

IPC Class1 is assigned to general-purpose circuit boards with limited life and simple functions, including those products where the main requirement is full component functionality.

IPC Class1 circuit boards allow for various cosmetic defects as long as they do not affect the functionality of the board. In these types of circuit boards, product reliability is not a critical factor.
For example, they can be found in TV remote controls, LED lights, children’s toys, etc. They are the lowest-cost circuit boards in the industry, but they have a limited life expectancy.

IPC Class2 is used for dedicated service electronics. This means that you want the circuit board to have a longer life so that you can place it in a TV, computer, or air conditioner.
Including those products that require continuous operation and a long service life. It is best to keep working without interruption, but the requirements are not strict.
IPC Class2 products are not exposed to extreme environmental conditions. Generally, failures will not be caused by the use environment.

IPC Class2 circuit boards have higher reliability and longer life. They follow stricter standards than IPC Class1, but some appearance defects are allowed.

IPC Class 3 is used for products where sustained high performance or on-demand performance is critical, product downtime cannot be tolerated,
The end-use environment may be extremely harsh, and the product must function when needed. Moreover, the end-use environment of the product is extremely harsh,
And the product must be able to function properly when needed.

IPC Class 3 boards have undergone a high level of inspection and testing according to strict standards. This makes Class 3 boards highly reliable.
This category includes life support systems, military equipment, electronic monitoring systems, automotive PCBs and other critical systems, life-saving equipment or other critical systems.

IPC-6012DS Class 3A

IPC-6012DS Class 3A is a relatively new class. We sometimes call it IPC Class 4, which includes space and military avionics.
This is the highest class for printed circuits. 3/Class A boards require very strict manufacturing standards because these boards should remain operational in critical conditions such as outer space.
Compared to other grades, these boards are more expensive to manufacture because they need to be close to perfection. They are found in aerospace, military airborne systems, and missile systems.

PCB manufacturers usually use IPC-A-610 Class2 or the more advanced IPC-A-610 Class3 as PCB manufacturing standards. ZBPCB supports both IPC-A-610 Class2 and IPC-A-610 Class3.

What is the difference between IPC Class2 and IPC Class3? Please click to refer to this document – IPC-Class2-vs-IPC-Class3.pdf

If you need to know the requirements of IPC-A-600 in detail, please click to download – IPC-A-600G.pdf

ZBPCB is a professional PCB manufacturer. We provide high-quality PCBs that meet IPC standards.

If you have PCB technical consultation or PCB quotation request, please do not hesitate to contact zbPCB, we will reply to you soon. Our email: zbwbpcb@188.com