Hi Doug, and welcome to TechNet.

We require both microsection and lab report in our standard drawing notes. I highly recommend this. We have several times identified out of spec boards from the supplied microsection when the lab report from the same batch showed everything passing IPC-6012 requirements.

Our suppliers seem to keep microsections for at least a month after shipment, and have been happy to send photographs of them on request. It seems to me that your supplier should be able to provide at least the microsection test reports for some reasonable period of time. Per ISO-9001 sections 4.2.4 and 8.2.4 they should have a documented policy for controlling quality records and maintain evidence of conformity to requirements.

Best regards,
Raye Rivera
 
 
QA Manager · Canoga Perkins 

-----Original Message-----
From: TechNet [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Doug DeVries
Sent: Wednesday, April 30, 2014 9:14 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: [TN] IPC 6012 test coupon question

Hi all - This is my first TechNet post.  Hope I'm doing it correctly...

We commonly design and order rigid PCBs which contain in the fabrication notes the wording "Must meet or exceed the requirements of IPC-6012 - Class 2".  We do not normally add test coupons, such as the IPC A/B coupons used for microsections, into the files that we deliver to the PCB fabricator.  I've always assumed that it was their job to add the necessary coupons to comply with IPC-6012 quality requirements when fabricating the boards.

Recently I found myself in a small debate with a large, reputable PCB fabricator when my customer asked me to "show me the IPC quality data" on a recent job.  I had ASSUMED the PCB supplier was gathering said data from the IPC test coupons that I ASSUMED the PCB supplier was adding to the production panels.   I thought it was REQURED by IPC 6012 that the coupons be used on the panels.  I was taken aback when the fabricator replied to my request for the data saying that they "don't use the IPC coupons" but rather use their own "special coupons" that are much more sophisticated that the IPC coupons, allow for better process control and blah, blah, blah.   They also said they couldn't supply me with microsections from any of those coupons because they were all used / destroyed / discarded during or soon after processing...  I had some egg on my face when I went back to the customer.   Turned out there wasn't any actual problem the boards, but I feel like I got a wake-up call of sorts.

My question is:  What can I do to avoid getting into this situation in the future.  Do I need to put some or all of the various test coupons into my data that I supply to the fabricator?  Would adding a requirement such as "Micro-section and First Article Inspection (FAI) report shall accompany every lot."

As I mentioned, this PCB supplier is very large and reputable.  I have no real reason to doubt that their methods are according to Hoyle, if not IPC.  There was no actual quality problem, just a scare for me.

Doug


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