• Printed Circuit Board Manufacturers
• Electronics Manufacturing Service (EMS) Companies
• Suppliers of Equipment Materials/Processes/Services
• Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs)
• Original Design Manufacturers (ODMs)
• Government Organizations & Agencies
• Educational Institutes

General Guidelines for Wire harness Skill contest.

IPC India is planning to conduct a wire harness contest. It is proposed to have a multi-stage contest.

I) Preliminary
II) Regional
III) National – Final.

The Preliminary stage will be conducted as a company’s internal contest strictly under IPC guidelines:
The skill contest will constitute 3 primary factors and two support factors:
➢ Participants – Persons working in the company who would like to participate in the skill competition. He /She may be IPC certified or not certified, but good at making wire harnesses.
Has the basic knowledge of all the operations which are stipulated in the following paragraphs.
➢ Observer- An IPC Certified, either CIS or CIT, from the same company, who has good knowledge of all the processes as per 620 Standards and can distinguish between all the parameters such as ACCEPTABLE, PROCESS INDICATOR, DEFECT. He shall be neutral while judging the competitors’ performances. He/she shall be responsible for timing the contest for the participant.
➢ Referee- He /She must be a CIT with the company with a min of 5-6 years of experience in wire harness industries. In case of any conflict/disputes, the referee’s decision will be final, and no more discussions will be entertained. If the company does not have a CIT, the company can approach IPC
India to depute a referee on a chargeable basis.
➢ Support Factors
o Participating company –
▪ Should be able to support IPC India in the Skill competition, by providing Space
for contest, depute participants/observers/Referees.
▪ Should Support the event by providing the required components kit, as per their
drawing and BOM made in line with IPC India drawing and BOM that is shared.
▪ Should provide the required tools and accessories for making the wire harness as
per drawing.
▪ Provide required work tables with power outlets and adequate lighting.
▪ Provide all the required tools for the harness competition including safety
equipment
▪ Should be able to depute the winners of the competition, to next level of
competition to be conducted in any other location, by IPC.
▪ IPC India will not be liable for any type of compensation.
▪ Companies can decide the number of batches and participants per batch as per the availability of observers and workstations.

o Staff deputed from IPC to oversee as per IPC India Guidelines.
▪ He / She has no direct role in the actual making of the harnesses
▪ His/her responsibility is to oversee the arrangement whether IPC guidelines are
followed.
▪ To verify the material and drawing used for the contest are as per IPC India
approved documents and BOM.
▪ Participants, Observers, and referees are issued the necessary instructions as per the
guidelines.
The industry can use the same drawing provided by IPC India if they have components and tools as per
IPC India drawing OR develop their own based on the components and tools they have. Drawing developed by the participating company has to be sent to IPC India for approval.
The time allocated for Wire harness making is 45 minutes.
The Wire harness contest process should comprise of the following processes as per IPC 620
• Wire cutting
• Insulation Stripping
• Tinning
• Soldering.
• Crimping of
o Closed barrel
o Open barrel
o Machine Contact.
• Wire splicing.
• Protective covering
• Branching
• Bundle securing by Lacing/ cable tie
• Labelling
• Continuity Checking.
Each Participating Company should send the following to IPC India for Final approval in case the company
is using their own design. The documents should be received by IPC India at least 10 days in advance to
study and approve:
• Wire Harness drawing, with all the details of final assembly length, branching length, etc.
• BOM
• A Schematic line drawing
• List of Tools that will be used for all the processes involved.
• All tools shall have the necessary Calibration/Validation. The same may be shared.
• Competition area layout diagram

Role of Observer:
• To oversee the operations of the participants.
• To monitor and record the time, the participant takes for harness assembly.
• To evaluate the operations performed and the harness produced are complying with IPC/WHMAA-620D Class 3 requirements.
• Based on the above, the observers have to award the points.
Points to be awarded are as per the below criteria:
✓ 2 Points for all the processes that are ACCEPTABLE as per IPC 620D Class 3.
✓ 1 point to all the Processes that are PROCESS INDICATORS (PI) as per IPC 620D Class 3.
✓ 0 Point to all the Processes that are DEFECT as per IPC 620D Class 3.
Role of Referee.
• He/she should be able to handle/run the entire skill competition in a smooth way.
• The referee must be able to judge the dispute considering the viewpoints of both Competitor and
Observer. The referee should be very neutral and unbiased.
• However the decision of the referee will be final and no further discussion will be entertained.
• The referee will finally announce the top 2 based on the final scores.
Check List for observing the participants’ practices and inspection of the in-process and finished
assembly will be shared separately upon submission of the drawing and BOM to IPC India.
A detailed individual guideline for Referee, Observer, and Participant will be shared separately upon the
the company identifying the personnel.
End of the document

IPC India Skill Challenge Registration Form

For any query, please contact Saurabh K Saxena, IPC India Standards & Certification Head – saurabhsaxena@ipc.org & standardsindia@ipc.org 

IPC HAND SOLDERING CONTEST

GUIDELINES FOR COMPANIES

The Hand soldering contest is planned to be conducted as a multistage contest :
1. Preliminary – at company level
2. Regional
3. National – Final

To conduct Hand Soldering competition at the company’s premises, an organization to ensure the following without any
deviation

Facility:

1) Dedicated place to be identified for conducting the hand soldering contest to accommodate the no.
of workstations, participants, observers, and evaluators.
2) Workstations should have power points for equipment, adequate lighting. Ensure no shadows on
the working area.
3) Each workstation is to be provided with the following:

▪ ESD protection accessories comprising of the smock, wrist strap, finger cots for the
contestant.
▪ Tool kit comprising of tweezers, nose pliers, cutter, wire stripper, flux pen, desoldering wick, lint-free wipes, cotton buds, safety goggles, toothpick.
▪ Component kit & PCB drawing/BoM as specified by IPC India.

4) Identify Observers for each workstation who are knowledgeable in IPC standards IPC-A-610 or IPCJ-STD-001
5) Identify the evaluator. He shall be a CIT/CSE in IPC standards IPC-A-610/IPC-J-STD-001. In case of
the non-availability of CIT within the company, IPC India can be approached.
6) Ensure availability of Inspected components as per BoM shared by IPC India. These are to be made into kits
and serially numbered. Kits can also be procured from IPC India and serially-numbered.
7) One additional fully equipped workstation shall be available for any exigencies.
8) All workstations to be serially numbered
Conducting the contest

1) Finalized list of contestants with the date of the contest shall be shared with IPC India. Contest details to be
provided as per below:
a. Name
b. Gender
c. Job Title
d. Mail-Id
e. If Passport available, its Details:

2) Every contestant shall be identified with a serial number
3) Depending upon the number of contestants and the workstations, group the
contestants into batches.
4) Each contestant will have to pick their workstation number in a lottery system.
5) The kit number, contestant number, and the workstation number need to be recorded
on the contestant checklist.
6) Ensure the contestants, observers, and evaluators have read and understood the
guidelines of the contest.
7) Observers need to be allotted to each workstation.
8) Contestants need to check the tools and equipment and the kit number.
9) Contestants need to follow ESD protection procedures before the start of the activity.
10) The time allocated for completing the task is as stipulated by IPC India. At the end of time, PCB assembly
has to be handed over to the observer. No extra time will be given for assembly. Additional 5 minutes will be
given for housekeeping and cleaning of the workstation.
11) The task includes the following:
Component BOM checking Component Assembly
ESD Compliance Soldering
Component preparation PCBA Cleaning
Wire preparation General work etiquette
12) When all the contestants are ready, the timekeeper shall start the contest and start the
time
13) Observer will monitor the proceedings with the operator’s checklist. 3 marks are deducted from
total for every non-compliance.
14) At the end of the allotted time, the contestant has to stop working and hand over the board to the observer.
15) Workstation and equipment/tools have to be cleaned and returned to the proper place. Non-compliance
to this to be awarded negative mark as per check sheet.
16) Observer to hand over the PCB assembly with observation sheet to the evaluator.
17) Start the next batch after ensuring that all the workstations are in order. Repeat the above process.
18) All PCB Assemblies with observer’s and evaluator’s score sheets are to be handed over to IPC India.

Wiring harness is essentially the nervous system in electrical/ electronic circuits and finds varied applications ranging across the Automotive, Defense, Aerospace, Medical, Telecommunication, ICT, and Consumer durables sector. The domestic wiring harness industry has expanded over the recent years backed by the growth of India as a global automotive manufacturing hub. Wiring harness manufacturers work closely with the OEMs to develop harness systems for various vehicle models and variants.

Requirements and Acceptance for Cable and Wire Harness Assemblies is a requirement for class 3 products, mostly used in the automotive, defense, aerospace, medical sector. Staff employed in Cable & Wire Harness Assembly companies requires knowledge & re-skilling.

IPC India is working to organize the competition through a committee and support from member volunteer experts from the industry. The task before the competing participants is to prepare a proper cable & wire harnesses within the allotted time frame.

Members/Non-Members can also organize such “Cable & Wire Harness Assemblies Competition” within the organization with support from IPC India to promote skills and motivate staffs.’

Since 2013, the IPC India PCB Design Contest has received recognition from PCB Designers & Manufacturers.
Since PCB is an important part of electronics and India is looking at more PCB design & manufacturing, the competition has received an overwhelming response from the Indian electronics industry.
IPC India PCB Design Contest helps to put the skills of PCB Designers to test and allow them to compete with the best in the industry.

The contest recognizes the best designers amongst the participants, judged on the following criteria:
• CAD tool expertise.
• Perception of design technology and application of design standards.
• Overall understanding of PCB design requirements.
• Sensitivity to consequences of Design Constraints on Down Stream Activities like Fabrication and Assembly.

In addition to gaining the recognition of their peers, participants will be able to benchmark their PCB design skills against those of their design colleagues and receive recommendations from advanced certified designers (CID+) and world-class specialists in the field on how to improve performance.
IPC India organizes the contest through a committee and support from member volunteer experts from the industry. The task before the competing participants is to design PCB within the allotted time frame. The design task will be performed at the contestant’s workplace and then submitted to IPC India.

General Instructions:
• Design contest is conducted offline.
• Contestants shall be given 4 weeks’ time to complete the design and submit the deliverables.
• Accepted EDA tools: Cadence Orcad/Allegro, Mentor pads/expedition, Altium, Zuken Cadstar. Orcad schematic will be provided.
• The scope of design is from netlist import – Layout Design including library creation – Gerber generation.
• Design provided is a mixed-signal, high-speed design encompassing current design technologies. This is a representative design and need not be a functional design.
• The contestants are required to participate in second-level evaluation Viva questions on the event day.
– Questions on Manufacturability aspects.
– Questions about how the design was done.

Members/Non-Members can also organize such a “PCB Design Contest” within the organization with support from IPC India to promote skills and motivate staffs.’

October 2021: Promotion of IPC Skill Challenge Competitions to Members & Stakeholders in India Region

November 2021 – March 2022:
· Electronics Companies send the registration form to IPC India
· As per IPC Guidelines, organizes Hand Soldering/Wire Harness/PCB Design challenge at their company premises using own tools/equipment
· Company can nominate observer/judge from own company if IPC certified individuals available, otherwise IPC will support IPC Certified Instructors & Observers
· IPC Team Member present certificate to the winner & runner up at company location

April 2022 – July 2022: IPC India to organize Semi-Final Round with the winners of the 1st round at Networking events at Hyderabad, Chennai, Pune, Bengaluru, Colombo (TBC) & New Delhi (August 2, 2022).

August 4, 2022: Final Round to be played at Bengaluru.

Initiated right after the inception of IPC in 2011, the IPC India Hand Soldering Competition has since grown tremendously. With an increasing number of participants every year, the competition has garnered incredible popularity in the electronics sector.

The competition has received an overwhelming response from a broad spectrum of industries both from the private and Government sectors. It recognizes and felicitates shop floor technicians, who otherwise are denied due credit in any organization.

IPC India conducts 4–5 preliminary rounds. The technicians selected in the preliminary rounds compete for the final title. The winner is declared as the ‘Indian Champion’ and is eligible to represent India in the IPC’s ‘World Hand Soldering Championship’.

IPC India organizes the competition through a committee and support from member volunteer experts from the industry. The task before the competing participants is to build a functional electronics assembly within the allotted time frame. The competence of the assembly is judged by the Master Trainers in accordance with IPC-A-610H Class 3 criteria, the speed at which the assembly is produced, and also the overall electrical functionality of the assembly.

Members/Non Members can also organize such “Hand Soldering Competition” within the organization with support from IPC India to promote skills and motivate staffs