May 01, 2012 New IPC President and CEO John Mitchell started his first week on the job at the association that, 55 years ago, helped a newly formed printed wiring board industry gain acceptance, strength and visibility. Today, IPC — Association Connecting Electronics Industries® serves the needs of a complex electronics manufacturing industry around the world, and Mitchell vows to help the association accelerate its growth and services to the manufacturers, companies and suppliers that bring today’s innovative technologies and electronic products to life.
“One of my top priorities is to prepare for the IPC Board meeting on May 7–8,” he says. “As part of that planning, I’ll be reviewing the IPC strategic plan and starting to identify new ways to meet the goals that the Board has set. I will also be spending time with the program directors and vice presidents to get more familiar with their issues, obstacles and goals as well.”
Mitchell says that his mandate from the Board is to help IPC grow internationally and to serve its members worldwide with excellence, “We have to reach out to all of the member segments to make sure the association is meeting their needs and helping them succeed in the global market. IPC already has a great many pieces in place. Staff and volunteers are working on important activities such as export control reform, promoting legislation that is based on science and developing and maintaining standards that help customers and suppliers interact and conduct business effectively. My goal is to see where additional IPC resources can be marshaled to expand our successes and to fix areas that need improving.”
IPC achieved the highest number of members in its history in March 2012, reaching 3,297 companies and sites worldwide that comprise hundreds of thousands of employees. In the coming months, Mitchell plans to visit IPC’s offices around the world as well as with as many IPC members and constituency groups as his calendar can accommodate. For more information on Mitchell and IPC, visit www.ipc.org.
IPC (www.IPC.org) is a global trade association based in Bannockburn, Ill., dedicated to the competitive excellence and financial success of more than 3,200 member companies which represent all facets of the electronics industry, including design, printed board manufacturing, electronics assembly and test. As a member-driven organization and leading source for industry standards, training, market research and public policy advocacy, IPC supports programs to meet the needs of an estimated $2.02 trillion global electronics industry. IPC maintains additional offices in Taos, N.M.; Arlington, Va.; Stockholm, Sweden; Moscow, Russia; Bangalore, India; and Shanghai, Shenzhen and Beijing, China.
