BANNOCKBURN, IL – The OEM Critical Components committee of the IPC will write a standard on the manufacturing process and quality control of lithium-ion battery cells.The committee hopes to release the standard by the second quarter of 2007. 

The goal of the committee is to work with all stakeholders to achieve an order of magnitude improvement in lithium-ion battery quality.

The committee met last week in San Jose. Attendees included representatives from Dell, Polycom, Lenovo and Hewlett-Packard. John Grosso, director, supplier engineering and quality, sub-tier and critical commodities, Dell, is chairing the effort.

It plans to meet again within a month.

“It is a very good initiative and we support it. It is gratifying to see how companies can put their competitive instincts aside to benefit the industry and the public in the interests of safety,” said Susan Davies, vice president of corporate quality of Polycom.

"Our message is that public safety comes first," said Tony Corkell, quality and standards executive, Lenovo. "Last week's efforts are an important first step towards examining the issues surrounding battery cell manufacturing, and we look forward to working with the leaders of our industry through IPC."