FRANKFURT – On Sept. 25, representatives from automotive and rail OEMs and Tier 1 suppliers met here to launch the IPC Transportation Electronics Reliability Council (ITERC).

The inaugural group included technologists with expertise in electronic hardware development, manufacturing technology, PCB design, quality, and environmental reliability. The council was partly developed in response to positive encouragement from IPC members and automotive industry leaders, who had attended IPC’s debut Automotive Electronics Reliability Forum in Nuremberg in June.

“Global need for advanced safety features, newer e-mobility services, and greater energy efficiency has fueled the rapid growth of electronics content in automobiles, trucking and rail,” said Sanjay Huprikar, IPC’s vice president of solutions and convener of the new council. “But as product quality and field reliability requirements become more stringent for these applications, it’s vitally important that the leading organizations in this vertical work together to better align all the stakeholders in the supply chain.”

Market data indicates, by 2030, electronics systems made up of PCB assemblies, cables and wire harnesses could reach 50% of the total cost of a traditional, internal combustion engine vehicle, says IPC. And that percentage could be significantly higher in new innovations such as electric and autonomous vehicles.

“The overall mission of the council is to identify the challenges and drive the implementation of standards for electrical and electronic systems in new mobility concepts, including electrified, automated, connected and autonomous,” said Philippe Leonard, IPC’s director of operations in Europe. “We are very excited to work with ITERC as they assess the gaps in existing standards, define the requirements for new standards, and generally promote the application of standards throughout the supply chain.”

The following companies are inaugural members of ITERC: Volkswagen, Toyota, Renault, Alstom, Bosch, Continental, ZF Group, Yazaki, Magna, Lear, and Aptiv.

The council will meet quarterly, with its next meeting scheduled for Dec. 3. For more information on how to participate, contact Sanjay Huprikar at SanjayHuprikar@ipc.org.

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