IPC India - Globalizing through Localization

Indian companies are taking advantage of training programs, leading to solid expansion for IPC India.

Two years after its inauguration, IPC India continues to set down roots to bring IPC services to this populous nation.  Patient efforts are beginning to pay off: companies are embracing IPC's efforts to establish itself locally, prompting the need for expansion.

"We're taking our second step of our expansion in India, opening our North India office," Bergman said. "We now have 10 staffers in Bangalore and hope to have one soon in Delhi."

The expansion underscores the rapid growth IPC has seen in India since opening its first office in September 2010. The staff outgrew the first office and has made plans to retain a second facility in Bangalore. That facility is intended to be used primarily for training with several classrooms available for simultaneous courses. The need for these rooms underscores the high level of importance that employees and employers place on learning.

"A lot of the initial service IPC India is providing is training related," Bergman said.

Providing multi-lingual training sessions is a key element in this effort. The courses are typically taught in English. But when attendees have questions, it is important for the IPC India instructors to switch to local languages.

"Most of the operational-level people understand English, but it's their second language. Courses are taught in English, but when people ask questions, it's very helpful if the instructor can explain in further detail in the local language," Bergman said.

Next up on the agenda is a move to localize IPC's EMS Program Manager certification training programs. In this program, certain modules such as legal and contracts and  accounting and finance have to be adjusted for the Indian market. 

One of the keys for IPC's progress is to establish and maintain good communications with local companies. The staff actively solicits input from local technical and marketing staffs, using their input to tweak existing programs and start new projects.

"We've formed a couple committees to provide industry feedback so we can better hone our efforts," Bergman said.

One of those is a Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) that has a good cross section of participation from universities, OEMs, EMS companies and government agencies. Chaired by Professor G.V. Mahesh of the Indian Institute of Science, IPC India's TAC has about one dozen members who provide input on IPC programs in India including conferences and IPC  standards. They will also provide input for a newsletter that will be issued several times this year.

The TAC is also teaming with IPC's staff to create a technical conference and tabletop event called NCEDAR 2012, the National Conference on Electronic Design Assembly and Reliability. That event is being held at the Indian Institute of Science in Bangalore from December 4-6.

IPC has also completed a translation of IPC-A-610E, Acceptability of Electronic Assemblies, which is now available in Hindi. While sales of the document have not been strong to date, local members say the availability of the new document is an important step for IPC's efforts to expand in India.

"Companies are happy to see it. They say it shows that IPC feels India is important. Even people in areas where Hindi is not the local language feel the translation is a big step," Bergman said.