IPC call for standards for the<br>manufacture of lithium ion batteries

Earlier this week, Dell recalled about 4 million computers sold during the last two years because the batteries could cause fire on the computers. This is one of the largest consumer electronics recalls ever. Now, US trade organisation IPC - Association Connecting Electronics Industries has announced that its OEM Critical Components Committee, which includes representatives from Dell Inc., Lenovo and other major computer manufacturers, will hold a technical summit meeting in mid-September in San Jose, Calif. to begin development of standards for the manufacture of lithium ion batteries for portable and handheld electronics. "Without a doubt, standardization can and will address the issue of operation and safety called into question by the use of lithium ion batteries. While the Committee had identified lithium ion batteries as the next product for standardization, we are going to accelerate our activities now," said John Grosso, chairman of the IPC OEM Critical Components Committee and director of supplier engineering and quality, sub-tier and critical components, Dell Inc. The IPC Committee, according to Grosso, will identify any current standards related to lithium ion batteries with the goal of standardizing design, performance and safety requirements for these batteries. "The IPC Committee has been very active in identifying and working to standardize components vital to the function of products in the computer and telecommunications industry," according to Anthony Hilvers, IPC vice president of industry programs. He added that the committee has recently completed a standard for fans for electronics applications and is also working on standardizing performance parameters for power conversion devices for electronic products.