EMS@C-LEVEL
As Forbes, Entrepreneur, Fast Company and SCOOP writer, Philip Stoten, continues to talk to EMS (Electronic Manufacturing Services) executives he learns more about their individual and collective experiences and their expectations for their own businesses and for the entire electronic manufacturing industry.
EMS@C-LEVEL
From IPC to Global Electronics Association: Connecting The Electronics Manufacturing Supply Chain, with CEO John Mitchell
The electronics industry has reached a pivotal moment of transformation, and leading the charge is a familiar organization with a brand new identity. In this revealing conversation, John Mitchell, President and CEO, announces the rebrand of IPC as the Global Electronics Association – a name that finally captures the true essence of the organization.
"The name literally represents who we are and what we've been doing for some time," Mitchell explains, addressing how the former acronym – while iconic in standards and certification – created confusion among media, policymakers, and those less familiar with the association's evolution since its founding in 1957. The new identity boldly declares its worldwide reach while clarifying its comprehensive role across the entire electronics ecosystem.
This rebrand represents more than just a name change. It signals a significant inflection point with substantial investments in global operations, advocacy, industry intelligence, and communications. With a refined vision of "better electronics for a better world" and a streamlined mission focused on supply chain resilience and industry growth, the association is positioning itself at the critical intersection of global and regional interests. As Mitchell notes, "A global supply chain is also made up of regional capabilities."
What makes this transformation particularly powerful is how it embraces the connected nature of modern electronics. The Global Electronics Association now represents every segment of the supply chain – from semiconductor manufacturers to OEMs and everything in between – creating a unified voice for an industry that powers virtually every aspect of modern life.
Ready to be part of this evolution? Visit electronics.org to discover how this renewed organization is shaping the future of electronics worldwide.
EMS@C-Level is sponsored by global inspection leaders Koh Young (https://www.kohyoung.com) and Creative Electron (https://creativeelectron.com)
You can see video versions of all of the EMS@C-Level pods on our YouTube playlist.
Welcome from my house to yours, welcome to EMS at Sea Level. I am joined by John Mitchell, the President and CEO of IPC, with some very exciting news. John, congratulations on the new name for IPC. I think people have been familiar for decades with the IPC name and the brand, but few people know what those three letters stand for, and it's becoming increasingly clear that you're an international trade association. So I'm going to let you be the first to say the new name. Tell me the backstory behind the rebrand and why you chose the name.
John Mitchell, President & CEO, Global Electronics Association :Sure, phil, thanks for having me. We're now the Global Electronics Association, and as I've been sharing a few sneak peeks of the name with our members around the world, I've been pleasantly surprised to hear many of them say well, that's who you are, and it really is. We are a global organization. We've been serving the entire electronics ecosystem. Our membership makes up, you know, everybody from the primes to materials and everything in between, and so we're very excited about this. We think it helps clear up a lot of things for us, especially when we're talking with media that's less familiar with us, or with policymakers.
John Mitchell, President & CEO, Global Electronics Association :The name IPC, while iconic in terms of standards and certification to the industry, because the letters don't stand for anything has been a bit of a challenge, and you know, since we've existed since 1957, at that time we were strictly a board association and people who aren't as familiar with us over the last couple of decades still tend to think of us that way. So the name allows us to break with that imagery a bit, which is wonderful and helps us. The name literally represents who we are and what we've been doing for some time, and then opens a broader future. Along with the name, we've simplified our mission and changed our vision slightly. So instead of just build electronics better for our vision, it's better electronics for a better world. And then our mission is simplified to helping build a resilient supply chain, as well as helping our membership and industry continue to grow.
Philip Stoten:Yeah, I think it makes perfect sense and I think if you'd said to many people for some considerable time what is IPC, they would say it's a global electronics association. In terms of the language people use around it, that's exactly what.
John Mitchell, President & CEO, Global Electronics Association :What even at electronica last year, I think during our interview I described it was like uh yeah, so uh, we're IPC. The global electronics association is just part of it, you know.
Philip Stoten:Yeah, yeah. So it makes sense for that to become the uh, become the name and become the brand, and I've been privy to see some of the brand development. It looks great. I'm excited for people to be able to check that out at electronicsorg. What a great URL you had in your back pocket.
John Mitchell, President & CEO, Global Electronics Association :Yes, it's also very easy. So, for those of you who are listening to this, if you have as whitelisted as IPCorg, please whitelist electronicsorg as well, so you can continue to get our communications.
Philip Stoten:Yeah, and you're not completely moving away from the IPC brand. You're maintaining some of the standards and training which I think is very important for continuity.
John Mitchell, President & CEO, Global Electronics Association :Yeah, we're actually going to in terms of and resources, in terms of advocacy, we're adding more on our industry intelligence area so people will have better information to make key decisions, and by people I mean not just members, but also policymakers and governments, because it's important, because they impact our industry significantly. And then, finally, we're making some significant investments in communications as well, so that not just our industry, but the world recognizes that every industry is reliant upon electronics and they all need an electronic strategy.
Philip Stoten:Yeah, and when I look at any rebrand, I think of it as an important point for a brand. You have a brand promise and it's important that you deliver on that. But within your organization it feels very much like an inflection point. We've seen a lot of additional members to the team. We've seen some senior members joining the team. It feels like you're building out much more globally at the moment Not a coincidence, I assume building out much more globally at the moment.
John Mitchell, President & CEO, Global Electronics Association :Not a coincidence, I assume. No, not at all. We feel like, while we've been growing globally and building out globally for some time, with it being the first word in our name, we want to make sure that we're delivering on that promise for sure. So you may have seen a recent announcement of Sanjay Hooprakar, who's been with us for many years, being promoted to our chief global officer, and by the end of the year, all the various regions will be reporting directly to Sanjay to help, and we're building those out as well. Communications, you know, and all the various support efforts underneath each of those areas as well, are being built up.
Philip Stoten:Yeah, so it's a substantial investment and this is a substantial investment globally. I think what's interesting is we're we're at a stage in the industry where people have been challenging the word globalization and there's a lot of talk about regionalization and we're trying to figure out what the balance is. And I was really pleased when I was reading the about global electronics association boilerplate, as we call it at the end of the press release where it talks about advocating for fair trade, smart regulation and regional manufacturing, and I think that's really important to understand how we all fit into that global market but how we all act on a regional basis yeah, I have had some people say really in today's world you're leaning into global and I'm like absolutely, because that's the reality of the electronics industry.
John Mitchell, President & CEO, Global Electronics Association :But a global supply chain is also made up of regional capabilities and so we're still advocating to build those capabilities in the countries and regions where you live around the world, because those capabilities is what helps build a resilient supply chain.
Philip Stoten:Yeah, I think, when I look at what you're doing globally and where you do act regionally, there are a couple of areas that I think are really valuable, and I know these come to a certain degree under Chris Mitchell. The area of advocacy, I think, is really important because, much as there are global issues and challenges that face the industry, the only way you're going to deal with those from an advocacy point of view is to do that locally, and the only way you can bring together industry insight and research is to do it regionally and then be able to review it through your team on a global basis. That's a really nice synthesis of this global regional model.
John Mitchell, President & CEO, Global Electronics Association :It is. It feels like we're, you know, kind of talking out of both sides of our mouth at the same time. It's like, oh, we're global here, but you know, things like advocacy absolutely need to be very regionally or even country focused Standards, very global. And so we play in both realms very, very well, frankly, and that requires those local teams to be able to support, first understanding the local members' needs and then also understanding local needs of the governments and local directions that the governments are taking.
Philip Stoten:Yeah, and I think, when I think of the other direction, that there is breadth in. It's the direction of the supply chain. It's up and down the supply chain. When you talk about 1957, when you were the Institute of Printed Circuits and you were very focused on the US printed circuit board industry now a global association, but covering everything from semiconductor all the way up to finished manufactured products- Absolutely.
John Mitchell, President & CEO, Global Electronics Association :I mean, you know, a large portion of our members are the OEMs and primes, the brands that most people in the world recognize. But then, yeah, we have the semiconductor subsector, if you will, the EMS subsector, the harness subsector, the board subsector, the material subsector, the equipment subsector, you know. So just all of these pieces are really required to deliver a system, and so we are uniquely positioned, with membership in all of those subsectors, to represent that complete picture to other industries, to governments, policymakers, etc.
Philip Stoten:Yeah, when you look at producing policy, you look at producing standards, you look at producing insight, you can only do that if you're producing it for the entire ecosystem. If you focus on one area of the ecosystem, there's an area of the ecosystem that is acting without connection to everybody else, so that's essential, isn't it?
John Mitchell, President & CEO, Global Electronics Association :It's the reality we are a connected industry.
Philip Stoten:Yeah, yeah, and you connect people incredibly well, john. Thanks so much for your time. Really exciting news. I'm sure we're going to see and hear lots over the coming days and weeks and look forward to catching up with you at the next event. Thanks,