In electronics manufacturing, printed circuit boards are separated into three categories: 1, 2, and 3. The printed circuit board classification system, developed and monitored by IPC, has categories that reflect the level of quality of each circuit board type. Based on the IPC-6011 standard, the categories range from lowest (Class 1 standards) to highest (Class 3 standards).The major difference between each class is the degree of inspection electronics assemblies must undergo and the quality standards to which they're subjected. Understanding the classes and their requirements can be helpful to OEMs who aren’t sure to which class their product should belong. Customer requirements and cost can weigh heavily in deciding which class to pursue.Let’s take a look at the IPC class definitions and when you should consider each of them a possibility for your product:Class 1 Electronics: General Electronics ProductsClass 2 Electronics: Dedicated Service Electronics ProductsClass 3 Electronics: High-Reliability Electronics Products