Safety Tip: Why Choose Permanent ESD Solutions Over ESD Mats
In the semiconductor manufacture and repair industry, providing a reliable ESD protected area (EPA) to assemble, calibrate, repair and ship ESD sensitive components is crucial. Static discharges as low as 10V can damage sensitive components without being noticed; damaged components may fail over time leading to product failure, costly field repairs, recalls and unhappy customers.
Over the past 25 years we have witnessed the greatest technological expanse ever, yet how many production facilities are still working on those ESD mats from the early 1990s?
Not convinced? Here are three reasons you should consider ESD solutions from Formaspace.
ESD Monitoring Proof of Concept
1. Formaspace offers custom, built-in ESD bench solutions
Here at Formaspace we provide ESD solutions that are aesthetically pleasing to the eye, easy to maintain, durable and ANSI ESD S20.20 compliant.
Once you’ve experienced working with a workbench with ESD built-in, you’ll never want to go back to portable ESD Mats again.
Whether you’re looking for a quick, cost effective solution or a complex, fully custom EPA, our team here at Formaspace will help you build a solution that will fit your needs.
2. Portable ESD Mats are problematic and costly to replace.
Image by Toniperis at commons.wikimedia.org
Most of the ESD damage our clients experience in the semiconductor manufacture and repair industry is caused by simple human error. Employees inspecting ESD sensitive components may become distracted and set the component down on a non-ESD protected area.
If ESD sensitive components are set down upon non-ESD protected surfaces, the potential for ESD damage rises considerably. Sometimes the damage is catastrophic — rendering the component immediately inoperable. However, in many cases, there can be latent damage that goes undetected in the factory — leading to costly product failure in the field.
Portable ESD mats are risky because they are usually cut to fit a certain portion of the work surface due to the difficulty of moving heavy equipment across the mats. This leaves a significant portion of the workbench’s ‘real estate’ exposed.
Portable ESD mats have other problems as well. Even with a proper cleaning schedule, ESD mats can still retain oils and dirt from employee’s skin and clothing; over time this leads to degradation of the protective surface properties of portable ESD mats.
ESD mats can also become damaged by many day-to-day operations. Common activities that can damage mats include: dragging heavy equipment over the surface, cutting directly on the surface, soldering directly on the surface and using heat guns directly over the surface, to name just a few. Working with glue, solvents, aerosols or other chemicals can also quickly damage ESD mats.
As a result, some of our clients have been replacing their ESD mats on a bi-yearly basis; at $250+ each this becomes very costly in a hurry.
