“If one does not utilize state of the art ESD instrumentation, then it is not much of an audit.”

Bob Vermillion CPP-Lifetime/Fellow, NARTE Certified ESD Discharge Control & Product Safety Engineer has over 20 years of experience auditing organizations for compliance to practices and taking ESD measurements to accurately map manufacturing and cleanroom facilities with advanced ESD computer interfaced instrumentation. Some auditing organizations focus mainly on procedures with the minimal use of basic ESD equipment not considered laboratory grade instruments¹ capable of mapping electrostatic fields with high resolution or detecting ESD events down to the volt. Moreover, the problem with basic instrumentation is that invaluable resistance, decay, electrostatic field and ESD event data are not collected to benchmark a facility for compliance. For example, in November 2006, RMV audited a facility which successfully passed an ISO 9000 audit. However, this same company failed their customer’s audit that took instrument based ESD measurements and Identified a significant number of non-compliant equipment and material related issues.

Some semiconductor CMs or subcontractors adhere to an ANSI/ESD S20.20-2007 requirement. This standard covers some of the requirements necessary to design, establish, implement and maintain an Electrostatic Discharge (ESD) Control Program for activities that manufacture, process, assemble, install, package, label, service, test, inspect or otherwise handle electrical or electronic parts, assemblies and equipment susceptible to damage by electrostatic discharges greater than or equal to 100 volts Human Body Model (HBM). The disk drive industry target extends down to +/-1.0 volts.

As a Certified ESD & Product Safety Engineer-NARTE, ESD Association Standards Member (co-author of several ANSI/ESD documents) and 3rd party American Council of Independent Laboratories ESD lab for organizations including HP, GM, Intel, TI, JDS Uniphase, Seagate, Cisco Systems and others, RMV utilizes the most advanced ESD instruments to measure both electrostatic fields and ESD events.

¹Non laboratory equipment known as indicators which exceed 15% - 20% or more

RMV utilizes advanced ESD event detection measurement techniques to rate a facility for compliance to ANSI/ESD S20.20-2007 procedures. Measurements, however, must extend beyond electrostatic fields and ESD events to determine the source of the questionable practices or areas in need of improvement.

RMV will go beyond evaluating procedures by closely examining areas for conformance against ESD standards. RMV’s evaluation will determine if Dresser Wayne’s ESD program is being implemented down to the workbench level. In addition, the ESD audit may uncover practices that require corrective action.

Testing Applicable for Auditing and Equipment Troubleshooting

1. Surface Resistance ANSI/ESD STM11.11-2006
2. Volume Resistance, ANSI/ESD STM11.12-2006
3. Materials ANSI/ESD STM11.13-2004
4. Induction Plate Testing, Field Induced Model
5. Static Decay, +/-1000 volts to +/-100 Volts of 0 volts
6. Charge Plate Monitor Charge Retention
7. Chopper Stabilized Field Meter Measurements
8. Non Contact Voltage Measurements
9. Grounding (ANSI/ESD S6.1-2005)
10. Environment Testing For Relative Humidity
11. ANSI/ESD S1.1-2006
12. Work Stations per ANSI/ESD S4.1-2006
13. Work Stations per ANSI/ESD STM4.2-2006
14. Flooring (ANSI/ESD S7.1-2005)
15. Seating per ANSI/ESD STM12.1-2006
16. Comprehensive Evaluations of Manufacturing Areas
17. ESD Event Charting & Recording
18. Detection of ESD Events, Fields and Ionization Decay at Selected Work Stations Using EMI/ESD Event Monitoring Techniques

During the typical or cleanroom facility audit, the following shall be considered:

• Fixed, Movable & Portable Workstations
• Work Surfaces
• Grounding
• Voltage
• Signs
• Serialization
• Antistatic Treatments
• Ionization
• Seating Requirements
• Monitoring

• Body voltage
• Wrist Strap Grounding
• Footwear Grounding
• Clothing
• Building Grounding Measurements
• Electrical Outlet Verification

5. Packaging & Labeling Requirements

• Packaging & Labeling Requirements
• Non ESD packaging
• Packaging ESD Sensitive items
• Packaging Non Sensitive ESD items
• Labeling & marking
• Specific Applications

6. Normal Operations & Testing Requirements

• Individual Daily Self check Procedures
• Weekly testing

7. Corporate Qualification Sequence & Testing

• Test Methods, Standards & Requirements
• Calibration

8. Materials Qualification List Requirements

9. Audit & Record Keeping Requirements

10. Corrective Action Requirements

11. Other Requirements Arising from the Audit

Report Format

RMV ESD reports are educational, clearly written, well illustrated and provide a real roadmap for improvements. The auditing techniques and test methods are referenced back to ANSI/ESD standards or standard test methods and best industry practices. The report contains a write up, computer interfaced data graphs; excel data, summary bar charts, executive summary and a corrective action section with target dates for completion.

Administrative POC: Renee Mitchell

Technical POC:
Robert J. Vermillion CPP/Fellow
Certified ESD & Product Safety Engineer-NARTE
College of Fellows, Institute of Packaging Professionals
Member of the ESD Association Standards Committee & IEEE
Member, The Association of Independent, Scientific,
Engineering & Testing Firms & Union internationale
des Laboratories Independants