Electrostatic discharge (ESD) is a problem for many electronic devices. It’s also very common. Because of that, all devices need to be protected from ESD. You need to have measures in place to ensure that the devices you produce are not at risk.
One way to achieve this is to comply with the ESD 20.20 standard. This sets quality management standards for developing ESD control programs to protect sensitive components and equipment.
Understanding ESD and Its Impacts
Properly controlling and managing ESD begins with understanding the impact of it on equipment and potential safety.
Definition and Causes of Electrostatic Discharge
We’ve all felt a slight shock when we touch a car or a metal doorknob or take clothes out of the dryer. This slight shock is electrostatic discharge (sometimes called static electricity). While typically harmless to us (although it’s worth noting that lightning is an extremely powerful electrostatic discharge), this shock can cause problems for sensitive electronics.
ESD is caused when two different conductive materials rub together. One material becomes positively charged, the other negatively charged. The positively charged material then causes an ESD event when it touches another conductive material. The material doesn’t even have to be particularly conductive. Examples include styrofoam cups, plastic bags, carpets, and, of course, people.
Effects of ESD on Electronic Components and Devices
Specific common devices and components are particularly sensitive to ESD. They include:
- Microcircuits
- Discrete semiconductors
- Film resistors (thick and thin)
- Printed circuit boards
- Hybrid devices
- Piezoelectric crystals
An ESD event can cause immediate and permanent physical damage to components, resulting in total or partial failure. In this case, the failed part may be detected before shipment or during final testing. More insidious is a latent failure, which results in the component or device being damaged but continuing to function for a time. This results in premature failure that can be expensive and dangerous. ESD events can mean discharge to the device, discharge from the device, and field-induced discharges, which result from exposure to electrostatic fields created by discharges in the area, all of which must be addressed in electronic components protection plans.
Importance of Implementing ESD Protection Measures
As you can see from this, ESD events can cause failures and be a safety hazard. Proper ESD implementation can ensure that you do not ship components with ESD exposure.
Overview of the ESD 20.20 Standard
The ESD 20.20 standard is designed to support the development of ESD control strategies and operates across multiple industries.
Introduction to the ESD 20.20 Standard and Its Development
ESD 20.20 replaces the older MIL-STD 1686. It’s also referenced by TL 9000 as a best practice. It provides administrative and technical requirements that address training, ESD-protected area requirements, and other technical requirements. Note that it refers to several other ESD Association standards.
The standard was introduced in 2014 and revised for clarity in 2021, adding some requirements for compliance verification and adding packaging requirements.
Explanation of the Key Objectives and Scope of the Standard
The key objective of the standard is to ensure that components are not subjected to ESD damage before leaving the factory. It applies to any company or organization that manufactures, processes, assembles, installs, packages, services, tests, inspects, transports, or handles any parts or equipment that can be damaged by ESDs of 100 volts from the human body model (HBM) and 200 volts from the charged device model (CDM). For isolated conductors, the voltage is limited to less than 35 volts.
Importance of Compliance With the ESD 20.20 Standard
Complying with ESD 20.20 is not a legal requirement per se. But it can help you meet both regulatory and customer requirements. It can even improve your ability to meet deadlines. The certification also ensures that your compliance is visible to customers and reduces the risk of shipping “bad” components.
ESD Control Program
Designing a great ESD control program supports customer satisfaction and lowers costs. ESD damage prevention reduces costs and time-to-ship significantly.
Designing an Effective ESD Control Program
An effective ESD control program identifies and mitigates all potential sources of electrostatic discharge, including personnel. This starts with a risk assessment of the production and transport environment.
Elements and Components of an ESD Control Program
There are three fundamental principles:
- Bond and ground all conductions in the environment, including personnel (for example, wrist-attached ground cords).
- Also, ensure that process-essential insulators do not lose their electrostatic charge if they touch the ground.
- Finally, transport sensitive items in protective enclosures.
All three of these elements need to be present for ESD best practices.
Risk Assessment and Evaluation in ESD Control
It’s vital to do an initial audit, risk assessment, and ongoing evaluations to ensure your program is working as designed and staff comply. ESD certification supports this by requiring ongoing auditing and surveillance.
ESD 20.20 Requirements and Procedures
The ESD 20.20 requirements fall into five separate areas:
- Personnel grounding. This might mean wrist straps, special footwear, or training to ensure that personnel properly ground themselves before risking contact with sensitive components.
- ESD-protected area (EPA) requirements. Keeping areas free of ESD risk might mean keeping certain devices (or people) out of storage areas.
- ESD control devices and equipment. This includes grounding equipment and containment devices.
- Packaging, handling, and transportation guidelines. ESD-sensitive components should always have proper transportation in ESD-proof packaging. It’s particularly important to ensure there is no static discharge when packaging items.
- ESD compliance verification and auditing procedures. ESD control is not one-and-done; you must keep updating your program and monitoring with a comprehensive auditing process.
Companies must meet all of these requirements to gain and maintain certification.
ESD 20.20 Certification and Training
All companies that handle sensitive components benefit from ESD 20.20 certification and from training their staff in ESD awareness and control measures.
Importance of ESD Certification and Training Programs
ESD training and certification allow you to demonstrate to your customers, all the way through the control chain, that you are taking the best measures to prevent damage from static electricity. It also shows your overall professionalism and commitment to quality.
Recognized Certification Bodies for ESD 20.20 Compliance
The following organizations are recognized and can certify ESD 20.20 compliance:
- ABS Quality Evaluations
- BSI, Inc
- Bureau Veritas Certification North America, Inc.
- CEPREI Certification Body
- Crown Certification Testing Co., Ltd.
- DEKRA Certification, Inc.
- DNV GL – Business Assurance USA, Inc.
- DQS, Inc.
- International Standards Authority
- Intertek Testing Services NA Inc.
- Lloyd’s Register Quality Assurance Inc.
- National Quality Assurance USA and UK
- SAI Global
- SGS SA
- TUV Rheinland Ltd.
- Shanghai NQA Certification Company Limited
- TUV SUD America, Inc.
- TUV SUD PSB Pte. Ltd.
- URS Certification, Ltd.
Choose a certification body that is accredited in your area and with which you are comfortable working. Check the list regularly in case it changes.
Training Requirements and Resources for ESD Awareness and Control
Your personnel also needs to be up to date on industry developments in ESD protection and control. Ongoing training is vital not only to maintain certification but to continue to upgrade your standards. Certification bodies often provide training resources to help everyone get up to speed.
Benefits of ESD 20.20 Compliance
Complying with ESD 20.20 comes with a variety of benefits:
- It helps you meet customer requirements, allowing you to get larger and more lucrative contracts.
- It protects you from regulatory changes. The standard is typically at least what is required by most jurisdictions.
- Improve your overall quality assurance, reducing the risk of ESD-related failures and associated costs.
- It creates a competitive advantage.
- It improves product reliability.
Ultimately, it helps you improve customer satisfaction while lowering costs and providing an excellent ROI.
Challenges and Future of ESD Control
The biggest challenge to ESD control is increased automation. While automation removes the human body as a potential source of ESD, it adds machinery that can produce discharges at an even higher voltage. The development of higher technology and increased use of microcircuits and sensitive components in, for example, household appliances makes ESD control an ongoing challenge for more and more companies.
Key Takeaway About the ESD 20.20 Standard
If you are shipping and/or handling sensitive components, then the ESD 20.20 standard helps you demonstrate that you are taking the best steps to protect them from electrostatic discharges.
This helps you lower costs by improving quality assurance, reducing re-ships, and improving customer satisfaction and confidence in your products.
Partstack’s editorial team is made up technical writers and engineering folks from around the world.
