Antistatic discharge – commonly referred to as ESD (Electrostatic Discharge) – is the transfer of charges between objects with different electrical potential. Electrostatic charges are created when two different materials are rubbed or separated. Daily examples of such situations include walking on a synthetic floor, rubbing synthetic clothes, moving plastic containers or unwinding adhesive tape.
Discharges of this type are characterized by high voltage, which at air humidity below 20% can reach up to 30 kV. Values of this order easily damage electronic components. For example, the ESD sensitivity of selected components can be given: VMOS – 30-1800V, MOSFET – 100-200V, GaAsFET – 100-300V, EPROM – 100V, JFET 140-7000V.
Damage to components can result in the production of faulty electronics with a number of potential consequences – increased costs, loss of reputation and, in extreme cases, even the need for product recalls. This risk is generally reduced in the electronics manufacturing and repair industry by creating properly designed and equipped Electrostatic Protected Areas (EPA). Appropriate floors, equipment, tools, furniture and workwear are key here.
Here the offer of antistatic furniture and clothing of the award-winning and widely recognized Polish brand REECO deserves special attention.
ESD FURNITURE
Furniture from the REECO offer responds to these trends by improving organization and reducing the space needed for workstations. The solutions are modular in nature, which means that they can be easily configured and adapted to almost any industry and type of business. This allows you to place your work tools and components within easy reach of your employees.
This is achieved by the wide range of available shelves, bins, panels and mounting brackets designed to be used in the widest possible range of situations. This allows the employee to perform his or her tasks faster, without wasting time looking for things and moving around. This increases the efficiency of his or her work and reduces the risk of accidents related, for example, to his or her sudden movements with a load.
The risk of occupational diseases associated with spinal degeneration is also minimised with electrically adjustable table tops. This allows for a frequent change of working position from sitting to standing, which is recommended and has been a standard of health and safety in highly developed countries for a long time. The introduction of appropriate ergonomic solutions therefore makes it possible both to reduce the number of necessary workstations by increasing work efficiency and to reduce direct and indirect costs resulting from accidents at work.
Furniture, and especially anti-static table-based workstations, have a vertical structure. This means that their construction, based on a load-bearing frame and placed above the table top and in front of the worker, makes it possible to place within its range all the equipment and tools that would normally occupy a place next to the worker.
This allows for a significant reduction in the space needed for a single workstation and, on an enterprise-wide scale, often reduces the required size of production halls and the associated costs in the order of 50-60%.
HOW TO CHOOSE THE FURNITURE?
What kind of appliances and equipment a particular company will invest in is strongly dependent on its policy and how widely it looks at its current and future situation. In the field of industrial furniture, some customers have had negative experiences with making workstations for their own needs either on their own or by outsourcing to craftsmen/sub-contractors. This approach, due to its small scale, involves much higher raw material costs, as well as the costs of purchasing the right tools or time spent on developing the right know-how.
In practice, even if there are some initial savings, when all costs are taken into account, they become negligible. The furniture produced in this way is also – by its very nature – burdened with problems that will become apparent over time. Any attempt to expand or reconfigure the organization of a workplace or workstations will involve going through the entire process of designing and manufacturing the workplace or its new elements from the beginning. REECO furniture is based on 25 years of experience of the manufacturer in this industry, knowledge of what solutions work in the long run and with which customers are satisfied.
The key here is modularity and maintaining a consistent high standard, as well as production repeatability and compatibility over the years.
This allows our customers to invest only in the elements they currently need, knowing that if there is a need to modify the line they can dismantle their existing constructions and add new ones at any time. Full availability of products to the customer – of the order of 100% of standard elements in stock is a key element of the manufacturer’s policy. This allows great comfort for customers who can react to the needs of their production lines even overnight and distinguishes RENEX Group manufacturer from imported solutions. At the same time, thanks to the potential of the domestic manufacturer, with the appropriate technological background and experience, it is possible to manufacture customized elements, yet compatible with standard REECO modules, in a short period of time.
WHAT AFFECTS THE QUALITY OF SOLUTIONS?
The quality of REECO system components is largely due to the raw materials used. This furniture is made of steel.
This by the very nature of the material makes them much more durable and less susceptible to deformation than alternative aluminium solutions. The protective and antistatic coating or antibacterial layers, which in the era of the COVID-19 pandemic, arouse great interest among entrepreneurs looking for solutions to minimize the epidemiological risk, are also very important. This applies especially to plants operating around the clock, where employees of successive shifts sit on the same work stations. Furniture production is equipped with the same system of preparation and surface protection as used for manufacturing elements in the aviation industry. This allows them to be used without additional painting for up to 30 years. Furniture is a specialist product designed to be used in EPA zones where electrostatic sensitive electronics are produced. For this reason they are all covered with world-class antistatic coatings. The electronics manufacturing and repair industry is very aware of the importance of using high-end ESD protection.
HOW TO CHOOSE THE CLOTHING?
The first and quite obvious step is to select proven and certified solutions. It is important to make sure that the properties of the clothing we use have been confirmed by independent institutions and meet the standards for use in EPA zones. The easiest way to start is to check whether the product bears the CE safety mark. By marking its product with this sign, the manufacturer declares that it meets the requirements of all directives relating to it.
The next step to minimize the risk is to take into account the washing and maintenance procedures for clothing. Antistatic clothes should not be washed in uncontrolled conditions, even in commercial laundries that are not specialised in this area. Following the manufacturer’s recommendations, appropriate procedures can be implemented in your own structures or delegated to a third party. Reliable clothing suppliers should also provide ongoing maintenance services.
Another key aspect is the already mentioned quality. The selection of suitable, tested materials and precision in manufacturing make the difference between confidence that the product has and maintains antistatic properties and unnecessary risk. In order to be able to properly assess the quality of the product, it is important to get acquainted with the opinions of its long-term users, as well as to pay attention to the product finish.
When choosing ESD clothing, you should not also overlook the comfort of use. The garment must be loose-fitting enough not to hamper movement, while at the same time being snug enough to not interfere with precise tasks.
It should also be remembered that the clothes we choose will be everyday life for all employees of the ESD zone. Uncomfortable items of clothing, such as those causing abrasions or skin irritation, will obviously be disliked by staff, what may reduce their productivity.
Ensuring user comfort will always be easier if we choose a brand with a wide range of products. This applies in particular to sizes, types of clothing and cuts to suit different silhouettes – of both men and women.
An important element is also the possibility of personalizing the clothes, i.e. ordering clothes visually adjusted to our needs, e.g. by embroidering the company’s logo or creating clothes in the right colour or pattern. This need may have both aesthetic and practical dimensions – e.g. allowing for identification of employees of particular departments of the company by means of clothing. The advantage resulting from direct cooperation with the manufacturer or its accredited supplier is obvious.
As can be seen, choosing the right clothes is not as simple as one might think. Therefore it is good to refer to the knowledge and experience of the expert. On the Polish market such an expert is RENEX – a comprehensive supplier of equipment for the electronics industry. Thanks to 30 years of experience in the industry, the company undoubtedly knows the reality of electronics production and service. For 15 years, under its REECO brand, it has also been manufacturing equipment, clothing and accessories for EPA zones and laboratories.
In addition to the highest quality ESD clothing, REECO, in line with its mission to provide comprehensive service to its customers, also offers industrial furniture for ESD zones and equipment such as antistatic bands with a grounding wire and antistatic mats – for tabletops and floors – anti-fatigue. This ensures full protection in the EPA zone.
REECO’s offer also includes clothing designed for cleanrooms, where clothing is one of the critical criteria behind process reliability and safety. It is also worth mentioning that RENEX, under the CLEANROOM and CLEANSYS brands, also provides a full range of services and products for such areas.
By choosing comprehensive REECO brand solutions, ESD coordinators and employers are guaranteed the highest quality products created by industry specialists.
Contact:
Andrei Bratanov – National Sales Manager
Strada Văliug, nr. 32, Sector 1
13986 București, ROMÂNIA
T: +40 799 774 330
E: Andrei.Bratanov@renex.ro
