I had the pleasure to analyze ESD testing data for shoes in a big electronics plant. I was shocked to see that the operators on average spent 15 min daily on waiting for failed tests to pass and on re-testing.
Does anyone else have experience about this and on the causes of the tests causing problems?
This can happen, espesically with shoes worn for the first time or when the outside enviroment is cold.
The shoe works with a person by developing a “sweat” layer through the sock. If the sock is thick, it might take a few minutes for that connection to be made. If it is cold outside, it may also take some time for the person’s foot to warm up enough to create the sweat layer.
Some shoes work better than others, heel straps have the same issues but can be placed right next to the skin. Some companies allow the shoes to be worn home so that by the time they get to the site, the sweat layer has already been made.
The experience seems to be that new shoes generally work well but after a while people start experiencing problems. Especially in the mornings it can take a lot of strolling before the shoes pass. Are we experiencing more than our share of problems or is this a typical behavior of ESD shoes?
I would not say this is typical. It is usually the first time takes the longest than it is shorter times the more they are worn. I don’t know why this is occuring.
Maybe someone else can comment on this.
Actually the perception was that it’s not really an issue but I heard muttering every now and then from the operators and decided to take a closer look on the data. The guesses from management on the magnitude of the problem were 100x off.