By Sue Nading

Creating awareness – Rockwell Collins Senior Quality Engineer Angela Brown, who spends a significant amount of time working in the Integration Lab at our facility in Carlsbad, believes creating awareness about electrostatic discharge will help minimize possible hardware damage.
Photo by Laurel Hungerford, Santa Ana, Calif.

During the past decade, electrostatic discharge (ESD) and the havoc this unwanted electric current can wreak on the products designed and manufactured at Rockwell Collins have developed into a serious issue.

According to Tom Smith, a component application engineer who is certified in ESD, small electronic digital components have increased the possibility of unseen damage within the products our company creates.

"Today's electrostatic discharge programs will not be sufficient for protecting future component technologies from damage," said Smith, who received ESD certification from the National Association of Radio and Telecommunications Engineers (NARTE) in 2005. "Increasing our knowledge of ESD, and ensuring that our employees have the best training, procedures, and equipment is absolutely essential."

Armed with this knowledge, Rockwell Collins employees in Carlsbad, Calif., recently established a basic ESD program designed to help improve the facility's product quality and customer acceptance rate.

After visiting facilities in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and San Jose, Calif., and observing current ESD procedures and teamwork opportunities, members of the Carlsbad ESD Steering Committee launched their own program with hopes of becoming the first ESD industry-certified facility at Rockwell Collins.

"We needed to minimize possible hardware damage that would limit the long-term function and reliability of our products," said Angela Brown, a senior quality engineer in our Carlsbad facility and a member of the steering committee. "By reducing or minimizing ESD damage, our company will achieve product cost savings, and we'll also reinforce our ability to produce high-quality, reliable products for our customers."

Creating ESD awareness

Enhancing the level of customer satisfaction and focus with a formal ESD program was a task Senior PC Designer Marissa Villaruel, who also is the new ESD program manager in Carlsbad, viewed as both a challenge and an opportunity.

Excited, optimistic  – Rockwell Collins Senior PC Designer Marissa Villaruel is excited about implementing an Electrostatic Discharge program in Carlsbad. She hopes gaining industry certification will help improve the facility’s product quality and customer acceptance rate.
Photo by Laurel Hungerford, Santa Ana, Calif

"Developing and improving processes that will help our company and our customers is something I take very seriously," said Villaruel. "Creating a culture of ESD awareness has allowed us to introduce a basic program, and to train all of our employees on ESD effects."

Within the 12-month time span between 2006 and 2007 in which Carlsbad began focusing on ESD, the percentage of products shipped on time increased from 23 percent to 68 percent. The customer acceptance rate also increased to 70 percent.

Despite the fact that Carlsbad is on the right track, Villaruel has asked for assistance from Smith, who is now mentoring her and sharing his extensive knowledge in this particular area.

"Our main goal is to help Carlsbad gain ESD industry certification," said Smith. "We have a lot of work to do, but we'd like to have all of the necessary programs and guidelines in place within two years."

According to Brown, employees in Carlsbad have embraced the ESD program and are exhibiting a sense of pride and ownership.

"Knowing that they are contributing to our company's goals and failure-free products means a lot to our employees," said Brown. "I've been very pleased with their reaction to our ESD program."

Villaruel also remains excited about the future and is optimistic about the continued success of the ESD program. Future plans include evaluation of current ESD concerns in Carlsbad, and the establishment of preventative measures and improved work stations.

"My background and experience, coupled with my job responsibilities provides me with a good picture of how ESD affects the work we do," said Villaruel. "I would like to encourage other employees to learn more about ESD and realize that it is something we must adapt to. It is not an overnight change and will take time and patience."

- Sue Nading is a freelance writer.