Anodized Aluminum alloys, insulator or not?

The automated handling equipment (AHE) industry presently uses expensive, exotic and environmental unfriendly conductive or dissipative finishes such as silver impregnated anodize, black electroless nickel, black chrome, and black copper to control ESD. The purpose of this study was to determine if anodized aluminum would provide a sufficient range of dissipation. This paper describes the result of controlled experiments of several plating suppliers and types of plating. When implemented, dissipative anodized aluminum will provide a conservative annual savings of at least $1,000,000 to Universal Instruments Corporation.