ESD control tools for Surface Mount Technology and Final Assembly lines

We have studied ESD control of automated production lines with a special emphasis on Surface Mount Technology and Final Assembly equipment. The goal is to develop ESD control tools to verify the suitability of an automated production line for the handling of ESDS items with withstand voltages below 100 V. The tools consist of suitable measurement techniques, instructions for the most potential locations of ESD risks - simply, procedures to guide and reduce the work required for an ESD risk evaluation of an equipment or line. The use of tools is demonstrated by example measurements of ESD control level for automated handling equipment in component placement phase.