Economic Considerations
Cost – Pricing was received & analyzed, but is not included in this report for obvious reasons. However, based on an analysis of pricing and test results, it can be concluded that price does not always reflect the quality of the product.
Sales Support – As stated earlier, sales support is particularly important where an on-going purchasing arrangement is being implemented. Like many other products, ESD floors are constantly being reformulated for improvement and the need fore a competent source of information on the product in addition to meeting the needs of a purchasing department is mandatory. Each of the flooring companies were contacted during the study and rated according to”
- The amount of time it look to return a call
- The amount of time it took to get an answer/response
- The amount of available technical support
- Technical knowledge of product, etc.
Each flooring manufacturer representative was rated accordingly:
1 = very good
2 = good
3 = fair
4 = poor
Availability – Because of many semiconductor companies’ manufacturing and assemblies global presence, availability world-wide was considered. Certain manufacturers had distribution and/or manufacturing facilities located outside the United States. Dependent upon the needs of the user, a thorough research of global manufacturing & distribution should be completed prior to any purchase.
Warranty – The following is a summary of warranties, both mechanical and electrical:
Based on information made available by each of the manufacturers, the rubber flooring products had the best warranties. Most manufacturers warranty ESD tile product for 5 years electrical and 1 year mechanical, while epoxies typically cover 1 year electrical and 1 year mechanical. Based on test results, a one year mechanical & electrical warranty may be a very good indication of when the product would need to be reapplied. Resistance to Ground – Measurements were taken, as described earlier. Results after 24 months were as follows:
Abrasion – A breakdown of electrical & mechanical characteristics of a floor may occur with minimal amount of wear for certain types of flooring. Using method ASTM D-1044, testing was conducting during the second week of the study. All of the epoxies exhibited extensive wear, while the rubber flooring displayed the least. In particular, Floors “D”, “L”, “Q”, “P” & “F” failed abrasion resistance testing after approx. 2500 cycles. This should not be surprising, considering the thickness of application, which may vary. The vinyl tiles & rubber flooring all met the 1.6% at 10,000 cycle requirement. |
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Introduction | Experiment Overview | Procedures | Results | Economics | Summary | Conclusion | Credits
