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PlanetISO
IPC and J-STD electronics assemblyAwarenessFoundationAvailable in English · Spanish

ESD Protective Packaging: ANSI/ESD S541

Choosing, marking, using and checking the packaging that protects sensitive items between protected areas

Duration
1 hour
Modules
4
Final exam
70% to pass
Certificate
No expiry
$59
  • Lifetime access to the course and your certificate
  • Verifiable Certificate of Completion. Certificate does not expire.
  • 3 exam attempts
  • Progress saved to your account on every slide
  • The full course, every module, quiz and the final exam, is available in Spanish. Choose your language inside the course at any time.
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$250.75

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Each seat is a single-use code. Send one to each learner; they sign in with their own account and earn their own certificate. Track progress on your Team page.

About this course

Every ESD control in a protected area stops working the moment a part crosses the line. From then on, the packaging is the only control the part has. A pink bag in a corridor, a staple through a shielding bag, a moisture barrier bag opened at goods-in to count parts: none of these looks like damage, and each one is a discharge path to a component that will fail in your customer's product. This course teaches the packaging standard, ANSI/ESD S541, and the rules in ANSI/ESD S20.20 that make packaging a qualified and verified control item.

You will learn the 3 jobs of ESD packaging, low charging, dissipative or conductive and discharge shielding, and why the inside and outside rule in ANSI/ESD S20.20 clause 8.4 follows from them. You will learn the resistance categories in S541, why pink poly does not shield and how a metallized bag works as a Faraday cage until it is opened, torn or pierced. You will learn to recognize the common forms, shielding and moisture barrier bags, black conductive, dissipative totes, conductive foam, JEDEC trays, reels, tubes and coated corrugated, what to ask a supplier, and how to spot misdescribed packaging. You will learn to read the ANSI/ESD S8.1 symbols in context, apply the marking decision in clause 8.5, and follow the packaging rules at every step from receiving to shipping, returns and field service. The final module works through 5 scenarios, sets out incoming checks and periodic verification, and explains who owns what.

The course is for stores, kitting, goods-in, shipping and packaging staff, buyers who order packaging, packaging and process engineers, and ESD coordinators who write the packaging plan. It goes deeper than the packaging module of the PlanetISO ESD Awareness course and builds on it rather than repeating it. No prior knowledge of S541 is needed.

The course closes with a 10-question examination drawn from a bank of 20. On passing you receive a PlanetISO Certificate of Completion with lifetime access to the course. The certificate does not expire.

What you will be able to do

  • Name the 3 jobs of ESD protective packaging and state the inside and outside rule in ANSI/ESD S20.20 clause 8.4.
  • Classify packaging materials as conductive, dissipative or insulative using the ANSI/ESD S541 resistance categories, and explain why low charging and shielding are separate properties.
  • Explain how a metallized shielding bag works and identify the conditions that break its shield.
  • Recognize the common forms of ESD packaging, their properties and their misuse, and specify what to require from a packaging supplier.
  • Read the ANSI/ESD S8.1 symbols in context on bags, parts and workstations, and apply the marking requirement in ANSI/ESD S20.20 clause 8.5.
  • Apply the correct packaging at each step of the flow: receiving, stores, kitting, work in progress between EPAs, shipping, returns and field service.
  • Describe incoming packaging checks, periodic verification of reusable containers and the role of packaging in product qualification and compliance verification, and respond correctly to suspect or damaged packaging.

Course outline

  1. 1

    What ESD packaging must do

    The 3 jobs of ESD packaging, the inside and outside rule in ANSI/ESD S20.20 clause 8.4, intimate, proximity and secondary packaging, the resistance categories in ANSI/ESD S541, why pink poly is misused, how a shielding bag works and when it stops working.

    About 15 minutes, then a module quiz

  2. 2

    Materials and forms

    The common forms of ESD packaging and what each one is: shielding and moisture barrier bags, pink poly, black conductive, dissipative totes, conductive foam, JEDEC trays, reels and tubes, coated corrugated, tape, labels and cushioning. Multi-layer construction, reuse and inspection, what to ask a supplier, counterfeit packaging and shelf life.

    About 15 minutes, then a module quiz

  3. 3

    Marking, handling and the flow

    What the ANSI/ESD S8.1 symbols mean on a bag, a part and a workstation, the marking requirement in ANSI/ESD S20.20 clause 8.5, label placement, and the packaging rules at each step: receiving, stores, kitting, work in progress between EPAs, shipping, returns, field service kits and what to do with suspect packaging.

    About 15 minutes, then a module quiz

  4. 4

    Scenarios, checks and responsibilities

    Five scenarios from stores, kitting, goods-in and shipping, incoming packaging checks and periodic verification of totes and bins, packaging in product qualification and the compliance verification plan, the audit findings that come up most often, and who owns what.

    About 15 minutes, then a module quiz

  5. Final examination and certificate

    10 questions drawn from the course bank. Score 70% or higher to receive your Certificate of Completion.

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