It is well known (but often forgotten) that the concept of inductance, without defining a complete loop of current, is completely meaningless! Some books give inductance of a length or wire, some people talk about the inductance of a via, and still others talk about the inductance of ground braids, etc. All these discussions about inductance ignore the requirement for a complete loop before the total or loop inductance can be discussed in any meaningful way.
Over the past several years, U.S. based organizations have curtailed traditional internal verification efforts due to reliance on contract manufacturers, distributors and suppliers to do the right thing. The inspection of ESD sensitive parts is very important, but without special safeguards, the additional handling to remove and repack a product for validation can cause both physical and ESD damage in the process. For parts, including those not sensitive to static electricity, measures must be utilized to detect, inspect and validate the packaging that identifies and protects the product.
Anyone who has worked in quality or reliability in a large corporation knows that developing and presenting credible failure cost information can be difficult. This is particularly true for ESD, where the events and their effects are invisible and not nearly as well understood as other more obvious classes of failure, such as mechanical or contamination.
