Book excerpt: Defect-free production through static and dust elimination

(Editor's note: The following is an excerpt from "Supplier to Worldwide Toyota Factories: Made in Japan," July 2009, by Makoto Takayanagi.)

Static electricity and its companion, dust, are more than a minor annoyance. They damage printed circuits, mar painted surfaces and harm numerous other processes, raising costs and lowering profits. We live in an age of business competition where brand value is created by superior quality, product performance and product design. Effective antistatic and anti-dust measures can ensure a company achieves quality superior to that of its rivals, scoring a home run in the competitive race.

One might be mistaken, and think an ionizer is a niche product and has nothing to do with international manufacturing competition. The anti-static measures that superior ionizers provide can greatly improve performance in many industries needing to reduce or eliminate defects and productivity loss attributable to static electricity and dust. The international manufacturers who will become the leaders of the future are those who recognize the importance of static-free production in their own processes.

That is the message that I believe and deliver.

A salesman called on the Toyota Motor Philippines factory in autumn 2001, carrying with him a demonstration ionizer. The salesman told the factory management, "I brought this ionizer to show you how powerful it will be in helping you solve your problem. Companies like yours have various problems with other ionizers, but this is an amazing, innovative ionizer an engineering development company invented and patented."

The new product he brought with him was an ionizer that neutralizes all static charges in a large space without using any device such as a built-in fan or compressed air. Without air propulsion, ions travel a very short distance before they are neutralized. Those that use air propulsion do not stand a ghost of a chance of performing more than a tiny fraction as well as the new, far superior ionizer. Its ions travel several times farther, vastly increasing the size of the space that can be treated.

The mechanism consists of two bar ionizers, each of which discharges either positive or negative ions. When the bars are placed up to 9 meters apart and face-to-face across a space requiring ionization, the positive ions emitted from one bar and negative ions from the facing bar are strongly attracted to each other, greatly increasing the distance they travel and filling the entire space between the bars with ions. As a result, everything within the space is ionized, effectively neutralizing all static electricity without requiring turbulent air to move ions around.

Some other anti-static systems use moisture. In theory, raising the humidity in an enclosed space should dissipate static electricity. However, excessive moisture in a manufacturing process usually causes problems, such as oxidation (rust). Eliminating unnecessary moisture can solve several additional manufacturing and quality problems.

The salesman demonstrated ionizing to the Toyota managers, using his sales tool. "Watch carefully, as static charges disappear almost instantly," the salesman said. The sales tool is a mannequin with plastic hair that stands on end when charged with static electricity. When the ionizer was switched on, its hair fell into place within seconds, completely devoid of static.