Where and When to Get Help

HAROLD D. FITCH

An important consideration often overlooked in contamination control is when to call for help. It might appear to be a simple decision: you call for help when you are stuck and not making any progress in solving a problem. Unfortunately, the call for help often goes out way too late.

Help is defined as “aid, assistance, support, relief.” In contamination control, help can involve methods of avoiding the difficulty in the first place. It can be direct–solving a technical problem, for example–or it can be indirect, a diversionary action to take the heat off while you continue to work on the problem yourself.

In the late 1970`s and early 1980`s in the semiconductor industry, a popular diversion was to blame any unexplained contamination control problem on the de-ionized (DI) water. This took the pressure off the line engineer and shifted it to the facilities engineer–not a good example of the modern concept of teamwork. And anyway, DI water systems have improved considerably and are understood much better, so they are not the convenient scapegoat they once were!

Getting a Second Opinion

But diversion is still a time-honored tactic to avoid solving problems. In a very high pressure situation, one of the best techniques is to diffuse the pressure by calling for a respected “second opinion.” If you can call for help from a recognized expert either from within or “without” your company, it will reduce the pressure on you. A rough rule of thumb when calling in outside experts is that they should come from at least 15 miles away. There are exceptions: a company-wide or world-recognized expert can come from the laboratory next door if credentials are good and he or she is definitely not part of the immediate problem you are working on.

This technique might sound a little devious but, in fact, it is solid in principle. An expert brings a fresh view to the problem, and can sometimes even identify a cause that people closer to the problem cannot see. Most important of all, the expert is usually not under the same pressure as the responsible line person. Bringing in an outside expert shows that you are open to suggestions and looking for the fastest possible solution to the problem at hand. If this is a line-down situation, thousands or even millions of dollars per hour may be at stake.

Finding Experts

Where do you find expert help for a given problem? Plan ahead by identifying your key activities and matching them with experts you can contact if the need should arise. Let`s pick one example.

Imagine you are having a problem filtering a particular chemical. Where can you go for help? The first and fastest source would probably be the catalogs and information put out by the filter manufacturers. Next, the people within your own company doing similar work would be a valuable source of information. Then you might try your chemical laboratory and any research facilities that are available to you.

Next, you should try the technical representatives of the filter manufacturing companies. You may also want to get their research staff involved as well, because they will probably be the world`s leading experts in filter technology. It is important to know what experts exist within your key suppliers` companies and how to get hold of them. They can usually be reached through your technical representative, but you may have to know enough to ask for their help.

It is a good idea to visit your key suppliers, see their manufacturing facilities, and understand their organization. Often, they have special seminars, videos, and technical information available if you ask for it. When their key technical representatives visit your company`s site, it is important to spend a few minutes with them to update yourself on new developments and any special services they may offer. Thus, the information is already in your arsenal when you need help.

Keep Networking

The importance of a good professional network cannot be overemphasized. Networking is the process of making key contacts in your field of specialty and communicating with them on a continuing basis. Your network should include other key people in your field, within your own company, from other key users, suppliers, manufacturers, consultants, and educators.

You might think this is difficult because your company does not want you sharing information with competitors, but in a field as diverse as contamination control, the number of users is extensive, and many are not what you could call “competitors.” If you work in semiconductors, your industry contacts might be in aerospace, pharmaceutical, or related fields.

The people giving papers at technical conferences, writing articles in industry publications, and attending the technical conferences with you are a good start for forming a network. Working on industry standards and recommended practices is a very good way to make key contacts and build on your network. Of course, to be successful, any network has to be a two-way street: you must respond to the needs of your networking partners.

Sometimes your network expands by pure luck. We once had a serious chemical spill involving hydrofluoric acid. While we were preparing to handle the spill, we happened to get a lead through our insurance company that proved very valuable in getting our manufacturing line going again. By the time we handled the actual spill, procedures for air venting, chemical spill cleanup and handling were already in place.

However, we were not experienced enough to know that the hydrofluoric acid fumes from the spill would contaminate and cause damage to electrical equipment, as well as long-range corrosive problems in ductwork. It turns out that one of the most serious effects of hydrofluoric acid fumes is the occurrence of unseen corrosion in electronics systems–particularly long-range problems with intermittent shorts–which can be a nightmare to a manufacturing line.

Spreading Knowledge

Fortunately, our insurance company was able to refer us to a company called ReElectronics. Their personnel were experienced in handling hydrofluoric acid fumes from fires, checking for hydrofluoric contamination, and expert at cleanup. We learned about a special litmus paper used for HF contamination checks. Their specialist came in to check our facility and helped us pinpoint what had and what had not been contaminated. This allowed us to remove the suspect electrical systems, complete the cleanup quickly, and get manufacturing on line again. We followed up with a corporate-wide dissemination of our experience, so that the knowledge of how to handle a similar situation would be available if needed in the future.

Calling for help takes both planning for contingencies and the courage to admit that none of us can know everything. In my experience in corporate life, most companies will not fault an individual for leading the call for help. What they will fault you for is getting caught trying to whitewash a problem, which can devastate a career. n

Harold Fitch is president of Future Resource Development, a consulting firm in Burlington, VT, specializing in cleanroom education and problem-solving. He conducts international training seminars for CleanRooms` shows and seminars.