Packaging Clips & Shipping Shunts (Shipping Rails) for Safety-Critical ESD-Sensitive Devices
What are packaging clips/shipping shunts?
Special packaging developed to isolate and/or short/ground certain types of initiators, including EFI’s.
Packaging clips and shipping shunts are purpose-built protective components used during manufacturing, handling, storage, and transport of safety-critical, ESD-sensitive devices such as EFIs and similar initiators. They are designed to physically isolate terminals or deliberately short and ground them to control electrical exposure before final installation. These parts are not generic packaging. They are engineered controls intended to manage risk in environments where unintended energy, static discharge, or mechanical damage can cause failure or unsafe activation.
What does a packaging clip/shipping shunt do?
- Prevents Terminal Contact
- Mechanical Protection
- Reduces ESD Risk
- Supports Traceability
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Prevents terminal contact
Creates a controlled barrier that blocks accidental contact between exposed terminals and conductive objects such as tools, packaging materials, fixtures, or human handling. This eliminates common failure modes caused by incidental shorting during assembly, inspection, or transit. -
Mechanical protection
Provides rigid or semi-rigid structural protection around sensitive connection points. This reduces damage from vibration, compression, drops, or misalignment during shipping and internal material movement. Terminal deformation and connector damage are significantly reduced. -
Reduces ESD risk
Maintains defined electrical states by isolating or shorting terminals as required. This minimizes voltage differentials and suppresses electrostatic discharge events that can degrade or destroy sensitive internal elements. The result is improved yield, reliability, and safety throughout the supply chain. -
Supports traceability
Can be serialized, color-coded, keyed, or otherwise differentiated to support part identification, configuration control, and process verification. This helps ensure the correct device state at each step, prevents premature removal, and supports quality audits and compliance documentation.
Why they matter
For safety-critical devices, risk is not limited to end use. Most failures occur before installation due to handling, packaging shortcuts, or uncontrolled environments. Packaging clips and shipping shunts act as engineered safeguards that reduce dependence on procedural controls alone. They provide a physical, repeatable layer of protection that aligns with high-reliability manufacturing and transport requirements.
If you want this tightened toward a regulatory, aerospace, defense, or automotive audience, or want emphasis on compliance, lifecycle stage, or failure prevention, say which angle you want.
