Sustainable Development with Green Productivity in Manufacturing Tan Lin Sheng, Mohd Zamri bin Shamsudin , Loh Chin Ling

Intel Technology Sdn Bhd Kulim, Kedah, Malaysia ,

lin.sheng.tan@intel.com ;mohd.zamri.shamsudin@intel.com;chin.ling.loh@intel.com

Abstract – This paper provides insight of many aspects of ‘Go Green’ approaches geared towards assembly and test factories. With the management supports to take environment excellence to the next level, the Chemical and waste management team working together with factory floor employees has embarked on a journey to practice the three key sustainable development initiatives: 1) Chemical waste reduction 2) Total chemical safety and environmental management and; 3) 5R pollution prevention practices.

INTRODUCTION The use of chemicals is found in virtually all industries today. There seems to be no human activity that does not entail the use of chemicals in modern society. However, some chemicals, used as raw materials, handled, stored or released as by-products or manufactured goods, can create employee health or environmental concerns if not properly managed.

A multi-functional comprises team members from Operations, Materials, Preventive Maintenance, Engineering, Training and EHS, was formed with a theme of “Go Green beyond Manufacturing”. The team’s goals were to improve chemical safety, optimize chemical usage, and minimize generation of waste. Environmental awareness, employee involvement and pollution prevention principles were focus areas to help the team achieve their goals and objectives.

CHALLENGES ANTICIPATED

We believe that everyone has the duty to take anticipatory actions to prevent safety, health and environmental issues. As part of the strategic planning process, the team conducted benchmarking with other factories to understand common issues in chemical and waste management and also to identify certain trends in environmental and health indicators. The sustainable development challenges anticipated are:

STRATEGIES With strong management support, the team embarked on a journey of green factory initiatives together with the manufacturing floor employees’ to successfully implement three sustainable development strategies: 1) Chemical waste reductions – improves process

efficiency and optimize chemical utilization in manufacturing processes.

2) Total chemical safety and environmental management – a basic yet comprehensive program to manage chemical handling, minimize potential chemical exposure and reduce negative impact to the environment

3) 5R pollution prevention practices – environmental education and engagement of employees to practice 5R on the floor (Rethink, Refuse, Reduce, Reuse and Recycle)

Figure 1. Journey of the green factories and beyond

with continual improvement model Basically the strategies focused on employee awareness, manufacturing process optimization, value engineering continual improvement, manufacturing, and control systems enhancements. The continual improvement model drives the team strategies of sustainable development and progressive improvement of overall Environmental, Health and Safety (EHS) performance.

STRATEGY 1: CHEMICAL WASTE MINIMIZATION

The chemical waste reduction efforts started with a taskforce focusing on epoxy underfill, flux, Thermal Interface Material (TIM) grease, and sealant and solvent contaminated debris wastes. The program divided into three implementation stages: (i) Fundamental manufacturing system enhancement (ii)Value engineering solution and planning methodology (iii)Continual improvement plan and standardization

Fundamental manufacturing system enhancement

The fundamental manufacturing system enhancement setup started with fostering people awareness, launching a program campaign, and training to create a shared vision in resources conservation. Then, a data tracking system was setup to provide useful indicators for gap analysis

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and goal setting. Subsequently, systematic withdrawals and first in first out (FIFO) system established to ensure effective material handling and avoidance of material expiration. Meanwhile, baseline studies were conducted in which waste sources were identified and analyzed with proposed value engineering solutions and planning methodology. Some of the fundamental manufacturing system enhancements in waste minimization efforts included: • The data collection system emphasized weekly

consumption of the chemical material, unit output and waste generation.

• Waste stream analysis - A brainstorming of cause-effects analysis on the wastage was further validated on the floor by actual data.

• Chemical Waste Reduction / Management Awareness Campaign /Short message - A basic knowledge and awareness on the environmental and cost impacts.

With the fundamental manufacturing system enhancements in place, the material usage efficiency was identified to be about 50% to 75% - still not yet fully optimized as shown in chemical usage efficiency wellness, table 1.

Table 1. Level of chemical usage efficiency wellness

Develop value engineering solutions and planning methodology

To further improve chemical usage efficiency, the second tactic of value engineering and material planning methodology improvement projects was implemented. The planning methodology complements the Materials Systems Applications and Products (MSAP) system very well. The new planning methodology identified weekly gaps between the material planning algorithm and actual material usage. The relationship between machine utilization and waste generation was then modeled. This allowed further machine utilization optimization to further reduce waste generation. The planning methodology improved from the initial planning algorithm for epoxy of

100mg/unit down to 60mg/unit and a flux reduction from 50mg/unit to 3mg/unit.

These reductions were followed by value engineering solutions that further improved the usage efficiency of epoxy from 42% to 86%; flux increased from 20% to 95%; TIM grease and sealant usage efficiency increased from 50% to 85%. Some of the value engineering projects included: • Low-level sensor. The low-level sensor will help to

optimize the usage of epoxy, TIM grease and sealant by sensing the lowest level setting on chemical dispense and issuing an alert to change material.

• Elimination of Flow Rate Monitoring Process. Flow rate monitoring process also contributes to part of the epoxy dispense waste. The team also looked at possibilities to eliminate the flow rate monitoring process which will help save epoxy dispense as waste.

• Automated thaw time methodology. The team also looked at possibilities to optimize thawing time needed for epoxy and automated/ software system thawing.

• Increasing of Machine Utilization (MU) and linkage to output.

• Automated flux dispensing. The team maximized syringe usage. With automated flux dispensing, it improved the usage efficiency to a 90% level.

• Improvement on DEK flux printing with smaller apertures.

STRATEGY 2: TOTAL CHEMICAL MANAGEMENT

At our factory, the number of approved chemicals used increased from year to year (Graph 2) due to increased manufacturing processes and product complexity. The Total Chemical Management Program is used as a guide to manage chemicals and hazards associated with chemicals. The principle applied here is to treat all chemicals as hazardous energy with a good process control.

Number of chemical Used

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2000 2001 2002 2003 2004

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Graph 1. Number of chemical used

The Total Chemical Management Program was put in place to ensure important elements are addressed and documented. These initiatives were supported by the Chemical Approval Program, Industrial Hygiene Exposure Assessment, Ventilation, Hazard 268

Communication, and Personal Protective Equipment Guidelines, Chemical Waste Management Guideline and other relevant local regulations and orders. It is fundamental principles to ensure only Environmental, Heath & Safety (EHS) approved chemicals are used; hazards associated with each chemical are well assessed and controlled.

Basic infrastructure such as chemical storage facilities and tools are established and well maintained. Proper set up of chemical storage facilities allows chemical segregation of incompatible chemicals and minimizes the chances of a chemical spill. In addition, there is also a Chemical Emergency Response Preparedness Plan. The well-trained in house emergency response team, equipped with emergency response gear, is always ready to respond to emergencies.

In addition, engineering and administrative control systems, including effective local ventilation system, safe work practices and procedures, and personal protective equipment are in place to control and prevent chemical exposures. Maintenance of engineering control systems and the enforcement of administrative control systems are essential to minimize employees’ exposure to hazardous chemicals.

At the same time, there are continuous efforts to promote employee awareness and knowledge. Formal training classes, as well as General Improvement Team (GIT) pass down and communication board, are fully utilized to communicate important Environmental, Health and Safety (EHS) information. Awareness campaigns were held annually to instill chemical safety knowledge and environmental awareness among employees. During each campaign, idea sharing and feedback from employees are taken as part of continuous improvement efforts. As a demonstration of I love life spirit, awareness also extended to household chemicals.

In addition to implementing and sustaining the fundamental requirements and systems, there are new system enhancements being implemented. This includes the availability of a web based system for: chemical approval process via Chemical Approval Module (CAM), Industrial Hygiene Qualitative Exposure Assessment Module (QEAM), and for Material Safety Datasheets.

Other innovative approaches have been translated into an action plan to archive remarkable results. For example, the team has successfully eliminated 20 types of chemicals and another 10 chemicals were substituted with less hazardous chemicals. There are also process improvements such as an automated stencil cleaning process which replaced a manual cleaning process, and the practice of “Just In Time” (JIT) to minimize chemical inventory.

STRATEGY 3: 5R POLLUTION PREVENTION PRINCIPLES

Pollution prevention (P2) means source reduction, and other practices that reduce or eliminate the creation of pollutants through increased efficiency in the use of raw materials, energy, water, or other resources, or protection of natural resources by conservation. P2 is a vehicle for "reinventing" traditional programs and devising innovative, alternative strategies to protect public health and the environment. It is a key element of new initiatives to reduce risks from persistent, bio-accumulative toxic pollutants in the air, in water, and on land; to promote environmental quality and to lower the incidence of climate change. P2 practices can improve a business's bottom line through reduced raw material and energy costs, treatment and disposal expenses, and associated labor costs.

In pursuit of a pollution prevention principle, 5R (rethink, refuse, reduce, reuse and recycle) practices were introduced to employees as outlined below:

Rethink - Rethink is a new way of thinking about pollution prevention in common practices for all materials requiring disposal. We view waste as a resource and not simply as something to be disposed of. We have an objective to avoid waste generation sources, using more durable and reusable items and ensuring that all waste generated can be recycled. • Rethinking usage of gloves in the production clean

room - the glove elimination project saved USD19.6k per year or the equivalent of 525,600 pairs of gloves annually.

• Rethinking the substrate and shipping tray processes and replacement of the two JEDEC trays into one thermoform tray and save 25,000 trays weekly, 1.3 million trays annually.

Refuse-Refuse is a decision making process in the implementation of pollution prevention; it involves the refusal of products from a supplier if the supplier does not comply with an environmental model defined for that supplier • Replaced 99.97% isopropyl alcohol (IPA) with 85%

IPA to reduce Volatile Organic Compound (VOC) emissions.

• Elimination of daily report to paperless reporting system saves an estimated 18,250 pieces of paper annually.

Reduce- Reduce means source reduction of material usage by optimizing the process, or by process change. • Reduced the usage of de-ionized (DI) water in Deflux

machine saved 311,040 gallons of water annually. • Reduced 50% of the chemical waste from epoxy,

flux, grease and sealant.

Reuse- Reuse means recovery or reapplication of a package or product for uses similar or identical to its

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originally intended application without manufacturing or preparation processes that significantly alter the original package or product. • An estimated 400 units of DEK steel stencil frame is

being reused annually, saving about 0.22 ton of steel. • An estimated 10,400 units of die plastic reel is reused

annually. Recycle- The process of sorting, cleaning, treating and reconstituting materials that would otherwise become solid waste, and returning them to the economic mainstream in the form of raw material for new, reused or reconstituted products which meet the quality standards necessary for use in the marketplace. • Recycled about 200 carts from previous platform to

the our platform. • 800 pieces of burn-in board are recycled annually by

repairing and replacing spoilt capacitors rather then scraping the whole board.

Other key benefits in the implementation of sustainable development program include: • Increased efficiency and productivity - waste

minimization/P2 assessments help to identify opportunities to decrease raw material usage, eliminate unnecessary operations, increase throughput, reduce off-spec product generation, and improve yields.

• Decreased regulatory burden and liability - improving environmental performance and reaching performance goals that go beyond compliance are ways to reduce regulatory burdens. Handling hazardous and toxic materials brings high liability should an accident occur. Substituting toxic materials with safer alternatives reduces the liability and high costs associated with an unsafe environment.

• Improved environmental quality - P2 methods can help reduce releases to the air, water, and land that result from waste generation, treatment, and disposal, and also reduce health and environmental risks.

• Enhanced public image - communities more favorably view businesses that adopt and practice sustainable development strategies.

FUTURE PLAN

Looking ahead, the factory will continue to embrace a balance between socio-economic and environment for sustainable development. We believe that more efforts will be taken to explore opportunities that contribute to a greener environment and proliferate best known methods (BKMs) with other factories and look forward to: • Inculcate people awareness and environmental

culture changes • Technology development incorporated with

environmental friendly designs into raw materials, manufacturing process and products

• Greener facilities and building designs

• Greener communities – partnership with communities on conserving environment sustainability efforts.

CONCLUSION

The Green Factory Initiatives are not just the team commitment to safeguard the future of the environment, conserving natural resources, but also building the future factory toward sustainable development by translating the simple principles and concepts into practical actions and real results.

The strategies and projects have brought tremendous results. The team will continue the “Go Green Beyond Manufacturing” efforts, and practice the concept of “Think globally and act locally” and sharing throughout the Virtual Factory. We will be the role model factory for future Intel factories.

REFERENCES 1. Haque, M.S., “Environmental Discourse and

Sustainable Development: Linkages and Limitations.” Ethics and the Environment, 5(1):3–21, 2000.

2. According to the Brundtland Report titled “Our Common Future”, sustainable development is “development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs” (WCED 1987, 8). (see Noman 1996, 8–9; Barrow 1995, 372).

3. Chin Ling, Loh et al. “Q1 ’00 Baseline Studies and Analysis on Chemical Waste Minimization Efforts at FC-PGA”. Intel Internal Reference Document 2000.

4. Gaik See, Lim et al. “Intel, an Environmental Friendly High-Tech Organization”. IMEC Paper 2001.

5. U.S Environmental Protection Agency Web http://www.epa.gov/opptintr/p2home/programs/index.htm

6. U.S Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Solid Waste/Communications, and Information & Resources Management Division “RCRA orientation manual, Section III: Managing Hazardous Waste – RCRA Subtitle C”. Sept 2002.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Special thanks to Kulim Flip Chip Pin Gray Array (FCPGA) management and employees and their support, and Green Factory Team members: Sucila Bronte Tangamany; Lim Boon Chong; Lee Chu Chung; Kogilavanar Letchimanan; Osman Norhisham; Anandanyah Gunawathy; Cheng Wi Nam; Tham Cin Mei; Abu Hassan Saiful Nizam; Abdul Rahman Zalina and many others who participated and created initiatives to support the program.

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