ST's FEM sites awarded ISO 50001 energy certification
All six of STMicroelectronics' front-end manufacturing (FEM) sites have achieved certification to the latest, most stringent ISO 500012 energy-management standard.
The FEM sites are where the silicon wafers are processed to define the final silicon chips. The subsequent packaging and testing operations take place at "back-end" sites.
ISO 50001 is the first global Environmental Management Standard (EMS) designed to help organisations reduce their energy costs and contribute to climate change mitigation by thoroughly integrating energy management into their business strategies.
Superseding previous national and regional standards, ISO 50001, introduced in June 2011, is based on the four-step cycle (plan-do-check-act) to implement change and continuous improvement that is the basis of ISO 9001, ISO 14001, and other well-established management standards.
The certification process involved developing tools to systematically measure the energy consumption of each piece of equipment, including buildings, and chiller and compressed dry-air equipment, and to analyse the sites' overall energy usage.
A common platform, which includes a documentation database, reporting tools and processes, has been developed and shared internally to establish and promote best practices. ST estimates that the certification process will contribute to saving 14 GWh of energy and US$ 2m in the 2013 - 2014 timeframe.
ST's Agrate site in Italy was the first to achieve the ISO 50001 certification, followed quickly by Catania in Italy and ST's other front-end sites in France (Crolles, Rousset, Tours) and Singapore (Ang Mo Kio).
Each manufacturing site is committed to implementing energy-performance indicators to both monitor and optimise its consumption of electricity and natural gas and explore all opportunities to minimise the amount of energy used, reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
Edwin Dobson, Director Facilities, Front-End Manufacturing and Technologies, STMicroelectronics, says, "Environmental performance and energy management are rooted in ST's culture and have been a priority since the creation of the Company. We had started to upgrade our energy-management systems in anticipation of ISO 50001 before the standard was finalised."
He adds, "Today, our products and technologies are recognized as enabling low energy consumption for the end user. It is completely complementary now for our manufacturing sites producing those products to be certified; an acknowledgement of the substantial work undertaken at sites for better energy consumption and management,"
ISO 50001 is the first global Environmental Management Standard (EMS) designed to help organisations reduce their energy costs and contribute to climate change mitigation by thoroughly integrating energy management into their business strategies.
Superseding previous national and regional standards, ISO 50001, introduced in June 2011, is based on the four-step cycle (plan-do-check-act) to implement change and continuous improvement that is the basis of ISO 9001, ISO 14001, and other well-established management standards.
