Edition No. 9
Design for Environmental Safety and Health: Product Manufacturing
Most companies are now using Design for Environmental Safety and Health (DFESH) when they manufacture products. Various regions of the world have determined what impact products can have on the environment therefore companies have to adapt to participate in the marketplace. However, most of the DFESH efforts of manufacturers have been directed to how the product is used. But, three other critical areas of design -- putting the product into use (installation), maintenance, and taking the product out of use (decommission or obsoleting) -- can have a dynamic effect not only on the safety and health of the people who use the product, but also on the profitability of the company that manufactures it.
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Consumer products have long led the way in expanding DFESH beyond the operation of the product. With lower margins and higher volumes, product stewardship has been a big part of consumer product lifecycles. Now technology product manufacturers are beginning to see the benefits of expanding their DFESH thinking. In high technology manufacturing equipment, for example, the operations stage is expected to perform without interruption and without incident. But the installation, maintenance, and decommissioning of the equipment can be potentially hazardous and costly. As a result, Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) are beginning to design-in safety features and, as an added benefit, are realizing cost-savings from their efforts.
DFESH Benefits in the Technology Sector
Let’s use the semiconductor equipment industry to further
illustrate these points.
In the semiconductor world, equipment suppliers often do not receive
full payment for their products until the installation is complete
and the equipment qualified for production. If the equipment can
be designed for easy installation and process qualification, the
customer can use the product sooner, which results in the OEM receiving
payment from the transaction faster. Standardization of parts is
another issue that can be handled in the design stage. Often different
divisions of the same OEM will design a custom part. If a part can
be designed across divisions, then equipment costs can be reduced
and the acquisition of spare parts is not so difficult or costly.
Decreased Maintenance Downtime
Maintenance is also being looked at closely with DFESH. In high
technology manufacturing, equipment downtime is expensive and everyone
looks for ways to decrease maintenance time. If equipment can be
designed and built with modular hazardous energy control, the ability
to shutdown specific modules for maintenance enables the equipment
to be back in service much faster.
OEMs are also looking for internal maintenance processes that are
both automatic and safe for personnel. For instance, one company
is using an halogenated compound with a radio frequency induced
plasma to clean away residue within the process chamber before maintenance
personnel even open the chamber for regular cleaning. This, and
other in-situ reaction approaches, results in effective removal
of chamber residues and reduced exposures to maintenance technicians.
Equipment Decommissioning
When decommissioning a tool, there are ways to design-in not only safety for the employees assigned the task, but also elements that increase the resale value of the tool. Piping is a prime example. There ways you can minimize dead legs – those pipes that cannot be flushed and cleaned—without ripping all of the piping out of the tool. (Re-piping a tool can be expensive and delay its readiness for resale.) Hazardous energy control procedures and modular maintenance (modular flushing and purging, for example) can be used to reduce the cost of preparing the equipment for resale. It’s important to remember that DFESH can be used not only over the life of the tool for use and user safety, but also as a way to reduce the cost of decommissioning and enhance the resale value of the tool.
Many capital equipment suppliers are concerned first and foremost that the tool will leak, fail, explode, or somehow harm the operator or technician during normal operation or maintenance activities. As companies work to control costs, DFESH becomes more important because it can extend over the entire life of the product. Not only can the designing company ensure the safety of the people who use the product daily, but also those who install, maintain, and decommission it. If you design-in some of the cost-saving measures we’ve discussed in this article, DFESH can be vital not only to product and people safety but also to the overall financial health of the company.
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