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  "Performance Review" A regularly featured interview with one of our chapter's professional members.  
 
    Meet Don Hopkins, CFM,  Freescale Semiconductor

Provide some insight on your Employer/Company's core function/service.  
Freescale Semiconductor is a global leader in the design and manufacture of embedded semiconductors for the automotive, consumer, industrial, networking and wireless markets. Freescale’s history includes 50+ years as part of Motorola. Freescale’s intellectual property portfolio includes more than 5,900 patent families and continues to invest more than $1 billion annually in research and development. Freescale’s 2007 revenues were $5.7 billion USD.

Freescale is the No. 1 supplier of:

• Embedded processors

• Automotive integrated circuits

• Integrated communications processors  

• Radio Frequency (RF) power transitors for 2.5G and 3G wireless infrastructure applications

• Digital signal processors (DSPs) based on StarCore technology

Identify Company's total number, sq. ft., types, and locations of offices, e.g., corporate, industrial, owned, leased, downtown, suburban, local, regional.
Freescale has 114 offices and manufacturing sites in 30 countries that total 12,787,000 square feet. Included are three major sites in Austin: Two manufacturing/office sites: Oak Hill (Corporate Headquarters) and Ed Bluestein, while the Parmer Lane site is office space.

How many total sq. ft. are you responsible for?
2.7 million square feet.

Identify Company’s total number of employees.   
Twenty-four thousand.

What are your primary job functions?
Managing the Freescale and Contractor Crafts employees for maintenance and construction projects, Machine Shop, Outside Services Contracts such as Landscaping, Janitorial, Elevators, Stockroom, etc. for the Freescale Oak Hill & Ed Bluestein sites.

How long have you been in the FM field?
I have been working for the Motorola/Freescale facilities organization for the past 16 years. Prior to that I worked for mechanical contracting firms in Houston and Austin for 14 years.

Education, certifications?
Degree in Business Management from St. Edwards University.  I have a CFM certification from IFMA, and a Real Estate License for the State of Texas.

Who do you report to?
Austin Region Site Services Manager

Who reports to you? 
Freescale direct reports are 23.  This includes Project Managers, Machinist, Electricians, Pipefitters, HVAC Mechanics, Riggers & Carpenters. Indirect report contractors vary from 50 to 150.

What functions do you outsource?
Landscaping, Janitorial, Elevators, Stockroom- Integrated Supplier, Chillers, Generators, Air Compressors, UP

Describe your recycling program, if applicable.
Freescale has fairly standard recycle programs for all metals, paper, plastics, etc.. However, as a semiconductor manufacturer there are several additional environmental programs that we focus on. In pursuit of a sustainable future, Freescale (Austin sites) has launched its Going GREEN initiative to proactively reduce the environmental impacts of its manufacturing operations.  As part of this initiative, Freescale has implemented several projects to reduce emissions and conserve natural resources.

Greenhouse gas Reduction Global warming has become an increasingly significant environmental concern worldwide.  Freescale has been participating in a voluntary effort to reduce its perfluorocarbon (PFC) emissions since 1997.  PFCs are greenhouse gases with global warming potentials that are hundreds or thousands of times that of carbon dioxide (CO2).   Freescale has reduced its PFC emissions from its Oak Hill facility by 18% (six percent overall for Austin sites) since 2005 despite any increases in manufacturing.  This was achieved by investing in a chemical vapor deposition chamber cleaning technology, which Freescale helped the supplier develop for Freescale’s toolset, that virtually eliminates PFC emissions from this particular process.  Overall, Freescale’s Oak Hill facility reduced its annual direct Greenhouse Gas emissions by 53,000,000 pounds of carbon dioxide equivalents over 2005 levels.

Emissions Elimination Freescale generates various waste chemical streams from several wafer cleaning and etching processes.  These waste streams are either shipped offsite for treatment as hazardous waste, neutralized on site, or discharged in the industrial wastewater emission.  Freescale recognized that some of these streams were relatively “clean” per industrial standards and had market value if recovered and reclaimed.  By installing a network of segregated drain piping from its wet clean and etch tools and a tank collection system in 2008, these waste chemical streams are now accumulated in the tanks and shipped off-site for reclaim.  At the Ed Bluestein facility, ethylene glycol and isopropyl alcohol waste chemical streams that were previously shipped off-site as mixed solvent hazardous waste for fuels blending or incineration are now collected and reclaimed for value.   Going forward, 270,000 pounds per year of ethylene glycol and 250,000 pounds per year of isopropyl alcohol will be recovered for value and not disposed of as hazardous waste based on current usage rate.  In addition, 240,000 pounds per year of phosphoric acid that was previously neutralized on site then discharged with industrial wastewater (to the City of Austin POTW) is now reclaimed.    Following the success of the Ed Bluestein facility, the Oak Hill site has designed a similar recovery system for its ethylene glycol waste stream that is currently being discharged to the City of Austin POTW with its industrial wastewater stream.  Two hundred eight thousand pounds per year of ethylene glycol will be reclaimed for value rather than discharged to the environment when installed in 2009.

Another opportunity for waste stream reclaim was implemented by the Ed Bluestein site with the installation of a fluoride treatment system for industrial wastewater prior to discharge to the City’s POTW.  This system was necessary to allow for further water use reduction as the fluoride concentration in the industrial wastewater stream was increasing with every water reduction project.  The system precipitates the fluoride and produces a calcium salt filter cake.   Instead of being land-filled, these calcium salts are shipped to a cement production facility and used as feedstock in their cement kiln.  Through this practice, also in use at the Oak Hill facility, nearly a million pounds of calcium salts are reused as feedstock to a process and not disposed of in a landfill. Based on the value of these materials as industrial chemicals, the payback for each of the three waste chemical reclaim systems is less than one year and will be financially self-sustaining going forward.   The calcium salts reclaim practice is also financially beneficial as there are no landfill disposal fees incurred.  In addition to the economic benefit, there are significant benefits to the community and environment by preventing emissions to the environment and reclaiming industrial material rather than producing more virgin materials.

Describe any energy conservation measure you have implemented in your facilities.
Resource or utility conservation (water and energy use) have long been issues in the Austin community.  For several years, Freescale has been proactively working on projects that contribute to the success of Austin’s resource conservation initiatives and reduce the burden on the City’s utility infrastructure.  These projects have allowed  Freescale to achieve its water and energy use reduction goals while reducing manufacturing costs.

Since 2005, Freescale’s Austin sites have implemented 36 different water use reduction projects that have resulted in a savings of more than 275 million gallons of water per year.  The greatest opportunities for conservation were found in reclaiming “clean” water streams from manufacturing processes directly for other on-site industrial uses, such as cooling towers and exhaust abatement systems, and reclaiming other wastewater streams, such as chemical mechanical polishing wastewater, after some on-site treatment.   Freescale’s Austin sites have also focused on energy use reduction by implementing 115 individual projects since 2005 that have resulted in a savings of more than 117 million kWh per year in energy consumption (not accounting for manufacturing-related increases) and have reduced indirect carbon dioxide equivalent emissions by nearly 160 million pounds per year.  Energy conservation projects included installation of more efficient equipment, such as chillers, boiler burners, and pump controls.  Other projects focused on optimizing existing equipment and systems (air handling, chilled water, steam), temperature and humidity adjustments, and excess exhaust reductions. 

In addition to its resource conservation efforts, Freescale has recently installed a network of segregated piping from wet processing tools and a tank collection system to reclaim waste chemical streams at its Ed Bluestein facility.  Two hundred seventy pounds per year of ethylene glycol and 250,000 lbs of isopropyl alcohol per year that were previously shipped offsite as hazardous waste are now collected and reclaimed for value.  In addition, 240,000 pounds per year of phosphoric acid that was previously neutralized on site and discharged with industrial wastewater is now reclaimed.

Identify some FM challenges you face within your organization.
Mastering a Risk Based Maintenance approach to align with the ever-shrinking budgets. When money is tight it all comes down to having the proper analysis to weigh the cost of the maintenance plan versus the risk and associated cost of a system failure. Additionally, keeping the important facilities maintenance and operations task in the spotlight when competing for funds at budget time. There is no problem getting the spotlight when we have a utility bump or issue.

Identify some challenges the FM industry as a whole must face in the near future.
The global economy will continue to put competitive pressure on cost and the need for a Risk Based Maintenance approach.  Additionally, as the workforce has become much more mobile, and older,  there will be an increased challenge of retaining the highest level of experienced skilled labor.

What are some of your hobbies and interests outside work?                               
I enjoy camping and being outdoors at the lake, river or beach. This is my favorite time of year; great weather and I am an avid Longhorn Fan – especially football and basketball.  I also have an interest and enjoy working in Real Estate have been working the past couple of years building a Real Estate business.

Thank you, Don! 
 

 
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