Interview with Huang Sven, Chairman of GreenFILTEC
Huang Mingwen founded Filtration Energy 9 years ago. Relying on the exclusive removable chemical filter module, he won more than 50% of the orders from the advanced process plants of the major wafer manufacturers.
The name is GreenFILTEC, and it is engaged in green energy-related businesses. The decoration of the GreenFILTEC Headquarters is mostly in different shades and gradients of green as the main color scheme, which looks comfortable and warm. Chairman Sven Huang stood in front of a large planting wall and introduced the origin of the company’s name, “Originally, we used green , but my colleagues said it was very vulgar, so I changed to filter.” “Filter” happens to be their main business.
Just like there are many invisible and harmful dust and suspended particles in the air, people will use air cleaners to remove them. In the semiconductor industry, if there are acidic, alkaline, organic solvent gases and other gaseous molecular pollutants in the wafer manufacturing process (AMC, airborne molecular contamination) will cause wafer defects, so filtering equipment is very important.
Sven Huang showed off his own products, pulling out the filter material like opening a drawer, Huang Mingwen expressed confidence, “Our filter material can be replaced, and the frame can be reused. And the product is zero waste, which can be recycled and made into waste-derived fuel Nine years ago, Huang Mingwen founded Filtration Energy. By developing a reusable removable chemical filter, he won orders from major manufacturers. So far, he has more than half of the market for advanced processes below 12 nanometers. Last year, the revenue was 1.081 billion yuan. .
黃銘文研發的可抽取式化學濾網濾材可以輕易更換，鋁框可重複利用。
Sven Huang , 55 years old this year, was born in a family of civil servants in Changhua Hemei, and graduated from the Department of Chemistry and Institute of Chemistry of Sun Yat-sen University. “When I was in college, I studied instrumental analysis and microanalysis to find out what milk contained melamine.” I used to work as a quality control officer in Taiwan Glass. In 2010, semiconductors were already a popular industry. “Almost all aspiring young people in Taiwan want to enter the wafer duo. Going in is equivalent to inlaying gold. Walking on the road will be different.”
Later, Sven Huang was really admitted to TSMC. At that time, micro-pollution prevention and control had not yet become a prominent study. “There are relatively few people in the company, so the boss will throw everything to me. In the process, I am more and more familiar with it. In the end, it will come to me when it comes to related cases. body.” Responsible for analyzing the pollutants in the air, finding out the source, and then isolating them, “It was painful at first, the size of a semiconductor factory, sometimes it was the outgassing of building materials, sometimes it was raw materials, and for example When the acid tank is broken, it will volatilize, and these things will cause pollution.” Air samples are taken every day, problems are found, and the database is built step by step.
Huang Mingwen (2nd from left) is humorous and unassuming, and has no barriers to getting along with employees with an average age of 30.
After staying for 6 years to become the head of the laboratory, he decided to give up his status as a gold inlay, and switched to the world’s largest filter supplier, the Swedish business health law. “It should be said that I saw something in the future. At that time, I thought that the solution (solution) for micro-pollution prevention and control was probably to use chemical filters. In the foreseeable future, this thing will definitely be valued.”
The filter screens traditionally used in semiconductor factories consist of 3 to 4 pieces in a set. The filter material plus the aluminum frame weighs about 2 to 30 kilograms. “If the clean room is polluted, hundreds or even thousands of sets need to be replaced in one area.” Sven Huang moved out A set of traditional filter screens with an area of about 1 square meter pointed to the frame and explained, “Because air density is required, the aluminum frame and the filter material are traditionally glued to each other with glue. The glue can be 1 gram or 1 gram, and those who know how to design 10 grams, 100 grams, the airtightness is no problem, but it is very difficult to disassemble.” At that time, most of the semiconductor manufacturers were Comfile customers, and Sven Huang heard complaints from time to time, “The waste disposal staff often called me over. I was very depressed, so I asked if I could change the design and use less glue.” After dismantling, the whole set with the frame and materials must be scrapped, which is not environmentally friendly, so Sven Huang designed a reusable frame. I made a suggestion to the head office, but was rejected by the sentence “no one does this kind of filter”.
When deciding to start a business, Huang Mingwen (left) found Su Yihua (right), the chairman of Singapore Douyi International, through a friend’s introduction. (Provided by Huang Mingwen)
“As long as you make a small change, the world will be different, but no one was willing to change at that time.” Sven Huang’s tone can still be heard with puzzlement and helplessness. Optimistic about the future business opportunities of the removable chemical filter, and wanting to contribute to environmental protection, he decided to start a business. Because of the revolving door clause, he was unable to work in related industries for a year. The source of income for the family was his wife Yang Shufen, who was a chemistry teacher in high school. work, I rely on my mother to support the family alone.』”
In that year, in fact, he was not really idle. Through a friend’s introduction, he found Su Yihua, the chairman of Singapore Daoyi International, as a shareholder. At the same time, we also found an OEM to materialize the removable filter, replacing the glue with special materials and structural design, so that the frame and the filter material are tightly bonded.
In 2014, Filtration was officially established, with a total of 3 employees including sales, customer service and chairman Huang Mingwen. If you want to grab orders from major semiconductor manufacturers, you must first pass the test and obtain certification. The first test cost one million yuan but failed. The quality is fine, but the problem lies in the frame. In order to stand on the ground, I went to Hemei’s iron factory, but they didn’t know what a semiconductor is. After pickling, the sulfate root would cause problems. Later, I went to a Taoyuan company that had done semiconductors. The company does it.” After half a year of repeated improvements, it finally obtained the certification, but the customer was worried about the risk of switching suppliers, so he didn’t purchase the filter immediately.
In the first 2 years of its establishment, even though it was selling everywhere, there were almost no orders, and the funds were burned out. After discussing with Daoyi, Filtration Energy maintained its operations by borrowing money and paying interest. I can’t help but wonder if I have encountered a scam group.” Sven Huang also tried to save money, “A total of 5 people including me have cut their salaries by 20%. As a result, I came back at the end of that year.”
In 2016, the company’s business personnel received a call from the world’s largest fab, “Their engineer encountered a problem of micro-pollution and had to change the filter screen. He couldn’t move it by himself. Thinking of filter energy, please ask us to get a few of them the next day. The group went to try it. We only weigh 3 kilograms per piece, and after using it, it feels very good.” This campaign successfully rescued the customer, and also turned the filter, which has always been at the bottom, to turn around, and the profit and loss were balanced.
With the active expansion of advanced process factories, the revenue of GreenFILTEC has been rising all the way. From the initial filter manufacturer, it is now positioning itself as a micro-pollution prevention service company, providing integrated services. In recent years, GreecFILTEC has also worked hard to develop new customers. In addition to gaseous molecular pollutants, it has also developed a filter for filtering noise, which is used in offshore wind power. “Things related to green energy are what Filtration Energy wants to do. Our product can reduce noise and protect the seabed ecology.”
Changed his job from the envied TSMC engineer, and then left his position as the deputy general manager of a foreign company to start a business. Sven Huang seems to have crossed the boundaries, but in fact he is studying in the field of “filtering”. He does not want to be like a traditional filter. If you are stuck in a certain framework and try your best to make changes, the world will really be different.
