Keeping your clean rooms clean
5 Jul 2015 by Evoluted New Media
Collaboration is key to future proofing clean rooms says Sue Springett from Teknomek. Here are a few pointers on how to design your clean room…
Collaboration is key to future proofing clean rooms says Sue Springett from Teknomek. Here are a few pointers on how to design your clean room…
Over the last year, design and manufacturing of hygienic furniture has evolved to meet specific clean room requirements. There has also been a clear shift in the way lab users want their clean rooms to be designed: not just to meet current needs, but to future proof them for years to come.
Two distinct changes in approach have become clear. The first is the project management and secondly how the aspirations for the end room are considered.
As many projects entail capital expenditure sign-off, it means there is a fair degree of scrutiny when it comes to design, which requires a demonstration of robust project control and forward planning.
Looking at trends in design collaborations, businesses tend to start the planning process as much as six months before project completion. The starting point is often the room layout (to scale); documenting the must-have components and logging where there is scope for compromise. This helps to establish priorities when specifying the furniture. The next stage sees CAD drawings supporting the traditional 2D flat layout plan to help all involved understand what the end room will look like, in a form that is easy to understand. The practice of labs working with the contractors responsible for the installation helps to mitigate any potential confusion and saves valuable time.
Filipe Oliviera, Process Engineer at Biomet – an orthopaedics company, specialising in the design and manufacture of implants – said: “It’s important to establish, reasonably early in the planning stage, where must-have components can be sourced to avoid complications further down the line. By bringing in the suppliers early on, you can then use their expertise to help define the optimal products and the lead times required.
We collaborated with designers for our new clean room and changing area, many months before it went live. It meant we had time for the specifications to evolve in partnership with them, while ensuring we maintained keen pricing and on-time delivery.”
Not only are the planning stages of projects starting earlier, project leads are collaborating with colleagues and users from across the entire business. By accessing this collective experience, there is a user consensus on where improvements can be made with the current set up and discussions into how to make it better. This is a distinct step away from just ‘putting up with it’ and a step towards making iterative improvements for that all important return on investment.
It is incredibly useful meeting with end-users so they can explain how each piece of furniture or equipment is being used within their business.
This collaborative approach can also include shift leaders, lab managers, operations managers, quality managers and even managing directors.
Oliviera added: “At our kick-off meeting, we captured everyone’s ideas and wishes, and used this to shape the final plan, knowing what was important and what was desirable from the very start. From then, it was more about what, when, where and how many.”
Before all the furniture is purchased, a partial set-up helps to test the plan in a way that flat and 3D designs can’t. This allows for any changes or tweaks to room layouts, furniture and process flows to be implemented without compromising the whole investment. Taking lean engineering to its logical conclusion, these tests help make sure the room delivers the operational efficiencies that many businesses require.
Over the last year or so, two distinct specification trends have emerged in clean room design: customers either opt for generic modules that can be flexed, or for furniture that will be placed in a precise location.
‘Precise fitting’ requires workbenches, shelving and cupboards that are designed for a specific area, with no compromise on the working function or environment. These clean rooms even fix furniture into the space permanently – whether to the wall or floor – and often include access for plumbing or wiring that needs to be supplied to the workbench or cupboards.
In contrast, there is a preference for a more ‘modular approach’ with the goal of ‘future-proofing’ their clean rooms. Lab users will be able to flex the space where the furniture is placed as function evolves over time. Free-standing furniture to common formats and sizes enable easy siting according to need.
But it’s not all about practicality. The finish is becoming just as important as the function. There is definitely a focus on achieving a ‘showroom’ finish in clean rooms. This could be down to demands for the best quality working environment. Also, the viewing windows enable labs and clean rooms to clearly demonstrate to visitors that they are committed to quality and control, the viewing windows have become the business’ shop window. Beautifully finished stainless steel furniture, combined with white floors and walls and bright white lights definitely sets the scene of a pristine working environment.
This trend of a thorough design approach in the clean room has seen equal importance placed on the changing room layout. Well-designed changing rooms help reinforce the importance of maintaining clean room standards from the start of the shift. They encourage vital best practice from gowning to washing and drying and further enforce the hygiene and quality standards required in the work environment. Just as detailed planning of a clean room layout is becoming the norm, the changing room is also attracting attention. This includes considering how changing room space is managed to accommodate increased user numbers.
What these trends have told us as a business is that we have to reflect a modular approach ourselves. Keen to constantly adapt and grow to meet the needs of our clients, we are in constant dialogue with the industries we work with. Always listening and being flexible is as valuable as being knowledgeable and informed with our advice; we continue to learn about the demands of the industry and lab users, from those that are in charge, to those that keep the clean rooms clean.
The author:
Sue Springett is the Commercial Manager at Teknomek
Contact:
01603 788833
