Modular Cleanrooms, A Cleaner Manufacturing Environment

22nd February 2006

To become world class competitive, a company, large or small, needs to pay particular attention to the quality of its manufacturing operations. To meet the ever-increasing demands of consumers, products need to be more reliable and to have a better cosmetic appearance. However, we live and manufacture our products in a contaminated world. Airborne particles can be generated by all manner of manufacturing processes and are shed in their millions by our operators. It has been estimated that eye shadow from one employee can generate up to 100 million particles of 0.5 micron size [human hair is about 100 microns in diameter]. Add to this particulation from all types of cosmetic make up, street clothing, hair loss and human skin cells and the particle count can run into billions.

Almost everything we make today has more and more stringent constraints applied to them. Be it that the product needs to be lighter, smaller, use less power, look better or just plain last longer. Any one of these constraints can be prejudiced by contamination. The human eye can resolve a particle of around 20 microns, anything larger than this and we will perceive a visual or cosmetic defect; smaller particles cannot be seen but can effect the functioning of a device, even causing a failure to operate.

Industry Applications For Cleanrooms

The Micro-Electronics Industry has led the way in particle control; almost all micro-chip manufacturing is now being carried out in a clean environment. Space, satellite and high reliability products, where a failure cannot be fixed by sending up an engineer, have been moved to clean manufacturing conditions. The motor industry currently achieves that high gloss finish we demand on our new cars, by painting the bodywork in a cleanroom. Air bags are activated by accelerometers; a misplaced particle here could prevent an air bag going off at a critical moment. And the medical profession requires that spare body parts be completely free from particle contamination, in addition to the stipulations on biological burden. The food industry is being forced into higher quality standards of micro-contamination control.

If computers crash because of contamination, we can restart them; if the appearance of a product is impaired by particles attached to the surface, we can clean them. However in certain areas, failures due to contamination can affect safety. With any of these field failures customer satisfaction will be lowered and we therefore need to build in particle quality control minimization procedures in the manufacturing process. The need to get it right the first time is becoming paramount.

Cleanroom Advantages

It was once considered okay to manufacture products in an open factory environment; today the problems associated with contamination demand cleaner manufacturing processes and environments. Cleaner working conditions need now to be considered for existing industries, as well as new technologies. Modular cleanrooms provide a manufacturing space which is fed with filtered air through roof filters. The number of filters used controls the rooms particle count. The rooms are easy and quick to erect and provide a low cost solution to removing airborne particle contamination. As they are modular, almost any shape can be supplied, if required at a later date they can be dismantled, enlarged or reconfigured to accommodate changing manufacturing circumstances.

The rooms can be erected inside any factory space, providing there is sufficient ceiling clearance [around 3 meters is required]. The floor needs to be clean, tiled or a non-delaminating painted surface is satisfactory. Normal single-phase power is required to run the room, other services such as air or vacuum can easily be hooked up. No planning is required; the room can be specified, supplied and erected inside 8 weeks. If the room can be designated as equipment, a favorable tax position may be taken on it.

- Alan Waterman-Smith