The regular cleaning of a cleanroom is an important factor to maintain the needed air purity class. However, the cleaning of the machines which are located in a cleanroom is often being ignored. But the maintenance cleaning of the machines should be included in the cleaning plan to ensure the necessary purity of the machine and the associated process. In addition, it is urgently necessary for the manufacturer of such a machine to process only cleaned individual parts and assemblies and thus to complete the machine. The opportunity of cleaning individual parts is often used. Cleaning in ultrasonic bath is standard nowadays.
But this type of cleaning is no longer applicable for mounted assemblies or complete machines, because it is impossible to get the cleaning liquid out of the assembly or the machine. To counter this contradiction, COLANDIS has implemented the cleaning laboratory. One of our service employees talks about the idea of the cleaning laboratory in an interview to give a brief overview:
What is a cleaning laboratory?
Our cleaning laboratory is a special cleanroom where we make manual and mechanical cleanings of machines and assemblies. The respective assemblies are disassembled, cleaned and then reassembled as far as possible. Mainly the manual wipe cleaning is used, but also other techniques are possible - depending on the application.
What was the initial idea of a cleaning laboratory? What were the reasons?
Contaminations in the manufacturing process occur in the cleanroom (in the clean environment). Humans and machines release particles as well as molecular containments. The source of human contamination can be counteracted with protective measures (clothing) and above all with training on behaviour in cleanrooms. For machines it is a little trickier. A fallacy is that machines which are located in a cleanroom, don’t need to be cleaned. Machines release particles, bacteria can settle on them or fats and other organic and inorganic materials are deposited out of the process. These can have negative impact on the product quality.
So a cleaned machine does not only mean an improved product quality and less rejects but also cost optimization.
For which customers is this cleaning laboratory interesting?
In principle it interesting for all branches where purity-technical necessities exist and the cleaning of machines can’t be done by themselves with the required care and expertise. Many industries face such challenges with their very sensitive products.
What advantages does the cleaning laboratory offer the customer?
The benefit for the customer is diverse and can have a significant, positive impact on their business. Specifically, one can enumerate these points:
- ensuring a clean and safe manufacturing process
- prevention/ reduction of reject
- prevention/ reduction of loss of production
- assurance of product quality
- more planning security
- revision, which contaminations occur
- continuous development of cleaning technologies based on practical experiences
Overall, these points lead to savings in material and costs. It should be noted that the cleaning should not be triggered until the child has fallen into the well – so the machine is dirty – but preventively, should be done regularly.
In addition, the cleaning laboratory also serves for further development of cleaning processes. Of course, this is done with the help of appropriate measurement technology in order to document the result achieved.
What does the process look like?
Quite simply: The customer sends us the machine, we clean it in our cleaning laboratory, then pack the machine in accordance to cleanroom standards and send it back to the customer, including certification for proper cleaning.
If the customer has a corresponding clean environment, this cleaning can also be transferred to the customer.
Which air cleanliness class does the cleaning laboratory has?
The cleaning laboratory has the ISO Class 7, to ensure optimal conditions.
Would you like to know more about cleaning laboratory? Please read our free whitepaper!
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