Why You Should Hire A Professional for Cleanroom Maintenance

Why You Should Hire A Professional for Cleanroom Maintenance

by | Dec 3, 2019 | Cleanroom Supplies, Cleanrooms

Cleanroom maintenance is an important aspect of running an efficient and effective cleanroom. Since cleanroom operation can be costly, from the specialized design and construction, equipment, and energy requirements, you may look at maintenance as a place to cut costs by keeping it in house. But there are some good reasons to leave cleanroom installation and maintenance to the pros. Here’s why you should hire a professional for cleanroom maintenance.

 

Professional cleanroom companies have crucial expertise

The company who designed your cleanroom is going to understand it even better than you and your employees do, and will, therefore, be able to perform all necessary maintenance activities with ease and efficiency. Additionally, a cleanroom company that specializes in cleanroom design and maintenance is going to have years of experience that will ensure that all necessary maintenance is performed on schedule and that any issues are identified and addressed in a timely manner.

 

Cleanroom maintenance is more than just equipment testing

Maintaining your cleanroom environment takes more than just equipment testing (which is already a lot, we know). Cleanroom maintenance also includes ensuring that there’s the right setup for the tasks and activities performed in the cleanroom and that all necessary supplies from gowns to testing equipment, are on hand at all times. A cleanroom maintenance provider can ensure that you have all necessary testing supplies in good supply, as well as providing project-specific equipment and storage to meet your application and classification requirements.

 

Cleanroom maintenance is too important to get wrong

If you’re not maintaining your cleanroom properly, you’re going to run into all kinds of issues. This could be failing to meet your desired ISO classification because of particulate contamination, equipment issues, old filters in need of replacement, or other problems. If you’re not adequately maintaining your cleanroom, not only will you fail to meet your classification requirements, which could put you in legal trouble or lose you important clients, you could also be energy inefficient. This is an issue not just because of our responsibility to protect the environment but because energy costs money. And wasting energy by faulty equipment running your cleanroom inefficiently is simply wasting money.

 

Not only do we design and install cleanrooms, we also service them. If your cleanroom is in need of maintenance, contact Angstrom Technology.

 

What Is An Inplant Building?

What Is An Inplant Building?

by | Aug 19, 2019 | Cleanrooms

The new trend in industrial and commercial building is inplant buildings. While this may seem like just another trend, there are many reasons why an inplant building might be useful in your factory or industrial application. What are inplant buildings, and what are their benefits? 

What is an inplant building?

Inplant are essentially a building inside of a building, specifically, a factory plant. It’s not just a room, though. An inplant building is more like a suite of rooms or a building itself, with freestanding walls, it’s own ceiling, etc., though it may incorporate some of the factory’s existing structures.

Inplant buildings can serve a lot of purposes, from creating office spaces to separating process flows and more. These inplant buildings are constructed modularly, which has a lot of benefits in terms of build time and cost.

What are the benefits of inplant buildings?

Some of the uses of inplant buildings are obvious: say you need some offices. You don’t want to set up desks and cubicles on the factory floor, next to your inspection area or where the forklifts are parked. An inplant building can solve this dilemma. If you have equipment that is loud and requires hearing protection, you can create an equipment enclosure to contain it and reduce noise to surrounding outside areas. 

One benefit to inplant buildings is their modular construction. Modular construction can be less expensive than traditional construction. Additionally, it is quicker to assemble modularly constructed buildings, which saves you time and lost production time, which saves you even more money. Plus, modular construction depreciates faster than traditional construction, an added tax benefit. 

Another benefit to modularly constructed inplant buildings is their flexibility. If you need a temporary office space for example, an inplant building can serve that purpose and be quickly and easily taken down when no longer needed. In fact, the modular components can all be reused for a new application. If you need to add onto a modular building, or change the layout in some way, modular construction offers that flexibility, since you can add new modules and reuse existing ones in new formations.

Because of their easy of assembly, you can even construct or modify your inplant buildings with your own personnel—no subcontractors required.

 

If you’re looking to create an inplant building, contact the design engineers at Angstrom Technology to see how modular construction can work for your situation, and be sure to check out our guide to Modular Offices and Inplant Buildings.

Everything You Need to Know About Cleanroom Classifications

Everything You Need to Know About Cleanroom Classifications

by | May 20, 2019 | Cleanrooms, Helpful Tips

Cleanroom classification is both the most important and most complicated aspect of cleanroom design, especially for those who are just beginning their cleanroom design or redesign process. Here are some of the most helpful resources that will tell you everything you need to know about different types of cleanroom classifications to make your cleanroom design project a success.

What You Need to Know About Cleanroom Classifications (link: https://angstromtechnology.com/need-know-cleanroom-classifications/)

What You Need to Know About Cleanroom Classifications is the perfect primer on cleanroom classification. It explains the classification systems, how classification relates to industry and application, cleanroom states, how cleanrooms work, and how to build a cleanroom to meet a specific cleanroom classification. If you’re getting started with your cleanroom project and know nothing about classifications, start here.

Understanding Cleanroom ISO Classes (link: https://angstromtechnology.com/understanding-cleanroom-iso-classes/)

This post explains the ISO classification based on the maximum number of particles in the air by particle size for ISO classes 1 through 8. It also explains why ISO classification is so crucial as a standard for controlling the cleanroom environment.

Frequently Asked Questions about Cleanroom Classifications (link: https://angstromtechnology.com/frequently-asked-questions-cleanroom-classifications/)

All the FAQs about classifications are in this blog post: What classification do I need? How are cleanrooms classified? How does classification affect my budget? How are cleanrooms tested? How often do cleanrooms have to be inspected? etc.

How Does Cleanroom Classification Affect Your Cleanroom Budget? (link: https://angstromtechnology.com/cleanroom-classification-affect-cleanroom-budget/)

Cleanroom classification is so critical to cleanroom design and operation, and maintaining the necessary controlled environment to your classification’s standards requires a lot of intentional design choices, equipment, and electricity. So naturally, your classification will affect your budget. This blog breaks down where some of that additional cost will come from as your cleanroom classification increases.

Angstrom Technology can design a cleanroom to meet any cleanroom classification. Contact one of our expert engineers to get started on your design.

How Modular Offices Can Work for Your Company

How Modular Offices Can Work for Your Company

by | May 6, 2019 | Cleanrooms

Modular construction has a variety of benefits when it comes to cost, ease of installation, flexibility, and more, and it has many benefits for commercial construction. If you’re adding on to your office space, modular offices can work for your company. Here’s how:

 

Rapid expansion

If your company is getting bigger, you’re going to need more office space. If it’s getting bigger quickly, you’re going to need new offices ASAP. Modular offices are the perfect solution because they can be quickly and easily constructed, not to mention that they can be less expensive than traditional construction. Modularly constructed office spaces can be so easy to install that in some cases, you don’t even need a professional construction or installation crew—your staff can install them on-site.   

 

Temporary workspaces

Just like when you’re rapidly expanding, when you need offices temporarily, modular construction can be the way to go. Why is this? Well, as we mentioned previously, modular construction can be cheaper than normal brick and mortar construction and doesn’t require a subcontractor and full construction crew. Modular offices can be quickly and easily built wherever you need them. And once you no longer need those temporary workspaces, teardown is easy, and you haven’t lost value, as the modular components can be reused.

 

Flexibility for changing needs

Even if you’re not expanding or adding temporary offices for consultants or visiting employees from corporate, modular offices can be the way to go for companies with regularly changing needs. Modular construction means that offices are built using standardized, interchangeable parts, and those parts can be reused and repurposed into new workspaces should your company’s needs change. Modular construction depreciates faster than conventional construction, which can have huge tax benefits for your company.

 

Angstrom Technology doesn’t just design cleanrooms, we also design modular construction for office spaces and more. Get in touch with a design engineer to discuss your project.

What is a Modular Cleanroom?

What is a Modular Cleanroom?

by | Apr 8, 2019 | Cleanrooms

Modular design is becoming a buzzword in the construction industry, which means it’s also becoming a consideration for companies looking to build or expand, and this includes companies that are designing new cleanrooms. While modular homes might be on your radar (and blocking the right lane of the expressway), modular cleanrooms should be too. So, what is a modular cleanroom?

 

What is modular design?

First, let’s briefly cover modular design. Modular design is an approach to design that separates a system into smaller, self-contained units that can be created individually then combined in various ways to create a whole system. In terms of building and architecture, modular design incorporates universal components that are manufactured in a factory, then assembled on-site into the desired configuration.

 

What is a modular cleanroom?

A modular cleanroom is a cleanroom that is built of pre-fabricated, manufactured components that are assembled to your specifications on-site. These pre-fab components include wall and ceiling panels as well as special features like pass thru chamber panels and air locks.

There are various different design options for modular cleanrooms, depending on your cleanroom’s needs in terms of application and required classification. Modular cleanrooms can be free-standing structures or they can incorporate existing walls and structures within your factory or facility. They can also incorporate existing equipment and HVAC. Modular cleanrooms can have hard walls that resemble traditional construction or soft walls that are somewhat tent-like for greater flexibility and ease of transport.

 

What are the benefits of modular cleanroom design?

There are many benefits of modular cleanrooms, including how quickly they can be built, with minimal disruption in your facility. Modular cleanrooms can also be easily expanded or modified—they can even be taken apart and reconstructed in a new location. And even though the components of modular cleanrooms are somewhat universal, you can still customize a modular cleanroom with a variety of special features and equipment to ensure that it meets your application’s specific needs. These are all immense benefits, and save time and money over most traditionally constructed cleanrooms.  

If you’re interested in learning more about modular cleanroom design, check out our Cleanroom Design Guide or get in touch with one of our cleanroom design engineers.

 

Cleanroom Terminology 101

Cleanroom Terminology 101

by | Jan 22, 2019 | Cleanrooms, Helpful Tips

If you’re new to cleanrooms, the terminology surrounding them might seem like a foreign language, but it’s crucial to understand in order to design and run an effective cleanroom. Here’s a run-down on the most basic terms you need to know when it comes to cleanroom terminology.

What’s a cleanroom?

A cleanroom is a controlled environment that limits contamination and particles, as well as temperature, humidity, static, and other factors, in some cases. Specialized air circulation and filtration systems filter out particles and contaminants from the air. Cleanrooms can be used in a variety of industries and for a variety of applications, including storage, manufacturing, and testing and analysis. Read more about the various types of cleanrooms here.

What’s classification?

Cleanroom classification is a way of identifying the level of contamination control within a cleanroom. The classes are defined by the number of particles of certain sizes that are present in a cubic foot of air within the cleanroom. Cleanrooms are usually classified to either the ISO standard or Federal Standard 209E. Read more about cleanroom classifications here.

What’s ISO?

ISO stands for International Organization for Standardization, which is an international scientific body that creates standards for organizations for manufacturing, organizational success, and workplace conditions, among other things. ISO has created a standard for cleanroom classification that classifies cleanrooms into eight classes. Read more about the cleanroom ISO standards here.

What’s certification?

Certification is a process of testing and verifying cleanroom environmental controls to ensure that they meet the standard required for the industry and the application. This includes testing of the major components including filters, air flow equipment, HVAC, ionization equipment, etc. Read more about cleanroom certification and validation here.

 

Need to learn more about cleanrooms or need help designing one? Contact the cleanroom experts at Angstrom Technology. For more on cleanroom terminology, check out our cleanroom glossary.