Thinking error 17: People think in terms of ‘rooms’ and not in technological solutions

The current potential users of cleanroom technology are absolute specialists in their own technologies, they know them down to the last detail, but they don't want to deal with cleanroom technology. So they reach for the ‘’universal remedy‘’, the cleanroom, and are convinced that they have found the solution to the contamination problem.

Many company presentations contain detailed lists of all the technologies on offer. And then there is another item - ‘cleanroom’. What does this have to do with technology? ISO 14644 defines a cleanroom as: ‘Room in which the concentration of airborne particles is controlled, and which is constructed and used in a manner to minimize the introduction, generation, and retention of particles inside the room, and in which other relevant parameters, e.g. temperature, humidity, and pressure, are controlled as necessary' (ISO 14644-1:1999 (E) There is only one point in this definition that is not exclusively related to the room: ‘arising in the room’. It remains open whether these are particles generated by the room's ventilation technology or particles generated by the machines, personnel and/or processes. Overall, the definition refers solely to the room and does not mention the processes to be carried out in it.

This approach of viewing the room as something more or less unique often leads to the decision: ‘We need a cleanroom’. This is done without precisely analysing the company's own processes and the resulting requirements related to the process. In any case, it would always be better to speak of a cleanliness system that leaves all options open and thus enables an objective approach in order to develop the right cleanliness solution for the specific processes. This can be a machine-integrated solution, an adapted minienvironment, a change in processes that may even make a cleanliness system superfluous, additional process steps such as cleaning or intermediate packaging of the products, or perhaps even a cleanroom. Let your cleanliness system grow from the product to the process room in the planning and finalise this planning when the goal is reached. Anything else is a waste of money.