The Cleanroom at Hamilton was expanded by 320 m² at short notice due to increased production requirements. Thanks to the modular system of the cleanroom CleanMediCell® the conversion only took six weeks. Production could be maintained throughout the entire project.
When Hamilton AG put a 560 m² Cleanroom into operation in 2018 for the production of 2.5 billion pipette tips per year, nobody could have guessed that demand for laboratory diagnostics would skyrocket during the coronavirus pandemic. The injection molding capacities had to be expanded as quickly as possible.
Fortunately, Hamilton had already planned the old Cleanroom as a modular system in advance and provided space for an extension. The 320 m² extension was again carried out with Schilling Engineering and connected directly to the existing Cleanroom CleanMediCell® connected.
The wall and ceiling modules of the cleanroom system are connected with a silicone-free sealing clip system, which ensures that the room is extremely airtight. Thanks to the patented connection, the lateral cleanroom wall of the original cleanroom could be dismantled without destruction and the existing wall and ceiling elements connected to the new Cleanroom. With the help of a temporary dust protection wall, production was able to continue in full during the conversion work. Only four hours of downtime were scheduled in order to adjust and test the pressure and ventilation of the two combined room modules.
With the expansion of the clean room, Hamilton was able to commission a further three injection molding machines to produce the pipette tips in a controlled process without contamination. Each injection molding machine is equipped with a laminar flow enclosure, which protects the open areas of production from contamination with a controlled supply of ISO class 5 ultra-pure air. The finished parts are then grouped fully automatically into trays of 96 pieces each via cleanroom conveyor belts and a connected robot handling system and fed into the Cleanroom. The pipette tips are checked and packaged in the Cleanroom. The sealed end product is safely transported to the outside via a new automatic lift system and material locks and can now find its way to the end customer without any risk.
A special feature of the cleanroom system is the integrated GMP monitoring. The particle concentration within the cleanroom is monitored, as are the parameters of pressure, humidity and temperature. All values are constantly recorded and documented. The controlled process, which meets the high GMP requirements, can thus be verified over the entire production period.
Georg Schischkin, Quality Leader at Hamilton and responsible for cleanroom production, is very satisfied with the implementation of the expansion. The Swiss high-tech company’s deadline was very tight and the speed of the conversion was of great importance. He spontaneously praises Schilling Engineering’s flexible and fast planning with just one short word: “Chapeau!”
