Clean room products and services provide the means and the methods to control a manufacturing environment. For instance, if your company makes semiconductors, a particle 200 times smaller than the width of human hair can cause major problems. Point in fact, the Hubble telescope suffered damage and did not operate correctly because of an even smaller particle. A typically clean room is 10,000 times cleaner than any hospital operating room and therefore needs the most effective clean room services training to operate efficiently.

To establish a proper basis for your clean room products and services education and training, you first need to know essential elements of the process. Then once you have the basics down, it's time to take a clean room specific training course that will help implement this knowledge. Outside consulting groups are another excellent source for training on clean products and services if you're looking to work in the industry. However, before you begin this process there are a few items to consider:

1. Review the introductory tutorials on industrial clean rooms.

2. Examine the training courses for industrial clean room products and maintenance.

3. Contact clean room maintenance and service companies about their educational opportunities.

Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Evaluate the introductory clean room products tutorials and courses available online

No matter the subject you want to master, it's imperative that you understand its basics. In the clean room products and services industry, these are items such as the standards by which a room is clean, the equipment, sources of contamination, contamination control and procedures. Tutorials can give you an essential understanding of each of these aspects of a clean room.

I recommend: Study the intro clean rooms tutorial at Coastwide Labs. Assess the clean room guide that Intel offers. Review the clean room design information at Wordpress. Watch the clean room video from Semiconductor Services.

Enroll in cleanroom products and services training classes

After you complete the basic tutorials it's time to register for clean room training in a classroom setting. These classes will allow you to implement the clean room products and know how to conduct a cleanroom service. There are also clean room products and services education and training DVD videos available if you can't find a class in your area.

I recommend: Register for the for the clean room training course at The Center for Professional Innovation & Education. Examine the clean room products training resources from Fisher Safety. Order the clean room training DVD at the Institute of Environmental Sciences and Technology.

Take the training courses from clean room manufacturers consulting companies

Consulting groups that specialize in clean rooms are often great educational and training resources. These consulting groups usually hold seminars or conferences on various clean room topics. The seminars are not as intensive as a full training course but also offer the opportunity to network with other industry professionals.

I recommend: Review the educational opportunities at the Cleanroom Consulting Group. Attend the webinar on clean room products offered at Environmental Expert.

Tips & Tactics

Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

• •  To keep up with the latest technology within the industry outside of class, you can contact clean room suppliers for the latest product and service information.

Clean rooms are highly controlled work areas in which elements such as humidity and temperature are highly regulated and dust is completely eradicated to protect equipment from contamination. Clean rooms are often required in the manufacturing industry for the creation of prototypes and the assembly of sensitive materials, or in scientific research to create control environments, such as in the pharmaceutical and biomedical industries.

When building or maintaining a clean room, it's important to have good clean room products, clean room suppliers and clean room services. In addition, it's possible to find resources online for clean room design—a must for those starting from scratch. Some other things to consider:

1. Temperature and airborne particle regulation equipment, filters, and other cleanroom products essential to the operation of a clean room
2. The contracting of clean room services such as air flow tests, particle counts, HEPA filter maintenance and other clean room services
3. Conventional, modular and other forms of clean room design that best fit your needs and budget
   

Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Get expert help when designing industrial clean rooms

Your budgetary and location considerations will dictate your options to some degree, but not completely, and you will need an informed opinion to make sure the right choices are made. If you lack the requisite expertisde, consider hiring a consultant or clean room installation firm.

I recommend: Luwa Cleanroom Technology specializes in the design, wiring and installation of cleanrooms. Clean Rooms West, Inc. offers a variety of systems to custom-tailor clean room design.

Find good clean room products and accessories

Clean room products such as filters, wipers and other accessories are essential items to help preserve the pristine environment in a clean room. Clean room suppliers make these and many more clean room products online.

I recommend: Clean room supplier CleanAir Solutions Inc. offers cleanroom products such as hardwall and softwall technologies, and other turnkey clean room solutions. ValuTek sells gloves, wipers and other clean room supplies, while CFS Cleanroom Filters and Supplies has a section dedicated to cleanroom filters.

Hire a clean room services provider you can trust

The unique demands of a clean room can't be effectively handled by all cleaning services providers. If you're interested in bringing in an outside team to handle these responsibilties, it behooves you to make sure that they are up to the task.

I recommend: Pegasus Cleanroom Services offers a wide range of cleanroom maintenance and safety solutions, including data center and biomedical services. Aramark provides cleanroom services and cleanroom garment services to customers throughout North America.

Tips & Tactics

Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

• •  When researching clean room suppliers, choose the chemicals you use wisely. Prevention in the early going can save you a lot of cleaning in the long run.
• •  Take the time to pick out exactly the right clean room products for the surface type, temperature, and humidity you are working with. Getting things right the first time can save you lots of time, money, and hassle down the line.

A clean room is an enclosed clean space with a controlled environment. In these rooms, airborne particles are reduced to a minimum level and the temperature and humidity of the air is controlled. Many industries, ranging from the electronics industry to the pharmaceutical industry, depend upon clean room technology.

Whether you want to become a clean room products manufacturer or service provider, you will need to understand the various technical terms related to clean rooms. This guide intends to familiarize you with the key terms related to clean room products and services, such as HEPA filters, tacky mat, bunny suits and ISO 14644.

Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

HEPA (High Efficiency Particulate Air) filter

A HEPA filter is a replaceable filter with a minimum particle collection efficiency of 99.97% for 0.3 micron particles and a maximum clean-filter pressure drop of 2.54cm water gauge.

I recommend: For information about HEPA filters, you can refer to the glossary by Lymtech Scientific, a manufacturer of clean room products. Clean Rooms West, Inc., a provider of clean room products and services, also provides the explanation for HEPA filters.

ULPA (Ultra Low Penetration Air) filter

An ULPA filter has a minimum particle collection efficiency of 99.9995% for particles of size 0.12 microns and larger.

I recommend: Envirco Corporation, a manufacturer of clean air systems, provides information regarding ULPA filters.

Tacky mat

A tacky mat is a large mat at the entrance of the clean room. The surface of the mat is coated with a sticky film, which removes excess particles from the footwear of personnel entering the clean room.

I recommend: You can refer to the clean room glossary by fishersci.com, a website by Thermo Fisher Scientific.

Bunny suits

A bunny suit is a special uniform that prevents skin and hair from being shed in a clean room environment. This uniform is mandatory for all personnel entering the clean room premises.

I recommend: You can learn more about bunny suits at Intel’s website.

Contamination

Contamination is a process that causes materials or surfaces to be soiled with contaminating matters. Film type and particulates are the two major categories of surface contaminants.

I recommend: Pegasus Cleanroom Services and Coastwide Laboratories provide detailed information about contamination and the various sources of contamination.

Class 100 clean room

A class 100 clean room restricts the particle count (per cubic foot of air) to 100 particles.

I recommend: GlobalSpec, an online resource, provides explanation about various clean rooms, including a class 100 clean room. You can also refer to Data Recovery Group’s website for information about a class 100 clean room.

ISO 14644

International Organization for Standardization (ISO) provides the standard ISO 14644 for clean rooms. This standard emphasizes the requirements for clean room operations.

I recommend: For a complete understanding about this standard, you can refer to ISO’s website.