Are we on the wrong track in avoiding fine dust?

While environmental regulations have ensured that particulate matter pollution from the operation of motor vehicles has continuously decreased, this anthropogenic source is now being displaced by particulate emissions from private, wood-fired systems (heating and fireplaces), especially since the Corona and energy crises. Particulate matter can not only harm health but also affect the quality and functionality of sensitive products across many fields such as optics, electronics, electromechanics, medical technology, biotechnology, and pharmaceuticals. Among the various technical options for air purification, filter technologies have proven particularly effective because they are an affordable and cost-efficient alternative during operation and can also be retrofitted later. Only through proper cleaning of the indoor air can suspended particles and fine dust be avoided!

As an example of successful cleanroom solutions, we would like to briefly introduce the company "Alternative Production" (AL-PRO Gerd Böh GmbH). This company has over 20 years of history characterized by sustainable growth, continuous development, and the pursuit of tailored solutions. Today, it employs a team of over 50 people at two sites in Göttingen, of which 12 are trained or qualified for use in cleanrooms. As a service provider, AL-PRO offers electromechanical assemblies (main area), cable assembly, picking and packaging activities, and for about five years, also manufacturing, assembly, cleaning, and packaging under cleanroom conditions. Their clients come from the fields of optics, microelectronics, electromechanics, and chip assembly, with electrostatically protected areas available for these applications.

On 200 m², AL-PRO manufactures products with the highest requirements for the manufacturing environment in three autonomous cleanroom systems. The cleanrooms are TÜV-certified according to Class 7 and 8 per ISO 14644-1 and customer-certified according to GMP Class D. The air quality can be locally increased to a cleanroom class 5 according to ISO 14644-1 using a laminar flow box. The hygiene concept has been developed in accordance with GMP practices and includes particle monitoring, external monitoring of microbiological contamination, and external pest control. This allows environmental contaminants such as airborne microbes and dust or aerosol particles to be kept as low as possible, which is essential for applications in biotechnology, medical technology, and pharmaceuticals.

The cleanrooms were planned by Spetec GmbH and retrofitted into the existing factory halls with minimal structural modifications. All cleanrooms operate around the clock and, until the end of last year, were operated in a two-shift system without significant outages. The cleanroom environments are designed to be very flexible for changing applications, which is why the personnel and material lock are spatially separated. AL-PRO is always the appropriate contact and offers customer-specific solutions wherever particles, fine dust, or germs could alter product properties or impair product quality.