High tightness of cleanroom doors is essential

Julia Gigl is a project manager in contamination control at the Hexal production site in Holzkirchen. She places great importance on the impeccable functionality of the installed cleanroom components.

Cleanrooms require the highest level of technical equipment. Everything must fit, from room planning through implementation to maintenance. The quality requirements for cleanrooms and cleanroom components are constantly increasing. For doors, an extremely high level of airtightness is necessary. The pharmaceutical company Hexal has therefore decided to install Efaflex cleanroom doors at the Holzkirchen plant.

"The first Efaflex door was installed with us in 2003," reports Julia Gigl, project manager in supply technology at the pharmaceutical company. "At that time, other manufacturers could not supply doors of this quality." Based on the positive experiences that the supply technology team had with this door, all other doors were later replaced by Efaflex doors. Other doors were newly installed where the corridors were very long and subdivision was sensible. The EFA-SRT®-CR doors must perform approximately 85,000 opening cycles per year. The doors are used in areas of bulk production and development, as well as in the production of active ingredient patches. "The doors must not fail on us," explains Julia Gigl. "If a door fails, production cannot continue in the open state. For absolutely clean production, we need the pressure differences between the cleanroom and antechamber."

Even the smallest contaminants in the air can lead to costly losses in pharmaceutical production. "In our cleanrooms and the airlocks in front of them, a constant room pressure must always be maintained. The pressure loss must not exceed 1 millibar per minute within 15 minutes," explains the project manager. If this were not the case, opening the doors would allow large amounts of microfine dirt particles to enter the cleanroom each time. The filter load would increase significantly, thereby raising the financial costs for the trouble-free implementation of state-of-the-art production processes.

To prevent this, the doors to the controlled manufacturing zones and their airlocks must be airtight. The Efaflex quick-operating roller doors for the cleanroom area achieve very high airtightness values due to their enclosed curtain guidance. Pressure gradients around 15 Pa cause a air loss of less than 10 m³/h with a door size of 2,300 x 2,350 mm. The EFA-SRT®-CR doors meet all common requirements for equipment components for cleanrooms.

As a project manager, Julia Gigl places great importance on the flawless function of the doors. Besides their excellent running properties, they must also be clean and easy to clean. The high-performance and airtight quick-operating roller doors have a smooth surface structure and no protruding edges. This prevents dirt particles from settling on the surfaces. The frame and curtain coverings are designed with assembly- and maintenance-friendly clip technology. The appearance, feel, and technology benefit significantly from the extensive use of conventional screw connections being avoided.

With around 4,300 employees and six branches across Germany, Hexal is one of the largest German pharmaceutical companies. Just like the Bavarian door specialist Efaflex, the group strongly commits to the domestic location. Founded in 1986, HEXAL is a leading provider of affordable, high-quality generics based on over 300 proven active ingredients. With its broad product range, the company is present in all major therapy areas. The focus is on cardiovascular medications, pain therapeutics, and gastrointestinal preparations.

However, pharmaceuticals are not a cure-all – that’s why HEXAL also helps where high-tech medicine reaches its limits. For years, the company has been promoting selected social and humanitarian projects in the fields of health and medicine. Exactly where HEXAL, as a pharmaceutical manufacturer, is based and bears a special responsibility.

This social commitment is consolidated in the HEXAL Foundation. Aiming to improve the quality of life for sick, disabled, and disadvantaged people – especially children – this non-profit organization supports long-term initiatives and projects. It ensures that aid reaches those in need quickly and without bureaucracy. The health and well-being of employees, as well as modern, efficient equipment for production facilities, are important for the sustainable development of the company.