Not just clean, but pure

Schiller offers innovative automation solutions for industry. Schiller's complete solutions are widely used in the automotive industry. The company established another pillar over 10 years ago with particle-reduced storage solutions and corresponding conveyor systems for cleanrooms in the semiconductor and electronics industries. Nowadays, products from the cleanroom segment can automate entire production lines. Especially in times of the chip crisis, automation in semiconductor manufacturing has become even more important.

The automated systems must already be manufactured in a cleanroom so that they can later be used, for example, in a fab — as factories for semiconductor production are called. A cleanroom is designed to carry out sensitive development and manufacturing processes within it. Even the smallest particles in the air can cause damage to the wafers from which various microchips are later produced. Therefore, the storage and conveyor systems are developed and commissioned in the company's own cleanroom at the headquarters in Osterhofen. Another reason: all systems are tested thoroughly by customers before delivery and must therefore be fully assembled and operational. In addition to functionality of software and equipment, the generation of particles, which could be produced, for example, by abrasion, is also measured.

"The surfaces in the cleanroom are enormously expensive due to the increased requirements," explains Markus Haider, Head of SCI (Schiller Cleanroom Intralogistics). "Therefore, besides purity, we mainly focus on developing space-saving solutions. Additionally, the systems can be combined and seamlessly integrated into existing environments. In this way, we create open and flexible cleanroom solutions that can grow with the customer's requirements."

Currently, the next projects and approvals are already in the starting blocks, so more space was urgently needed. The solution was a cube with appropriate filter and ventilation technology, as well as a pre-chamber for donning cleanroom clothing, developed in collaboration with a research institute, meeting the extreme requirements. The cleanroom was expanded by 8x12x5 meters, doubling its size to 300 m².

The new cleanroom area, according to measurements, meets a very good ISO Class 5 and ensures that Schiller's cleanroom-compatible intralogistics products can continue to be delivered with short lead times and consistently high quality. ISO classes specify the maximum allowable number of particles in the air; for example, in Class 5, 3,520 particles of 0.5 micrometers size are permitted per cubic meter of air. In comparison, fresh mountain air at 2000 meters altitude contains around 30 million particles and is considered "polluted." Ultimately, the products of the automation specialist can even be operated in ISO Class 3 facilities with only 35 particles per cubic meter of air.

The new cleanroom has recently been completed and is already being populated with life through the commissioning of two Linear Stockers (storage systems). The space is also needed for global projects that Schiller is increasingly exploring. In addition to opening a sales office in the USA earlier this year, there are also initial automation projects in Asia, which — due to the pandemic — are being commissioned remotely from Germany.