The Cleanzone 2017 – Digitalization and Space Research in Focus

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The Cleanzone has been taking place since 2012. The venue is the Messe Frankfurt. This year, on October 17 and 18, 64 exhibitors from 12 countries presented their booths. The audience was even more international: around 1,200 visitors, including 900 trade visitors and 300 experts, came from 40 countries – an increase of 16 percent compared to last year, according to the organizers.

Since the trade fair covers a broad spectrum of the cleanroom industry, the trade visitors came from all sectors, such as the automotive and semiconductor industries, aerospace and aeronautics, laser technology and optics, surface technology, as well as the food and pharmaceutical industries. The spacious hall 1.2, which spans over 8,000 square meters, features daylight and is designed for longer stays by exhibitors. Among them was, for example, the German Cleanroom Institute (DRRI), which presented itself with a joint booth showcasing innovations from 17 of its members.

As a highlight among cleanroom products and sophisticated technology, the booth of the industry magazine Reinraum online stood out. Publisher Reinhold Schuster presented the latest issue in a stylishly minimalist setting in front of a glass wall made up of several hundred slender bottles. These were filled with clear schnapps from Swabia, a region known for its cleanliness. Customers and booth visitors received the "life water" as a small thank you on their way out.

There was also a glass conference room separated from the hall, called the Cleanzone Plaza, where various topics were discussed and a catering area was set up. On the evening of the first day of the fair, a kind of after-work party took place for the exhibitors: with good food – including mini Pide with sheep cheese-tomato cream, chicken fillet, potato-cauliflower stir-fry, falafel, and oriental couscous – contacts could be expanded and good conversations held.

This year's Cleanzone focused on two main topics: firstly, digitalization, which is increasingly making its way into the cleanroom industry. During the Cleanzone Congress, Marc Thom from Sony Mobile addressed how cleanroom technology is changing as a result. Secondly, space research was a theme, from which numerous innovations for the industry originate, as discussed by Axel Müller from the space company OHB. Additionally, the Cleanzone Plaza featured the new satellite integration center of Airbus Defence and Space at Lake Constance. The market opportunities for cleanroom companies in the Middle East and South Africa were also discussed. "We always look at how we can work cross-media and connect the different areas of the fair," says Susanne Brendle from the marketing communications team of the "Technology & Production" division at Messe Frankfurt. And team and division manager Dominique Ewert adds: "We want to expand the fair internationally. The market is there, and the sector is continuously growing."

Overall, this year featured a larger accompanying program: new offerings included a seminar by the German Engineers Association (VDI) on the new cleanroom guidelines, the Cleanroom Talks with users and experts on current topics, and the DRRI expert sessions. On the special area of the Cleanzone Campus, Carinthian Tech Research (CTR) from Villach, Austria, the East Bavarian Technical University Amberg-Weiden, and the research consortium CassaMobile presented themselves and their work.

An important component of the fair is the Cleanroom Award, which was awarded for the sixth time this year. Companies, organizations, scientific institutions, and individuals can apply. The goal of the award is to promote innovation, sustainability, and efficiency in cleanroom technology. Usually, five concepts compete, with the fair audience deciding the winner. However, this year only four companies presented their concepts, each with very different approaches.

Reinraum online asked the representatives of the four applicants about their motivation to participate in the competition and the fair itself.

The winners: Berendsen/decontam

The winners of this year's Cleanroom Award, Berendsen/decontam, presented a support system for cleanroom operators that ensures transparency in the cleanroom by documenting desired individual work steps. The "Connected Cleanroom Application" electronically records data in the cleanroom and manages it to ensure safe working conditions, including inventory control of necessary cleanroom products.

The company, headquartered in Paris, also had a booth at the fair. "We've been participating every year since 2013," says Dennis Smeijer, Sales and Marketing Director of the Cleanroom division. "Firstly, the location of Cleanzone suits us very well geographically, and secondly, it’s very important for us to make direct contact with our customers and to see faces. The fair provides a platform for discussion, to showcase our products, exchange ideas, and gather feedback. It’s a network, and we all share a goal: to bring the market to success."

The career changers: Mecora Medizintechnik

Having only launched their product in May, Wolfgang Hassa and Jens Hutzenlaub have already won an award with it. The entrepreneurial duo is unusual: Hassa is a balloon pilot and aerospace engineer, Hutzenlaub is the owner of Mecora Medizintechnik GmbH based in Aachen. "Actually, we developed the SphairLab for ourselves; it wasn't intended as a market product," says Hassa. "But we received many positive feedbacks from customers, who also pointed us towards the Cleanroom Award."
The SphairLab is a mobile cleanroom, mainly made from high-strength textile.

The design resembles a giant glass dome with a column in the center. An intelligent ventilation system draws air from the outside through a filter that cleans it, then distributes it evenly inside through a special fabric from the ceiling. The exhaust air escapes through vents in the airlocks to the outside. Work tables, storage surfaces, airlocks, electronic fixtures, and lighting systems are included in the SphairLab. "The materials come from exhibition construction and aerospace," says Hassa. The key point: the cleanroom is easy to assemble and disassemble.

At the fair, the two entrepreneurs also had a booth to promote their product. "We are basically the surprise guest at the party and suspect that we will face a lot of skepticism," Hassa said on the first day. "But it’s exciting for us to talk to people here, because the clientele is quite international, whether customers or exhibitors." The duo can definitely count a success: the SphairLab won the 2017 Creative Prize at Cleanzone.

The curious: CEA Cesta

Usually, CEA Cesta is represented at the ContainExpert in Paris. This year, the French were present in Frankfurt for the first time – not with a booth, but through engineer and surface contamination expert Isabelle Tovena-Pecault, and her product "Cleapart 100". The latter was nominated for the 2017 Cleanroom Award.

Developed as a prototype in 2015, "Cleapart 100", which measures contamination by particles in real-time monitoring of air and surfaces, was brought to market in 2016. The company CEA Cesta became aware of Cleanzone through the Cleanroom Award. Engineer Tovena-Pecault is pleased with the interest shown by potential customers and the contacts she was able to make. "There are some suppliers I am interested in, but I had too little time to see everything and establish more intensive contacts," she laments.

The problem solvers: vali.sys + mycleanroom.de

The companies are veterans when it comes to Cleanzone: "We have been involved from the very beginning to showcase our products and services and to meet customers directly," says Thomas Christen, Technical Director at vali.sys. The Swiss company for monitoring systems has developed training modules together with the Heidelberg-based cleanroom agency mycleanroom.de, which enable employees in the cleanroom industry to be trained in virtual environments. "Our product aims to close a gap in the cleanroom industry and meet a need," says Markus Thamm from mycleanroom.de. "Training is a big issue, partly because it’s generally difficult to find personnel, and partly because people from different nations and languages work in the industry. It’s challenging to create professional instruction, especially when it takes place in the own facilities, where the risk of contamination is high." This is where the VR training module comes in, creating a virtual cleanroom for practice purposes. At their booth at Cleanzone, the two companies presented their new development, which was nominated for the Cleanroom Award. "This is our first major innovation project, so we also applied for the award for the first time," says Christen. Thamm adds: "We developed our product based on customer needs. The fair is an incubator." The entrepreneurs appreciate the relaxed atmosphere at Cleanzone, which fosters brainstorming and networking, and provides space to showcase new developments in the industry.