Global pharma packaging provider Gerresheimer has expanded its German production site in Pfreimd, with more renovations to come. The first phase, reconstructing the whole of the cleanroom in Hall 2, has been completed.
Hall 2 last underwent an equivalently major renovation 14 years ago, so this overhaul was a logical step in view of the new potential energy-saving measures, stated the company.
The rebuilding work involved stripping the entire cleanroom down to its shell and rebuilding it, fitting state-of-the-art ventilation technology equipped with fan filter units (FFUs). The total investment for this construction stage ran into the low seven-figure range.
Oliver Burgel (Global Executive Vice President Operations, Purchasing and Quality, Management Board, Gerresheimer Regensburg) said: “Despite a whole host of obstacles including frost, flooding, and material supply issues, the project was accomplished incredibly fast.”
Despite a whole host of obstacles, the project was accomplished incredibly fast.
One by one, each area of the hall was closed off to production and then renovated during the course of an eight-week period. This meant removing the entire technical infrastructure, including the ventilation, water supply, lighting, and electrics as well as all the walls and ceilings in the space of a fortnight and then completely installing, certifying, and commissioning everything again within six weeks.
Rebuilding work is common at Gerresheimer’s production sites because each new generation of products in the pharma and medtech market calls for project-specific modifications to the premises.
However, when added together these minor construction measures can unsettle the overall manufacturing and technological balance in a building.
This is why a major renovation requires all the various uses of a site to be considered separately from individual projects, evaluating technical availability issues and future requirements and bringing them together in an overall concept.
Implementing this concept involved radically overhauling more than 3,000sqm of floor space in cleanroom PU 2 alone and creating a new production area measuring 400sqm.
The whole of the airlock zone in PU 2 has been redesigned as a cleanroom-type air shower and the working areas outside the cleanroom have been rearranged as well.
The coolants used in the chillers also now comply with the latest legal requirements, with the new FFU technology ensuring that energy is used much more efficiently. Revamped rooms now feature more daylight, more space and less walking to get from A to B.
Similarly large scale rennovations of halls 1 and 3 at the imporant Pfreimd site are soon to follow.