[labnetwork] Cleanroom garments - Costs escalating

[Luciani, Vincent (Fed)]

Hello LabNetwork,

A new problem has come up for us and we have not been able to resolve the issue with the vendor.  The contractor is adamant in discarding and charging us for stained or damaged garments at a startling frequency.  The cost associated with this have become prohibitively expensive and prominent on my radar screen.
I now have an opportunity to rethink that arrangement which is a fleeting opportunity for me simply due to the bureaucracy and lead time associated with the government acquisition requirements.

Current practice:
Our cleanroom is class 100 and since our beginning (10 years ago),  we have gone the conventional route of contracting with a vendor to supply and launder our Gore-Tex garments (bunny suits, hoods, booties, frocks).  Currently, we collect all garments every Friday so users get a fresh set weekly.  We have about 100 different users weekly so swap out about 100 hoods/suits/booties per week.

So, I will take this opportunity to reach out to the collective wisdom of the LabNetwork to see how others have contained the costs of cleanroom garments.

Thanks,

Vince


Vincent K. Luciani
NanoFab Manager
Center for Nanoscale Science and Technology<http://www.cnst.nist.gov/>
National Institute of Standards and Technology
100 Bureau Drive, MS 6201
Gaithersburg, MD 20899-6200 USA
+1-301-975-2886






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