[labnetwork] Cleanroom garments - Costs escalating

[Robert M. HAMILTON]

Vincent Luciani,

In 1985 the UC Berkeley Microlab began using the gowning model most
universities adapt - Nylon fabric or Gortex gowns, boot covers and hoods,
probably owned by a laundry service. Our service delivered clean gowns and
picked up the dirty gowns which they owned. We got suspicious as we
regularly got screwed with reports of lost or damaged gowns. Plus this
particular service surreptitiously renewed two-year contracts every time an
invoice got signed. Getting rid of them was like switching mobile phone
companies or internet providers.

Our manager at that time was not one to take a threat. He told them to go
to Hell and where to find their gowns for removal.

We switched to disposable monofilament polypro gowns (Tyvek) for a
significant savings. Each lab member gets a gowning box to keep their gown
in and their asked to replace gowns on a regular bais. This works well. In
my 37 years associated with the Microlab and its successor, the Marvel
NanoLab we have not revisited this decision. Having said this, I cannot say
we've done any recent cost analysis, either.

I can say our relaxed gowning has *never* resulted in a report of yield
issues. No one has failed to make what they wanted in our labs because of
ambient particle issues.

It is difficult to understand why research labs takes such pains to mimic
production fabs. If we were in the microprocessor business, with a billion
transistors on a chip and pushing 95%+ yields things would have to be
different. Fortunately we don't make microprocessors and and likely neither
do you. University and Government labs are not there or funded to make such
devices.

Regards,
Bob Hamilton


Robert Hamilton
University of CA, Berkeley
Marvell NanoLab Equipment Manager
Rm 520 Sutardja Dai Hall, MC 1754
Berkeley, CA 94720
Phone 510-809-8618 (desk - preferred)
Mobile 510-325-7557 (my personal mobile)
E-mail preferred: bob at eecs.berkeley.edu
http://nanolab.berkeley.edu/



On Fri, May 12, 2017 at 5:58 AM, Luciani, Vincent (Fed) <
Vincent.Luciani at nist.gov> wrote:

> 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 <(301)%20975-2886>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
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