Pharma Berlin Plant
HYGIENIC DESIGN 4.0: CLEANROOMS WITH CLEAR, LINEAR LOOKS AND EXCELLENT CLEANABILITY
AT THE PHARMA BERLIN PLANT OF MEDICAL TECHNOLOGY COMPANY B. BRAUN, NEW CUTTING-EDGE CLEANROOMS FOLLOW THE ‘HYGIENIC DESIGN 4.0’ CONCEPT OF CLEANROOM MANUFACTURER TRESOLID. A CLEAR, FUNCTIONAL AND LINEAR LOOK, METICULOUSLY DESIGNED FOR EXCELLENT CLEANABILITY AND MAXIMUM USER-FRIENDLINESS. “YOU CAN LEARN FROM EVERY PROJECT. WE ALWAYS STRIVE TO MAKE NEW IMPROVEMENTS AND INVENT NEW SMART SOLUTIONS.”
B. Braun is one of the world’s leading medical technology companies with more than 66,000 employees in 64 countries. Their portfolio includes a wide range of healthcare products, devices and solutions, that find their way to medical wholesalers, hospitals, nursing homes and home care institutions.
The Pharma Berlin plant located on Mistelweg in Berlin is specialized in small-volume parenterals; with 760 employees, it produces sterile injection solutions in glass and plastic ampoules and vials in various small formats from 1 ml to 20 ml. Every year, this location produces 500 million plastic ampoules and 80 million glass ampoules with a range of 130 different formulations.
In 2021, the plant was supplied with new, ultramodern cleanrooms. Tresolid, a familyowned company based in Bad Wildungen, was entrusted with the designing and manufacturing of the cleanroom furniture of this important location.
Tresolid has a long history as a high-quality furniture maker. Nowadays, the company specialises in cleanroom design and construction for various industries such as healthcare, automotive and food. As a long-term partner of B. Braun, Tresolid carried out numerous top-level cleanroom projects for the company.
" Unlike other brands, the Trespa® core is deep black and the material can be sanded very well. If you sand it in the right way, it gets really dark, which looks nice.” Meik Syring, owner of Tresolid
TRESPA® TOPLAB® FOR CLEANROOMS
Tresolid has been working closely with Trespa for more than 13 years, choosing Trespa® TopLab® products for a wide range of cleanroom projects in the DACH area. Great examples are the pharmacy for the renowned Charité University Hospital in Berlin, and the B. Braun subsidiary Professional Nutrition Services in Melsungen.
Trespa® TopLab® can be the go-to material for challenging environments such as cleanrooms. Thanks to their smooth, closed surface, Trespa® TopLab® PLUS and Trespa® TopLab® VERTICAL offer excellent cleanability, chemical resistance and durability. Designed to withstand most cleaning agents and disinfectants, they are tested in house as well as by third parties. At the time of this case study, both are certified for certain cleanliness properties by Fraunhofer IPA under the Cleanroom Suitable Materials scheme. Trespa® TopLab® VERTICAL is available in large sheets to reduce joints, minimise waste and optimise costs and is easy to machine and to install.
HYGIENIC DESIGN 4.0
The new cleanrooms at the Mistelweg plant have been designed according to Tresolid’s ‘Hygienic Design 4.0’ concept. The concept captures important values: always striving to improve existing products and processes, especially in terms of user-friendliness and cleanability.
In this project, this approach combined with Trespa® TopLab® VERTICAL in Pure White resulted in a clear, functional and linear look, meticulously designed for excellent cleanability and maximum user-friendliness. The clean lines of the benches and cabinetry are enhanced by the use of the Trespa® TopLab® VERTICAL in Pure White and the contrast with its intense black core. Meik Syring, owner of Tresolid: “Unlike other brands, the Trespa® core is deep black and the material can be sanded very well. If you sand it in the right way, it gets really dark, which looks nice.”
The dimensions of this project were an interesting challenge. Syring: “Normally, we have changing rooms for ten to fifteen people. Here we had huge rooms, with a bench for fifty people.” The bench is a good example of the new hygienic design: thanks to an extra sheet and a small gap in the middle of the compartment separating the two classes, and aluminum rounded edge profiles, sharp edges on the back of the compartment are avoided which makes it easier to clean. The rounded edges also improve the comfort of the work environment.
"In pharmaceutical companies, the main objective is easy cleaning. If you create solutions that help optimise cleaning processes and costs, that’s also invention.” Meik Syring, owner of Tresolid
Syring explains the ‘Hygienic Design 4.0’ approach: “You can see it as our philosophy. From every project you can learn how to further improve and invent new solutions. You can do the same thing for years and years, but that’s not how we work. We are a small company, but we are very flexible. We say: ‘Okay, last time we did it like this, but now we know how to do it even better, and next time we will do it better’.”
“We do everything in-house. We talk with the customer, what are their needs? We design, we manufacture, we produce, we install. We even apply the silicone. This way you can control every step of the process.”
Syring highlights the importance of gathering information and feedback on solutions and materials, not only from engineers and lab designers, but also from the people working in the cleanroom on a daily basis, and – very important – from the cleaning and maintenance team. He explains that innovation is not only for big companies and industries, it is also in craftmanship, inventions and improvements. “The customer told me that thanks to this improved hygienic design, cleaning is quicker, and quicker means cheaper. In pharmaceutical companies, the main objective is easy cleaning. If you create solutions that help optimize cleaning processes and costs, that’s also invention.”
