Safety managers and other relevant industrial personnel must prioritize clean room visibility to ensure those carefully controlled areas meet minimal standards for compliant operations. Shortcomings can ruin products or harm workers or customers, potentially attracting regulators’ attention and leading to recalls or failed quality control checks.

Fortunately, Internet of Things sensors and other connected products can elevate clean room safety by increasing awareness and helping managers more proactively address issues before they get out of control. 

Meeting Emerging Needs with Better Consistency 

Some decision-makers in industries that use clean rooms realize connected products are essential for addressing requirements while remaining competitive. For example, some environmental monitors can automatically adjust how they operate based on changing conditions. This eliminates or significantly reduces manual adjustments. Similarly, managers can review clean room statistics from centralized dashboards, which is ideal for factories with numerous controlled areas. 

In one example, the executives of a life sciences company needed to expand the size and capabilities of an existing clean room. One of the improvements involved adding an intricate system of software-controlled valves. This network transfers more than 1,000 pharmaceutical ingredient formulas while communicating with mixing and bottling equipment. 

Additionally, project managers added a new clean room shell and core, complementing the fully automated valve system. Those involved in this enhancement even used virtual reality headsets and 3D modeling tools to guide the installation and prevent errors. Although this clean room enhancement was highly involved, those technologies supported productivity.

Anyone interested in adding connected features to clean rooms should identify their priorities. That step keeps them focused on the overarching goals and holds everyone accountable for the results. In the case of this life sciences brand, leaders expected the improvements to impact ease of use, cleanliness, security and maintenance. They also intended for this effort to become a model for future expansions. 

Demonstrating which technologies work well together in tightly controlled environments can encourage leaders from the same industry or similar ones to adopt technology for better outcomes. Such decisions may have high upfront costs, but the expenses pay off over time, especially if they make cleanrooms safer environments by reducing variability that can adversely affect product quality. 

Monitoring Access to Prevent Unwanted Situations

Clean rooms have electronically linked airlock doors that can only be opened one at a time. This reduces cross-contamination and depressurization to protect products. Managers can also program airlock systems, such as to activate time-delay systems. Systems with smart airlocks and integrated sensors also streamline access, allowing people to enter without touching anything.

This approach maintains the required environment, but it can also strengthen security by improving awareness. An executive could install security features to complement smart airlocks, such as artificial intelligence-enabled cameras that recognize which employees enter or exit at specific times. Such measures could also ensure no unauthorized individuals attempt to go into the controlled environments. Radiofrequency identification scanners and badge readers are examples of readily available access controls. 

Since clean rooms contain expensive equipment and potentially harmful substances, staying aware of who is in them is a crucial safety measure. Relatedly, some leaders have rapidly expanded their usage with the relatively new concept of clean rooms on demand.

These support rapid scalability, allowing companies to have new clean rooms in as few as three months, courtesy of pods brought directly to sites. However, these expansion efforts can make security more challenging to maintain, especially if the additional facilities are in parts of massive sites with less activity. 

IoT sensors and complementing equipment can also prevent theft and vandalism while providing video footage and timestamps to share with law enforcement. Most of these security-related accessories are unobtrusive and fit neatly into the surrounding infrastructure, giving potential criminals the impression the building is an easy target. Options such as smart airlocks with access controls prevent them from entering controlled areas to wreak havoc.  

Supporting Workers on the Move

Various professionals — from city managers to supply chain experts — use IoT technology to monitor critical locations and goods from anywhere. Those working in buildings with clean rooms do not necessarily have desk jobs that allow them to supervise things from computers. Some may also need to remotely oversee statistics and processes associated with plants around regions or states. 

Fortunately, many IoT sensor systems allow authorized users to retrieve the data at any time over an active internet connection with compatible devices. Similarly, people can tweak settings to receive immediate alerts when particulate-matter counts cross specific thresholds or other changes occur to indicate potential clean room issues. 

One example of an offering that provides visibility from anywhere is an airflow management system built for clean rooms and other critical environments. Users can access data on a mobile app or dedicated dashboard. Additionally, this product measures airflow, temperature and humidity and makes periodic adjustments to keep them within predefined limits. 

Whether people want improved visibility for a single building or across an entire campus, the associated sensor network gathers real-time data while enabling companies’ automation and clean room safety efforts. Additionally, it integrates with other components, such as building management systems. Then, people can apply the technology to adjacent goals, such as saving energy or other resources. 

Monitoring clean room environments with apps or centralized dashboards can also help supervisors decide if they should visit a site to assist with a developing situation or can get similar outcomes by remotely delegating tasks. That allows faster responses by potentially preventing unnecessary travel time and allowing people to see matters unfolding in real time without being on-site. Such visibility improves safety through proactiveness.

Enhancing Safety with Thoughtfully Deployed Technologies

Whether a decision-maker’s technology implementation only extends to smart airlocks on clean room doors or also includes environmental monitors or automation equipment, these additions make controlled industrial settings safer. They allow users to elevate quality while reducing costly, time-intensive or risky situations that could affect the bottom line. 

Before proceeding, those interested in bringing more technology to their clean rooms should research the commercially available offerings, their costs and the expected advantages. Those details will help them make informed decisions and create timelines for incorporating new products into workflows.