SALT LAKE CITY – Two cleanroom laundry corporations, with laundries as far-flung as Australia and Italy, have agreed to share operational and quality data in support of international customers.

International Cleanroom Services (Salt Lake City) and Micronclean International B.V. (Ede, Holland) will share operational efficiency studies, garment decontamination and packing techniques, and sampling tests on cleanroom fabrics. The collaboration may also introduce new laboratory services throughout its footprint in Europe, the U.S., South America, Asia and Australia.

In addition, the companies will compare cleanroom developments in Europe and the U.S., says Henk Van Dijk, managing director of Micronclean International. “Instead of going our own separate ways, we will combine our efforts so that we have the advantage of a worldwide exchange of information. We'll have a global presence, but we can offer regional services.”

The collaboration will give the companies' customers, which include the largest global semiconductor manufacturers, a reliable range of high-quality services no matter where they are located, says Dave Harris, general manager of American Cleanroom Garments (Portland, OR), one of eight International Cleanroom Services companies. Together with the 10 companies affiliated with Micronclean, the alliance will hold at least two meetings each year with management and laundry personnel.

The agreement creates the largest single organization of cleanroom laundries in the world, according to Bob Steiner, international vice president of Steiner Corp. (Salt Lake City), parent company of International Cleanroom Services and a supplier of cleanroom garments and uniforms. Apart from providing continuous improvement and service innovation, the companies hope the alliance will help them “more closely copy a single customer's requirements anywhere in the world,” Steiner says.

Sheila Galatowitsch