By Carrie Meadows
As a first-time attendee at an Institute for Environmental Science and Technology (IEST) Working Group session, one probably doesn’t expect an animated crowd of participants sticking neon Post-It® notes on the walls. But at the inaugural meeting of proposed RP-CC044.1, “Vacuum Cleaning Systems for Cleanrooms,” at ESTECH in May, that is exactly what took place.
Roger Diener, chair of the new Working Group and contamination control engineer at Analog Devices (Wilmington, MA), took an unusual approach to the brainstorming session, one that has actually been in existence since the 1960s. Instead of soliciting feedback via the typical orderly roundtable discussion, Diener handed out the aforementioned brightly colored notepads to participants, instructing them to jot down any user-related aspect of cleanroom vacuum cleaners and stick them to any number of poster-sized papers on the walls, which were labeled with broad headings such as “general background,” “features,” “performance expectations,” “portable unit design considerations,” “design criteria,” and more. This technique, part of the K-J Method (or affinity diagram) invented by a Japanese anthropologist as a way to discover meaningful groups of ideas in a raw list, enabled the dynamic that produced an entire set of core expectations for the group’s attendees to fill in at a later date.
“I did it because a lot of people do have a different idea of what a Working Group meeting is,” says Diener. He notes that some attendees are reluctant to participate in a conventional setting, especially when they are new to the industry or RP process. The Working Group is composed of IEST members who design, manufacture, and use the systems for various cleanroom applications. “There are many different levels of experience to be incorporated into a well-rounded group. Some participants can be intimidated by that. This way gets all the questions and ideas out there, from basic to advanced, without putting anyone on the spot.”
Diener says that vacuum cleaning systems had been on the “short list” of topics that needed someone to rally for it in order to get the RP process rolling. Once it was identified as a need and he volunteered to chair the group, it was time to contact the manufacturing experts and get users to participate. During the Working Group session, Diener had pointed out that “a cleanroom is not just a ‘clean room’–it’s the largest piece of equipment [in your facility], and people need to act accordingly.” The Working Group is tasked with moving the proposed RP forward, keeping in mind the purpose of the vacuum cleaning system itself: to aid in the removal of large particles, fibers, and debris without becoming a risk to the surrounding environment.
 IEST members brainstorm an initial draft of the proposed RP-CC044.1, “Vacuum Cleaning Systems for Cleanrooms.” Photo courtesy of IEST. |
“This document is intended to address the needs and issues you should understand when buying, specifying, and using a cleanroom vacuum cleaner,” he explains. “Let’s be clear: We’re not telling users, ‘This is how you should clean your cleanroom environment.’ With this RP, we’re recommending, ‘This is what you need to know about the [vacuum] equipment you’re bringing into the environment to keep contamination from becoming a problem.’”
The importance of these proposed guidelines lies in clearly outlining what is appropriate for a cleanroom vacuum cleaning system, agrees Ray McCarthy, a sales representative for industrial vacuum manufacturer Nilfisk CFM (Kingstown, RI) and a member of the Working Group. “I think it is important to note here that a vacuum is part of the whole cleaning process within a cleanroom environment. Each cleanroom is unique to whatever is being done within that cleanroom, whether it is a tableting process for the pharmaceutical industry or a fab within a semiconductor facility