Protect Your Operations from Disruptie Weather and Pests
Challenge
Biotech manufacturing must take place in a precision-controlled environment, designed to support high product yield and high-value products. Successful pharmaceutical and biotech companies continually seek out new manufacturing strategies to improve their operations to both protect their product from contamination and realize optimal profitability. Amid a highly regulated environment, Genentech operates the world’s largest biotechnology manufacturing plant producing pharmaceutical proteins from mammalian cells, in compliance with the most stringent FDA protocols. Set on a sprawling 100-acre lot, the Vacaville, California facility hosts two cell culture plants with more than 427,000 square feet of space dedicated to manufacturing, maintenance, laboratories, administration offices, and warehousing. Regulations are stringent, industry standards demand excellence, and strong corporate values focused on integrity require a strong corporate partner like Mars Air Systems and their reknowned air door.
The Solution
With over 24 Mars Air Systems ETL Sanitation Certified air curtain door units, ranging in size from 36 ft in to 96 ft in, now in place to provide protection throughout the complex of buildings, the Genentech facility enjoys the benefits of the Mars commercial air curtain defense against incursions of dust, dirt, flying pests, and wind that would otherwise prove highly disruptive to the internal environment and derail operations. ETL-certified products that have undergone rigorous testing by the independent third-party testing organization, ETL Intertek, a national testing laboratory recognized by the Occupational Safety & Health Administration that tests to the standards of UL, ANSI, CSA, ASTM and NFPA. Now this facility, part of the company Fortune Magazine recognizes as one of the Top 100 companies to work for, can operate their Vacaville facility with the security of protection throughout the building complex at every exterior door opening.
STUDIES REVEAL A 6%-9% POSITIVE EFFECT ON WORK PERFORMANCE BASED ON IMPROVED AIR QUALITY AND TEMPERATURE. (WYON 2004)
THE KING OF SHIPPING FINDS A DEPENDABLE PARTNER
When you process and ship of more than 1 billion packages a year through more than 150 fulfillment and sorting centers, those vast working spaces need to be consistently clean and comfortable despite dozens of wide openings for people and equipment to pass through 24/7. One Amazon center is so large it’s the size of 28 football fields. These facilities are known to have internal temps reach over 90°F, which is a common challenge for large industrial spaces. And, while goods move in and out as quickly, employees are long-term guests who have to deal with the air quality and temperature constraints for hours each day, year after year. Industrial facility managers need consistent durable solutions customized for their unique climate and constraints. So Amazon’s facility managers called in the titan of tough. Across the U.S., the Mars air curtain now stands guard at Amazon fulfillment and sorting facilities and manages their many large dock doors. They safeguard against air transfer and pollutant infiltration, while keeping passages free and clear from obstructions that lead to accidents.
STAYING SANITARY FOR SCIENCE
When you command roughly 34% of the overall strawberry market share in the U.S., the breeding of fruit is a little bit of art and a lot of science. And that science must be done in a lab with stringent protocols and rigorous standards for consistent and validated outcomes. To produce accurate data, the lab needs to be free of dust, contaminants, and any strains of spores which are not under examination. At Driscoll’s, the lab leadership realized the entry and exit of staff to and from the lab was the likely conduit by which airborne environmental contaminants would enter. They chose the power of Mars’ focused stream of air to expel debris from the bodies and clothing of their scientists and workers as an unobtrusive solution that doesn’t impede views or quick lab access. Now for Driscoll’s, having a Mars air curtain unit resting comfortably above the lab entry provides quiet support to both workers and seedlings.
MANAGING THE ATMOSPHERE TO ENSURE CONSISTENT PRODUCT QUALITY
Manufacturing is at its best when the environment is highly controlled. In a precision operation, regulating the environment must include to normalizing temperature and blocking dust and debris. As one of the industry leaders in home safety, credited with pioneering the tubular lock design and hosts to multiple US-based manufacturing facilities, Kwikset knew the value of controlling the atmosphere in their plants and cranking up the heat for worker comfort. The Kwikset team turned to Mars Air Systems to produce the heated air curtains they knew would be essential to ride herd over their shipping and receiving dock doors at their California facility. Now, comfort stays in and dust and debris – and the chill – stay out.
SUPERIOR SANITATION SUPPORT FOR ICONIC FOOD PROCESSOR
One landmark brand deserves another. When Perry’s, producers of 13 million gallons of ice cream annually and a New York institution operated by fourth generation family members, recognized the need to secure their high-volume food processing plant, the kingpin of air movement moved in to help. With assembly lines working day and night in a process that involves slowly making a batch at a time, and 99 years of commitment to putting “enough of the good stuff” in their products, providing a sanitary, airborne, and contaminant-free environment to produce over 500 different items isn’t just a sweet idea, – it’s an essential way of doing business. Mars is the helpful control freak for when food manufacturers and those making precision commercial products need assur- ance that their plants are free from the flying insects, airborne contaminants, and moisture issues that impact their product quality and safety. Using a cluster of Mars Air Systems WindGuard units across their bank of dock doors, the Akron, New York-based plant and its over 300 staff members know that the best air management controls are standing guard so they can focus on flavor innovations and distribution.