A brief look at item’s range of cleanroom and containment solutions options.

As the COVID-19 outbreak situation continues to develop and states, cities, and municipalities attempt to prepare for a peak in confirmed infections, it becomes increasingly important that fast and fully functional containment solutions are available. Additionally, as companies supporting the fight against the spread of COVID-19 have received recommendations from US Government agencies like the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), that similar accommodations must be made for workers and essential employees.

Not all employees can work from home, so essential employees require a comparable level of protection to that which medical care professionals receive. According to the OSHA website, there are recommendations regarding the use of “Engineering Controls” for cleanrooms and isolation areas for both patient care and the safety of medical personnel and other essential employees.

Modular cleanrooms are a natural fit for temporary research and testing facilities, field hospitals, and quarantine rooms. While permanent cleanrooms are common in many medical, pharmaceutical, electronics, and other laboratory environments, they may not be as numerous or convenient as required to deal with a crisis like COVID-19. To meet these special needs, item offers a combination of functional modular cleanrooms and safety barriers with best-in-class turn around speed and precision.

The item catalog includes over 4,000 components, providing the user with numerous options. Let’s dive a little deeper into the three primary product lines that enable temporary (or permanent) cleanrooms, isolation areas and privacy screens to be built so quickly.

The Lean Production Building Kit System

The Lean Production Building Kit System from item is an easy-to-use, adaptable tube and joint system that allows the user to construct solutions with very few tools. The added benefit of this strong but lightweight product line is that the standard fastening system exhibits long term stability as soon as the fasteners are tightened.

In very little time, privacy walls can be built using solid panels, curtains or other materials, making this product line great for areas where patients or essential personnel may need to be separated but a sealed room is not necessary. What is more, given the simplicity of Lean Production Building Kit System’s Profile D30, applications (even large ones) can be shipped as a kit, built on site, and modified as needs change. This versatility lends itself to cost savings both now and in the future as the product can be adapted for other uses such as safety partitions, gates, and more.

The MB Building Kit System

Although “MB” means “machine building”, the MB Building Kit System from item is just as versatile as the Lean Production Building Kit System. In fact, the two systems are fully compatible, so partitions, rooms, and barriers can be retrofitted and adapted as needs change.

The MB Building Kit System from item offers clean lines, unparalleled strength given its lightweight nature, and thousands of components to realize any idea that may arise from anticipated needs. For example, cleanrooms can be assembled utilizing components and accessories such as those below:

Because it is so sturdy, special accessories for COVID-19 treatments like air filtration, air conditioning, and other heavy machinery can easily be supported by the MB Building Kit System. For example, in the cleanroom featured below, the roof of the unit was designed to accommodate an air filtration system.

Line XMS

Originally designed to keep expensive precision machines, robots, and their work cleanly and quietly contained, Line XMS from item builds on the basic design framework of the item MB Building Kit System but adds specific clean area features like seal grooves and closed conduit profiles, allowing cords and tubes to be stowed. The ability to stow cords behind smooth aluminum panels allows for easy sanitation and prevents unwieldy obstructions in tight areas.

Just like the MB Building Kit System, Line XMS components are compatible with the rest of the item product family. If additional features are needed, they can be easily implemented into the design. Need a bottle holder with drip tray for a door-side sanitizer station? No problem. What about a rod for a privacy curtain? Done! Need a cleanroom on a raised platform with safe stair access? item can take you to the next level. Explore an example of a Line XMS cleanroom built on an item Stairway/Platform System platform below – it is all possible!

Looking Ahead

Cleanrooms and other types of barriers are crucial to meet the needs of both medical personnel and all other employees during this health crisis. As social distancing guidelines begin to loosen and the public returns to work, there will be continued, and possibly increased, need for safety barriers and other containment solutions.

The strength of modular systems like item’s lies in the fact that the products can be reused and repurposed. For example, the components used to build a cleanroom or field hospital booth could be reconfigured into a safety partition, storage locker, or other solution that makes it highly useful, extending its lifespan beyond the COVID-19 outbreak.

Do you need high-functioning cleanrooms and barriers quickly? Do you want these solutions to serve you beyond the current crisis? Reach out to our team of item Experts by setting up a virtual meeting and find out what we can do for you. You can also check out the item Solution Center, where a wide range of containment solutions are available to view, and you can even request solutions directly on the page!