Designed with precision and purpose, Hovmand lifters not only revolutionise workflow efficiency by reducing the physical strain on employees. We also prioritise stringent hygiene and product safety standards across various industries, particularly in filling, packaging, and handling processes.
Thinking about enhancing your cleanroom or controlled environment? Below, we'll outline the reasons for investing in stainless steel lifting equipment.
What is a controlled environment? And how does it differ from a cleanroom?
Have you also wondered about the precise differences between a controlled environment and a cleanroom?
We've encountered this question so many times, since different industries use these terms interchangeably. At their core, both a controlled environment and a cleanroom are specially designed spaces where parameters – like temperature, humidity, air quality, and particle count – are carefully managed to ensure optimum conditions.
Let's quickly delve into their distinct characteristics:
Controlled environment
Many industries, such as in laboratories or food and beverage, use controlled environments to ensure product quality, safety, and consistency.
Compared to a cleanroom, the parameters controlled are often more relaxed.
However, the cleanliness of every tool and equipment piece, including the lifting and packaging equipment that is used, plays a critical role.
Cleanroom
A cleanroom, on the other hand, is a more specialised type of controlled environment typically used in industries like pharma and chemistry, biotech, etc.
Here, an ultra-low level of environmental pollutants such as dust, airborne microbes, aerosol particles, and chemical vapours is necessary. This is often ensured through special air filtration systems and/or by wearing specialised attire.
In summary, while all cleanrooms are controlled environments, not every controlled environment qualifies as a cleanroom. But regardless of the nature of your environment, whether it's a controlled environment or a cleanroom, our stainless steel lifters are designed to comply with stringent standards, ensuring both hygiene and operational efficiency.
Take a look at these two series:
Lifters suited for cleanrooms – INOX 90
The INOX 90 lifter can lift up to 90 kg and is designed for cleanroom environments.
Moving parts are well shielded, and the electropolished surface makes hygienic cleaning particularly easy. It works with a variety of tools from forks, booms, and reel manipulators to crane arms and filling aids.
Lifters suited for controlled environments – INOX 200
The INOX 200 model can lift up to 200 kg.
All tools that can be combined with this lifter are made of pure stainless steel. It includes a stainless steel platform, gripping and rotating units, crane arms as well as forks and booms for picking up reels.
Protect against biological contamination
You may already be familiar with the GMP (Good Manufacturing Practice) regulations – a set of guidelines that ensure products are consistently produced and controlled according to quality standards.
Due to the higher level of "stringency" required in cleanrooms, they are often used in GMP-regulated industries. For instance, according to the ISO 15378:2017 GMP standards, facilities involved in manufacturing, assessment, and storage must maintain top-tier cleanliness and sanitation.
Given the importance of GMP directives, especially in the context of cleanrooms, we've delved deeper into this topic in our blog post about hygienic handling technology in the production of medical products.
During handling and packaging, small particles and residue from e.g. pharmaceutical materials can easily get trapped in the rough surfaces. Over time, these trapped particles create an ideal environment for bacteria to grow and multiply.
Simply take a look at the pictures below:
Hovmand lifters have sleek surfaces, which enable thorough cleaning, significantly reducing the potential for bacterial buildup. The use of stainless steel helps prevent contamination and cross-contamination.
Allow for more hands-free manual tasks
Even if your team is already wearing protective clothing in its clean environment, the smallest speck of dust still has a huge impact on the smooth production process. So, when it comes to handling and transporting sensitive goods in any hygienic area, the appropriate support can be indispensable.
For instance: If a lifter can securely grasp a container with the correct gripper, there is no risk of employees accidentally dropping it due to overload or unstable postures.
Our lifters enable manual tasks to be carried out with precision and without physical contact with the goods. Rather than manually moving containers, barrels, or canisters containing raw materials, the lifter undertakes the heavy lifting.
Evaluate if any of the following scenarios resonate with your situation:
?
?
?
?
Are your team members struggling with lifting, tilting, rotating, and relocating barrels, tubs, and/or kettles?
Do your batch recall procedures sometimes feel sluggish, with products being retrieved from storage and distribution less efficiently than desired?
Is manually transporting foil reels to packaging machines hard and time-consuming?
Are you having difficulties moving unpackaged goods from boxes to workstations for primary packaging?
Our lifters can effortlessly handle these tasks, minimising manual exertion and ensuring smoother operations. This in turn secures a cleaner environment.
Take a look at the video below and see how easy it is to grip, lift and tilt heavy reels with a Hovmand lifter:
If your operations involve tasks that demand lifting heavier loads or managing larger equipment, you can also consider the more robust and powerful E300 lifter below:
Step up the power with E300
The even more powerful E300 has a lifting capacity of 300 kg. Its lifting height reaches up to 2.35 meters. It handles barrels, tubs and kettles reliably at this height – be it by lifting, tilting, turning or moving. This makes it an ideal support when tipping barrels, turning reels or lifting boxes. Note that this lifter also maintains the hygienic standards required in sensitive environments.
Tailor your lifter to your requirements
The modular design of Hovmand stainless steel lifters makes it easy to integrate different grippers and manipulators.
Each lifter is fine-tuned to seamlessly manage various materials and packaging formats, ensuring compliance with stringent hygiene requirements.
We also provide comprehensive training, so your workers can handle primary packaging materials with ease and as per approved procedures.
Related articles
When it comes to patient safety, the rules for hygiene and precision in production are particularly strict.
Hovmand has developed a lifter with e-drive technology, set to change the game of lifting solutions.