Aramark, a world leader in professional services, recently expanded its Cleanroom Services operation to include state-of-the-art facilities in Bayamon, Puerto Rico and in Toronto, Ont., Canada. These two new sites join Aramark's other facilities in Chicago, Ill., Los Angeles, Calif., and Scranton, Pa. All facilities are capable of providing both sterile and non-sterile reusable cleanroom garments.
These newly opened facilities are full-service processing centers specializing in processing cleanroom garments for the Pharmaceutical, Biotech, Medical Device and Microelectronics industries. Although their focus is primarily on the care and handling of reusable cleanroom apparel, both provide a complete service line of disposable cleanroom items as well.
"This expansion increases our ability to service the international cleanroom garment needs of our Canadian and Caribbean customers," said Brad Drummond, president of Aramark Uniform Services. "Their opening represents another chapter in the exciting growth within our Cleanroom Services group."
Aramark Cleanroom Services has been serving the leading pharmaceutical, medical device and microelectronics customers in the United States for more than 20 years and has developed a complete line of garments that meet the requirements of all segments of the industry. These include custom garments developed for specific applications including coldroom cleanrooms (less than 50° F) and custom over-the-head garments used during tissue culture.
In order to be effective, a cleanroom laundry must maintain a controlled environment which is rated as the same as or better than the environment where the garments will be used. Therefore, when processing uniforms used in a Class 100 Cleanroom, the laundry itself should be a Class 100 or better.
The facility in Bayamon, Puerto Rico is a Class 100 (ISO Class 5) cleanroom processing facility. It is 21,000 square feet of newly refurbished space that opened in September 2005.
What makes Aramark's cleanroom rental programs unique is each garment is bar-coded and tracked using Aramark's exclusive CleanTrak System. It is the most comprehensive tracking system in the industry. Whenever the garment comes into the cleanroom laundry facility, its barcode is scanned. Whenever the garment has undergone a predetermined number of laundry cycles, it is removed from service and replaced with an identical garment.
In addition, Aramark cleanroom garments are designed with specific features to enhance their performance in the cleanroom. For instance, Aramark's Cleanroom Services use gamma-compatible coil zippers to reduce the amount of contamination that passes through the zipper; thumb loops on the sleeves to prevent skin exposure at the wrist; and conductive cuffs on Electrostatic Dissipative (ESD) garments to provide the most effective electrical connections.
"Uniforms are an integral part of key industries, and Aramark again is taking the lead in providing quality uniforms for such specific businesses including flame resistant (FR) clothing, and uniforms used in the food processing and healthcare industries," Drummond said. "It is rewarding to play such an important part in the daily lives of our customers in North America and off the mainland as well," he added.
