The Cleanroom Laundry Dilemma: Maintaining or Replacing
The factory’s response to my concerns was, “At this point, the dryer is about fifteen years old. Just tell the customer to buy a new one. It will be cheaper in the long run.”
Late spring of this year I was approached by a customer who, like many of my customers, is the maintenance manager of a commercial cleanroom laundry. He needed parts- a lot of parts- for his aging lineup of tumblers (dryers). Most of them were no problem. However, one was a major issue. The front panel of one of his dryers had been bent several times, and had to be replaced. The stainless version of his front panel, essential in a cleanroom environment, was no longer available. Replicating it was impossible because the manufacturer of the unit had a policy that when a part was discontinued, they destroyed the drawings and all documentation other than a part number and a note “this part did X, on models XYZ. Discontinued. No replacement.”
I had only two options to pass on to my customer; send me the front panel that was destroyed and I could replicate it in my contract shop, or I could order him a carbon steel painted version of the same front panel that was still available. The customer was in between a rock and a hard place; either have a machine down for 2-3 weeks while I waited on the part, drew it up and made a copy (hoping that it wasn’t too damaged to get good measurements) or risk the carbon steel and paint contaminating the clean room. As the service manager for a company that specializes in cleanroom laundries, this was unacceptable to me.
The factory’s response to my concerns was, “At this point, the dryer is about fifteen years old. Just tell the customer to buy a new one. It will be cheaper in the long run.”
I was flabbergast. My grandpa has a John Deere backhoe that is ancient but still runs forty years later. Our truck at the family ranch is a 1972 Ford that still runs around the place as needed. We like things built to last.
There is a major disconnect here: In the commercial laundry industry, a dryer in the 150-200lb capacity costs about $12k (give or take). It comes straight from the factory, they plug it in and run it until it falls apart. By the time they replace it eight to ten years later, it has paid for itself many times over and a replacement is easy to install.
The cleanroom laundry industry is different. The dryers my customers order require days of thoughtful planning as part of an often months- or even years- long planning process. Because the dryer is permanently framed into the cleanroom wall and sealed to prevent both the loss of clean air and contamination, replacing the dryer costs a lot more than just the sticker price on the unit. Add to that the fact that a $12k commercial dryer costs far less than a well made, customized cleanroom dryer which can cost between $28-48k, and you see why cleanroom laundry operators want to extend the life of their units dramatically.
So the question arises: When do you maintain, and when do you replace?
Last year a customer approached us with that very query. They had a pair of old dryers sitting in storage, and a facility in need of two dryers. We quoted a rebuild, and they issued a PO for the work. The dryers arrived; it was a dismal sight. Rust on stainless steel from years of cleaning with bleach, lint buildup in every corner, wiring in disarray, and controls corroded, corrupted, and not working.
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There are several reasons we were able to accomplish this:
- A dedicated team that used every tool and scrubbing pad in reach, and all the elbow grease and hours available over several days to clean the dryer, replace corroded and rotted parts, and modernize the instruments.
- A solid frame and stainless parts.
- Access to replacement parts.
Generally speaking, we can always revamp a dryer like this. There are other considerations, however; for instance, newer machines have better, more accurate instruments. The newer controls are more efficient. There are options available for office integration, so that production can add new programs from a smartphone or computer and maintenance can troubleshoot. And, finally, the new dryers have an air system that is sealed better than ever before. In ways, it may be more cost efficient to add a new dryer- and if you have to cut the dryer out of the cleanroom wall anyway, you can wait to pull it out until the new one is complete and on site, meaning less downtime for the cleanroom.
Like every commercial or on-premise cleanroom laundry, the answer lies in one factor: Your company’s needs and requirements.
No two cleanroom laundry operatotions are the same. There is no one-size-fits-all option, especially these days where production schedules are tight and modernization and expansion budgets can be even tighter. UltraClean Laundry Equipment, with over 30 years experience as the pioneers in the cleanroom laundry industry, know this better than anyone. Whether you have UltraClean equipment or a competitor’s equipment in your cleanroom, we’ll work with you and your company to find an option that fits within your time constraints and budgetary requirements.
888-267-5553 ext. 2