Teledyne Clean Room Temperature & Humidity Monitoring with viewLinc: Case Study

Increase Clean Room Integrity/Monitoring Efficiency

Teledyne Microelectronic Technologies (TMT) is a Class-K (Mission Critical) Certified provider of electronic components to the highly regulated aviation, military and aerospace industries. Because they manufacture critical components, Teledyne must maintain the highest standards in manufacturing practices, particularly in their clean room facilities.

Teledyne complies with strict quality management guidelines and regularly undergoes critical vendor audits. For many years, the company monitored their clean rooms with traditional chart recorders. However, along with less-than-satisfactory accuracy, chart recorders lack any sort of alarm mechanism to alert personnel to out-of-specification conditions.

Electrostatic discharge is a key concern in the manufacturing of electronics and microelectronics. Since TMT products are used in applications where performance, precision and reliability are critical, the company monitors humidity meticulously. TMT also maintains detailed records to show customers that products have been safely manufactured. And if there's ever a problem with a product, the company must be able to track the complete history of the device, including its manufacturing environment.

Monitoring Clean Rooms:
From Chart Recorders to Data Loggers

Teledyne’s Metrology Lab Manager Mark Kashef found monitoring with chart recorders time consuming and labor intensive.

“Someone had to check [the chart recorders] three times a day and record the data manually. We collected the data, but still had no way of knowing if conditions had gone out-of-tolerance unless we went and checked.”

Teledyne changed to Veriteq’s data logger monitoring system, which displays real-time data on any networked PC and includes a user-configurable alarm system. The increased efficiency and security of Teledyne’s new monitoring system had multiple benefits, including: better accuracy and large reductions in both personnel time and the high cost of routine chart recorder maintenance.

“Data loggers are much easier to use and more efficient than monitoring with chart recorders,” Kashef says.

The Benefits of Automation:
Efficient, Cost-effective & Secure

“We installed the Veriteq system and noticed a big difference right away,” says Kashef. “It’s easy to use, more accurate and more efficient than having someone physically check each location.” The new system comprised over 40 data loggers distributed throughout several buildings, all monitored via PCs. Of the system' s alarm capabilities, Kashef says, “I set up the notification to e-mail me immediately in case of a problem. Other staff members use the pager and cell, or text message notification.”

On the system's reliability and overall cost, Kashef says, “The Veriteq system easily paid for itself in the first year.” He notes that there is a great deal of security in knowing that network interruptions or power outages will never affect the data collected by the loggers, saying“We like knowing that if we have a problem with a computer or server, information from the last few months is stored on the loggers themselves.”

Kashef adds that there was an unexpected benefit of installing the Veriteq system: the positive response from their client companies. “We often take our customers on facility tours and our Veriteq monitoring system has become one of the 'must-show' items.”

viewLinc: The Veriteq Monitoring Solution

viewLinc Provides:

Accuracy
Based on electronic microprocessors and sensors, not moving parts, Veriteq's data loggers offer greater accuracy and precision than paper chart recorders.

Reliability
If paper charts aren't replaced regularly, information collected by the chart recorder becomes invalid. On the other hand, if a data logger download is missed, the logger can retain months of data.

Veriteq's data loggers run on 10-year batteries, so they're immune to power outages.  While paper charts fade over time and can become lost in filing, data logger files can be backed up electronically. 

Functionality
Chart recorder data can be time-consuming to analyze. Veriteq' s precision data loggers enable users to easily and effortlessly print graphs and reports, calculate minimum, maximum and average values and export to Excel.

Easy Maintenance
Chart recorders require extensive cleaning, calibration, repairs and regular replacement of charts and pens. Data loggers only need to be calibrated once a year and they' re highly accurate, even when moved frequently.

To learn more about viewLinc and other Veriteq products, call 1(800) 683-8374.