‘Cleanliness’Is Critical In BorgWarner’s New GM Line
Standing in front of BorgWarner’s new cleanroom are company officials Brad Payne (left), Facility Manager, and Larry Smith (right), Buyer. They are with contractors (from left) Norman Powell, President of P&M Fire Protection; Billy Humphreys of M&H Builders; Keith Marchbanks, President of Marchbanks Specialty Company; Jeff Waller, President of Clean Air Technology; and Larry Sprouse of Valley Lumber and Hardware. – Photo by Jack Gurner
Latest Technology – It’s empty right now, but the 7500-square-foot cleanroom at Water Valley’s BorgWarner plant will soon be filled with state-of-the-art equipment to produce a high-tech solenoid for General Motors. The floor is yet to be finished and the electrical systems hooked up. Manufacturing is expected to begin in the first quarter of next year.
By Jack Gurner
Reporter
WATER VALLEY – Manufacturing operations will begin during the first quarter of next year in a new 7500-square-foot cleanroom at the local BorgWarner plant.
The facility, described by company officials as “cleaner than a hospital operating room,” will house production equipment for a new transmission solenoid being launched for General Motors.
The new GM part will also add 65 employees to the plant’s workforce during the first quarter of 2011, according to Plant Manager Kent Tobin. “We’ll probably need an additional 20-something people in the second quarter.”
The state-of-the-art transmission control solenoid and the cleanroom are part of an $18 million investment by BorgWarner in the Water Valley plant.
The cleanroom was designed to exceed the Class 8 international standards, according to Facility Manager Brad Payne. “One of the ingredients for providing our customers with quality products is good housekeeping in all areas of the process.”
Payne said that what was considered “good” at one time is no longer acceptable. “Cleanliness has become even more critical as our newer products demand little or no internal contamination to function properly,” he added.
The purpose of a cleanroom is to control the size and quality of airborne particles inside the room. An ISO Class 8 clean room is about 100,000 times cleaner than natural air and allows fewer than 3.52 million particles sized less than .5 micrometer per cubic meter of air. A .5 micrometer particle is about 1/200th the size of a human hair.
The design and construction of the cleanroom started at the end of June and has had minimal issues, according to Payne. He attributes this to the contractors, sub-contractors, and BorgWarner facility and maintenance employees working together.
“The main contractor, Clean Air Technology, was selected primarily for their 30-plus years of experience in designing and building cleanrooms throughout the world,” Payne said. “In addition, they utilized several reputable local contractors throughout the entire construction process.”
Among the local companies were M&H Builders, Inc.; Valley Lumber and Hardware; P&M Automatic Fire Protection, Inc., Valley Tool, Tri-Star Mechanical Contractors, and Marchbanks Specialty Co., Inc.
