Creating Manufacturing Cells with Freestanding Partitions

Customer: Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corp. Location: United States Application:76 Linear Feet of 80 Inch Tall Freestanding Wall Partitions Product: OmniFlex 300 Plus with Freestanding Columns Fire & Sound Wall Panels 1’ x 4’ Windows Benefits Provided: Separated manufacturing space Aided in achieving FDA compliance Blended well with existing partitions

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The Situation
One of Novartis Pharmaceutical’s manufacturing plants in the United States needed to extend existing freestanding partitions in order to create controlled manufacturing cells within its facility. The partitions needed to separate the area from the rest of the plant to maintain FDA quality control guidelines and keep unnecessary equipment and foot traffic out of the area.

The Challenge
While seemingly simple, the application actually had a number of challenges.  First, the new walls had to closely match an existing partition system in terms of height, thickness, and overall appearance.  Second, to aid in ongoing FDA compliance, the walls needed to be very easy to clean.  Finally, the partitions had to be self supporting since the space did not require any type of ceiling system.  

The Evaluation
Given that the manufacturing facility was already outfitted with wall partitions, it would have seemed logical to use wall partition supplier for this expansion project.  The current wall system, however, utilized many more components which made the walls more difficult to clean, detracted from the appearance and cost more.

The Solution
By utilizing PortaFab’s OmniFlex 300 Plus Freestanding Wall System and Fire & Sound Wall Panels, Novartis was able to extend the partitions and separate the manufacturing area from the rest of the plant while creating self-contained “cells” for each separate product to aid in achieving FDA compliance.

The wall system featured PortaFab’s Fire & Sound panels with a steel-faced surface along with special stainless steel top caps and foot plates for added durability and easy washdown. By using relatively standard products from PortaFab’s extensive line, Novartis was able to not only improve the appearance of the wall system, but also save on costs and utilize a much simpler system.