Gerresheimer opens new state-of-the-art facility in Poland
Gerresheimer Group has commissioned a new cleanroom production facility for its Polish subsidiary Polfa, part of the company's glassPackaging division. The state-of-the-art cleanroom is a critical factor in the production of pharmaceutical vials and marks an important step towards the future development of Polfa's glass business, according to managing director Jerzy Sobolewski.
As well as glass, Polfa, which is based in Boleslawiec, also processes plastic and aluminium to create high-quality packaging and pharmaceutical systems. The new 200m2 cleanroom will be used to manufacture a variety of pharmaceutical vials, including injection vials and screw-neck vials, which leave the cleanroom only after shrink-wrapping ready for delivery. Initially four production lines, including the related packaging equipment, have been installed, but there is space to double this to eight. The move will bring potential annual vial production capacity to 150m units, compared with just 50m in 2004. The 550m3 of air in the cleanroom are changed completely 17 times an hour by state-of-the-art circulation and filtration equipment. Currently the facility is rated class D (100,000), but the planners have always allowed for the option of a further upgrade to class C (10,000).