How to commission remotely in cleanrooms

Performing commissioning remotely is not a new topic in plant engineering, but often there was a lack of acceptance for it by both the plant engineer and the customer. Due to the restrictions of the Corona pandemic, however, it has become much more important. This was also the case for the Schiller company, which worked on a cleanroom storage project for a long-standing customer in Malaysia in the spring of 2020.

Three Linear Stockers* were initially assembled and commissioned for the project in Schiller's own clean room in Osterhofen. After testing, these stockers were disassembled, packed and flown to Malaysia by air freight - including three of our fitters who were to supervise the assembly and commissioning on site. On arrival in Malaysia, two stockers were completely reassembled mechanically and electrically - however, could not be put into operation because the fitters had to leave early due to the pandemic.

For the project itself, this meant a standstill and thus a serious setback in the customer's schedule, which needed the stockers promptly for production. In cooperation with the customer, we therefore looked for a solution on how to continue the project. "Due to the strict confidentiality regulations and patent rights, it was out of the question for us to involve an external company on site in the project," says Karl Kagleder, commissioning engineer, explaining the difficult situation.

In the end, it was agreed that the customer would assign an employee from its own staff who would act as an extended workbench for our commissioning engineers in Germany. Remote access was established to each machine. In addition, the customer installed webcams above the plant, which allowed our colleagues in Osterhofen to observe the processes while sitting in front of their computers. Sitting in front of the computer in Germany, equipped with webcams and remote access to the plant, the colleagues gave the customer's employee precise instructions to be carried out. This was not without problems, but could be managed despite the time difference thanks to the commitment on both sides. In this way, it was finally possible to successfully commission the two storage systems and integrate them into the customer's production.

The sustainability of remote commissioning

Overall, the remote commissioning went so well that the third Stocker will be commissioned remotely this year. "But this time with one of our own employees at the customer's site," says Markus Haider, Cleanroom Intralogistics Division Manager at Schiller. "Not because the first remote commissioning didn't work, but because it's easier for everyone involved," he explains. This time, live images of the plant are transmitted via data goggles. Based on experience so far, Haider says remote commissioning has a future even after the pandemic: "We've been able to gain a lot of experience during this time and can now offer our customers an additional option, tie up fewer personnel resources on site at the customer and are more flexible."

*) Digression: Linear Stocker
The Schiller Automatisierungstechnik GmbH is the technical specialist for effective cleanroom technology intra-logistics and particle-reduced warehouse storage. The Schiller Linear Stocker is the scalable and reliable decentralised storage system in a cleanroom. Manual I/O ports and the connection option to OHT or conveyor systems enable flexible use of the Linear Stocker in the production environment. The Linear Stocker may be flexibly arranged for transport and storage of individual, customer-specific products, e.g. product carriers, 200/300mm cassettes and much more