MSDS - Necessary But Not Sufficient | Cleanroom Tip
If you think that a Material Safety Data Sheet (MSDS) provides adequate information to determine if a process chemical could be hazardous to your product, think again.
Running the Morning Dash | Management Tip
Productivity guru Gina Trapani says "Do the Most Important Thing First". She calls this “running a morning dash.” When she sits down to work in the morning, before she checks any email, she spends an hour on the most important thing on her to-do list.
Keeping Your Team on Track | Management Tip
The Dale Carnegie blog offers practical advice on ways to build and maintain effective communication with your team/staff. These tips can put your team on the right track and help you stay there.
Light Does Not Displace Heavy | Cleanroom Tip
If all soil and cleaning agent components are soluble, rinsing is dilution. If some components are insoluble, rinsing is also displacement. A client found two minor soil components were heavy oils, insoluble in water. Displacement/rinsing of heavy insolubles with light solubles is equivalent to pushing a chain uphill. About Your Site How similar is your rinsing system to my client’s? Would an inspection yield any of the same surprises? Rinsing and cleaning equipment perform no better than the details which make up their design.
Isn't a meter always a meter? | Cleanroom Tip
Unfortunately, no. There is no absolute truth in measurement. Measurement is really about probability. The percentages of times the measurement will be different are the uncertainties of that parameter.
Production before People or People before Production | Management Tip
When asked about the most important factor in manufacturing, many employees put people ahead of production. It is important that our priorities are right on this one. Breaches in cleanroom protocol must not be allowed to result in an unsafe product. At the same time, skilled, educated cleanroom employees are essential for production of quality product.
Flammability Hazards of Aerosol-Dispensed Cleaning Agents | Cleanroom Tip
Many believe that aerosols are safe below their flash points. Serious fires have occurred in the chemical process industries because of that belief. In fact, aerosols of combustible liquids at temperatures well below their flash points can be ignited as can vapor.
Five Ideas to Increase Your Productivity at Work | Management Tip
Finding it hard to carve out time to get important things done? Checking email, people at your office door, unexpected meetings can all fill time but may not be getting you any closer to getting your own work done or to move ahead on projects.
Minimize Product Contamination | Cleanroom Tip
The goal of the cleanroom is to minimize product contamination. The cleanroom provides a protective environment, but automatically moving a process step to the cleanroom may be a simplistic, counterproductive solution.
Saying No to the Boss | Management Tip
If you’re the boss, you don’t necessarily want to hear the word “no.” If you have an issue or concern with a boss’s ideas, it’s not easy or may not be welcome to disagree. So is saying “no” taboo in the workplace? Not if you want innovation, productivity, and success.
Design for Growth? | Cleanroom Tip
Overdesign is one of the primary drivers of cleanroom size—and cost. While it is important to plan for production capacity growth, there is a big downside.
Getting it Right the Second Time | Management Tip
Repeating yourself and doing it using different methods of communication can enhance persuasion and buy-in.
Simplicity is Key to Minimizing Energy | Cleanroom Tip
Basically, if an operation doesn’t need to be performed in the cleanroom, keep it out! Too often, we observe processes performed in cleanrooms that either could or should be performed elsewhere.
Finding Success as a New Manager | Management Tip
Shari Lifland, Editorial Communications Manager for the American Management Association (AMA), says that, “According to a new survey by CareerBuilder, more than one-quarter (26%) of managers said they weren’t ready to become a leader when they started managing others. Even more disturbing, 58% said they didn’t receive any management training.”
Are You a Manager or a Leader? | Management Tip
All leaders are managers but not all managers are leaders. Both managers and true leaders get things done through others, but managers do so by virtue of their specific position within their organizations, while true leaders— regardless of their official rank—do so by inspiring others.
Advantages of Modular Cleanrooms | Cleanroom Tip
Modular, free-standing cleanrooms have many distinct advantages over their fixed wall counterparts. Using modular rooms greatly reduces design, engineering, and construction time, thereby reducing costs.
Choosing the Right Cleanroom | Cleanroom Tip
Regulations, cost, location, size, performance—how do you choose the right cleanroom? Selecting a cleanroom for a new business or product is not a difficult process. There are many considerations and options, but focusing first on requirements will help make the decision-making easier.
A Bestiary of Difficult Employees | Management Tip
Bestiaries, books that listed and described certain animals and their characteristics, were popular in the Middle Ages. Stories about each “beast” were designed to teach important moral lessons.
The Cost of USP 797 Compliance | Cleanroom Tip
The costs related to USP 797 compliance can vary greatly. Your specific needs will depend on your current compounding environment, as well as the types of CSPs being prepared. A key consideration, however, is the cost of non-compliance in the event that a contamination is tracked to your facility.
The Myth of Work and Life Balance | Management Tip
A recent survey of North American employees found that 87 percent of respondents say their work/life balance is negatively affecting their health. If you’ve been killing yourself trying to achieve daily work/life balance, it may be a pipe dream.
Validation Readiness | Cleanroom Tip
Planning and pre-testing are keys to successful validation. Validation of a critical or precision cleaning process is a good idea whether or not there are specific regulatory requirements to do so. A validated cleaning and contamination control process is important in placing you above the competition.
Three Ways to Say No Without Saying No | Management Tip
We’ve all been there. A team member comes up to you with a “great idea.” Sometimes the idea is good, but maybe not great. Sometimes the idea has little merit. In his blog, “Radical Management,” Steve Denning offers advice on how to respond in these situations without deflating the energies and passion of your team.
ESD Control with Static Control Garments | Cleanroom Tip
In the disc drive, microelectronics, and semiconductor industries, static electricity can cause immediate or latent failure of the product. It is imperative to control static electricity in cleanrooms and controlled environments.
Strategies to Build Loyalty: Tips on How to Re-engage Workers | Management Tip
All you have to do is look around your organization to see the impact this economic storm has had on the workplace. Now it’s time to focus on the process of rebuilding loyalty and employee engagement.
Quick Follow-ups Move Projects Forward | Management Tip
Do you find projects running behind on a regular basis, or employees unmotivated to get tasks done? You may want to tweak your management style to include this quick follow-up technique.