Tolmar Assembly & Packaging Suite
Construction:
Start: August 2022
Completed: April 2023
Contract Price:
Initial: $4,460,000
Final: $4,455,000
Delivery Method:
Design-Build
Reference:
Jane Monroe (269) 998-5551
Project Engineering Manager
Tolmar
Tucker Palmer (970) 212-5801
Project Engineer III
Tolmar
Design Team:
Page Architects
ProCraft Mechanical
Dyna Electric
Bauer & Associates
Project Description:
Tolmar Inc. is a dermatology products manufacturing company in northern Colorado. Their existing manufacturing suite was to be redesigned and repurposed to provide new cleanroom manufacturing suites for syringe assembly/packaging production and sterility laboratory. The assembly and packaging suites owner-provided, fully automated production equipment. The syringe assembly machine conveyed directly into the tray packer, both of which were located in a large Hygiene Zone (HZ) 4 production room. Additionally, a carton case palletizer system was located in a HZ 5 room adjacent to the main warehouse. Other areas consisted of HZ 3 and HZ4 rooms and washrooms with USP purified water. Both assembly and packaging suites as well as the syringe production suites required access and gowning through Personnel Airlocks (PAL) and Material Airlocks (MAL). High speed roll up doors were also incoporated as part of the work. The sterility laboratory consisted of a HZ 4 lab with a sterile isolator, laboratory work stations, material storage, and an airlock passageway to a laminar flow hood. Incubators were located and accessed from the HZ 5 corridor near the airlock entry into the sterility laboratory suite. Epoxy covered flooring, wall protection, metal lab casework, phenolic resin counter tops, and HEPA filters were also provided within the space.
Project Challenges:
Procurement challenges in construction today presented many potential problems for this project. One missed step in the planning portion of this project could have created scheduling, sequencing, and financial problems. Incubator chambers, overhead speed doors, RTUʼs, HEPA filters, and lab case work were a few of the long lead items the Sun Project Team had to plan and account for in the schedule. Teamwork, communication, and planning all resulted in successful on time delivery of all of the materials and equipment needed for this Project.
Project Accomplishments:
A major accomplishment for this project was effectively working within the Tolmar Inc. environment while it remained operational. Building inside an existing, operational facility can be very challenging for the owner and its employees. The Sun Project Team overcame this challenge through diligent daily communication over the with Tolmar ownership and staff over the course of a year to coordinate all aspects of the project including schedule, utility shutdowns, deliveries, and general construction traffic to ensure minimal disruption to their daily routines and actives.
Cost Control Strategies:
Sun Construction believes in value engineering early and throughout the design phase rather than upon completion. Sun’s years of experience and established relationships with industry-best trade partners mean we can bring value decision options to project owners. At Sun Construction we firmly believe in providing accurate and realistic budgets. Lastly, we believe in the delivery of information in a timely manner, leading to early decisions that result in lower costs.
Design Strategies: