Technical Cleanliness

In recent years, enormous advances have been made in the automotive industry with regard to enhanced performance, lower energy consumption, reduced emissions and improved safety. Consequently, in order to assure their function and quality, numerous automotive components now have to be manufactured according to stringent cleanliness regulations. What started in the 90’s with just a handful of components under the term of “residual contamination” has evolved since the year 2000 to become a key measure of quality in the automotive and supplier industries under the new name of “technical cleanliness”.

Completely new methods and techniques have been developed not only to assess particulate contamination that is critical to the function of components but also to implement specific cleanliness concepts in the various branches of industry involved. Fraunhofer IPA has played a leading role in the development of the relevant standard VDA Volume 19.1 »Inspection of Technical Cleanliness « and VDA Volume 19.2 »Technical Cleanliness in Assembly«.

Fraunhofer IPA has several unique cleanliness laboratories at its disposal, enabling it to offer the following services to the automotive industry and related sectors:

• Independent analysis of particulate component cleanliness in compliance with norms
• Development of cleanliness inspection procedures
• Cause research and damage analysis
• Training courses for inspection staff

In addition to laboratory analyses, through our many years of experience in the field we also help with:

• Analysis and optimization of clean manufacturing environments on site at the customer’s
• Development of comprehensive cleanliness concepts for production and logistics processes
• Laboratory planning and acquisition

In close cooperation with VDA QMC, we offer training courses to become a » Technical Cleanliness Inspector« or » Technical Cleanliness Planner«. At the special request of our customers, our experts also give seminars on technical cleanliness that are tailored to requirements (with reference to ISO 16232).

Cleanliness will become an increasingly important issue in the automotive industry in the future. The focus is shifting towards processes such as soldering, welding and coating. Fraunhofer IPA intends to meet this growing industrial demand and support the development of practicable standardized solutions for industry.