Link Magazine: Supura partners with ProCleanroom to build rapid as-a-service wash facility for Grade 4 cleaning

Source: LINK magazine 

Cleaning pallets, crates, and other internal logistics items is far from the core business of companies focused on manufacturing chips or cars. They want to minimize both scarce man-hours and capital expenditures. However, as their processes become increasingly sensitive to contamination, thorough cleaning is no longer optional—it is essential.

Supura, a manufacturer of industrial washers and dryers, has responded by introducing a pay-per-item model, performing the cleaning themselves at their brand-new facility in Almelo. For several months now, they have been operating a large-scale wash line, integrated with a custom-developed cleanroom by ProCleanroom.

Significant interest suggests that many more lines are set to follow.

Upon entering Supura’s production facility in Almelo, visitors are immediately greeted by a massive white enclosure, several meters high and wide, flanked by a twenty-meter-long machine line on one side and a roller conveyor on the other. The realization of this oversized wash line is the central topic of discussion with Marcel Borkent, co-founder and co-owner of Supura, alongside Hugo Woudsma and Bart Bartholomeus, both representing ProCleanroom. Borkent kicks off the conversation by outlining his company’s business model—one that sounds particularly promising.

Selling output
Supura was founded in October 2024 by Borkent and his partner Patrick Geurtsen. This marked the spin-off of the machine-building division from Almelo-based Mafo, which has since focused exclusively on the maritime market. For years, this division had specialized in the development and construction of various industrial washing machines. Supura continues this work at its own facility in Borne. However, they no longer sell the machines themselves, but rather the cleaned output. Inspired by a multinational client that pays per copy for its office printers, Supura now charges per cleaned internal logistics item. Borkent has found that many companies are highly interested in this model. “Cleaning pallets, crates, and bins is by no means a core business for our customers. It is a necessary evil that they are happy to outsource to a strategic partner like us.”

Automotive expansion
This trend applies to an increasing number of sectors. “We now have a major German automaker as a client. The production process for electric vehicles—which are essentially laptops on wheels—is far more sensitive to particles than that of internal combustion engine cars.” These companies now demand that only thoroughly cleaned pallets and bins enter the production floor. This requirement has long been standard in the food and semiconductor industries. In fact, the first job for the newly operational line involves cleaning plastic pallets for “a major Dutch semiconductor company.”

Fully automated
The line consists of Supura washers and dryers that were further developed in collaboration with a major German car manufacturer to meet the multinational’s high and sustainable cleaning standards. To ensure the washed items remain clean, they move directly into a 65-square-meter PanelBloc cleanroom provided by ProCleanroom. Inside, they are stacked by a Rodemacher robot and double-wrapped in foil using a Nipper palletizer. The items then exit the cleanroom via a roller conveyor, where they are picked up by a forklift. The entire setup is fully automated; a forklift driver is only needed for loading and unloading the pallets. The system operates at a speed of one hundred pallets per hour.

Rapid solutions
One of the greatest challenges during the engineering of the line was caused by the high-capacity dryer. Cleanrooms are kept sterile by maintaining overpressure, which keeps contaminants out. The dryer—essentially a massive industrial blow-dryer—initially blew air forcefully toward the cleanroom. This created even higher pressure at that specific point, along with significant turbulence, causing particles to enter the clean space.

Customer focus
Through its work with numerous high-tech companies, ProCleanroom has built extensive expertise in cleanroom technology, housing all necessary knowledge and skills under one roof. Partnering with them allowed Supura to develop solutions quickly. “We divided the cleanroom into two sections,” explains ProCleanroom Project Manager Bartholomeus. “In the section connected to the dryer, we created additional overpressure.” Adjustments were also made to the dryer itself. “It now blows in a different direction—away from the cleanroom—and with less force at a slightly higher temperature,” Borkent adds.

Separated operations
Furthermore, it became clear that the movement of the palletizer and robot during the stacking and foil-wrapping process generated slightly too much debris. “We solved this,” Bartholomeus explains, “by moving the stacking of the clean pallets to the section of the cleanroom with the additional overpressure.” In the meantime, the other section is prepared for the foil-wrapping process. Marketing Executive Woudsma outlines the solution: “We perform a brief ‘flush’—creating a targeted, smooth, and controlled airflow for a few seconds—after which the stack of pallets is moved to the second cleanroom section for immediate packaging.”

“Many companies are only now beginning to consider the cleaning of their internal logistics equipment.”

The entire system is managed by the individual controllers of the four participating partners, integrated by Supura into an overarching software shell. This allows the entire operation to be monitored and controlled from a single HMI (Human-Machine Interface) located outside the cleanroom.

Eight-month lead time
To facilitate the engineering and testing, a small pilot line was initially built in Almelo. Once that was operational and meeting performance standards, the current line was configured. It now cleans and packages at a rate of one hundred pallets per hour, achieving a cleanliness level equivalent to Grade 4. The entire project was completed in just eight months. Borkent is clearly satisfied with the collaboration with ProCleanroom. Based in Eersel, North Brabant, the question arises as to how the connection with the Twente-based Supura was established. “ProCleanroom was recommended to us by the very first customer for whom we are now washing pallets on this line.”

SiteCare and FullCare
This recommendation is expected to lead to even greater opportunities as Supura expands its promising as-a-service business model. Under the name SiteCare, the manufacturer installs its washers at the customer’s location, where the client operates them independently. Under FullCare, Supura takes over the entire cleaning process for internal logistics products, performing the work at its new Almelo facility. According to Borkent, there is significant interest in this service from both the Netherlands and Germany. “We are going to build sites like this in Denmark and Germany. Through the major semiconductor company, businesses from their supply base are now reaching out to us. The same applies to the automotive industry. All these companies have been operating in clean environments for a long time, but they are only now, for the first time, considering the cleaning of their internal logistics equipment—and they are looking for a strategic partner to handle it.”

From recycling to High-Tech
Supura a name combining ‘superior’ and ‘purity,’ chosen for its association with Japanese quality originated as a spin-off of the industrial washer division of Almelo-based Mafo. Under that banner, the company built 65 years of expertise in the automated and thorough cleaning of waste containers and oil drums for the recycling market. In recent years, the high-tech market—particularly automotive has gained significant weight. This growth potential prompted Mafo to divest the activity. As of October 1, 2024, the business was acquired by Marcel Borkent (formerly of Mafo) and his business partner Patrick Geurtsen of Machinefabriek Geurtsen, a group of companies headquartered in Deventer.

Investment and financing
Supura’s as-a-service business model requires tens of millions of euros in investment. Since machines are no longer sold for a lump sum but must generate a return over their operational lifespan, the financial structure has shifted. However, there is such widespread confidence in this model that private equity funding has proven unnecessary, according to Borkent. “We have been able to rely solely on bank loans.”