Caps on baby food, communication equipment for rockets, cytostatics for hospitals. Just a few of the products that are created in a Highcare cleanroom. This Tilburg-based company has been installing, producing and designing metal cleanrooms according to the Industrial Flexible Demountable (IFD) system for twenty-five years.
Unique in the market, Highcare delivers cleanrooms ready to use: walls, floors, technical installation and HEPA filter units. All components are of high quality, industrially prefabricated and coordinated with each other. The construction pace is therefore much faster and the costs lower. Moreover, customers have only one point of contact,’ says director-owner Bas de Bruijn. ‘Everything in one hand. Highcare installs, produces and designs dust-free rooms. Unique metal cleanrooms with a high classification and equipped with air conditioning.
Reliable and reproducible
The demand for cleanrooms is increasing, notes De Bruijn, who serves companies in the semicon, precision mechanics, (bio)pharmaceuticals, food and aerospace industries. ‘More and more business processes require special conditions in order to assemble products reliably and reproducibly. The technology in the semicon, for example, is at such a high level that the air must be incredibly pure, in the right relative humidity and temperature to prevent a dust particle from disrupting the process.’In these higher production requirements, reliability plays an increasingly important role. ‘In view of their image, customers want to avoid mistakes at all times. So you have to be reliable not for one hour, but 24/7, at every measurement time, for the long term and in large quantities.’ Highcare has specialized in this field.
Commercial appearance
The commercial appeal of a cleanroom also contributes to growth. ‘If you can say as a company that you have a cleanroom available for production, customers experience this as distinctive. It indicates that you can offer a high-quality production environment that is regularly checked for a whole set of quality requirements by an objective assessor. That gives confidence,” says De Bruijn. Highcare’s cleanrooms are therefore composed of carefully selected inert materials that are suitable for sterile environments and, depending on the sector, comply with international standards such as ISO, cGMP, HACCP and BRC.
History of Highcare
The company grew out of an installation company that worked mostly for Philips in the 1960s. Philips was the first buyer of low dust rooms. The upgrading of the assembly workshops took place at the Volt factories in Tilburg.
In the early 1970s, under the inspiring leadership of Koos Nolte, the company developed in different directions. In addition to the familiar installation technology, areas of work such as traffic infrastructure, airports, parking garages and… high-quality, low-dust areas were tapped. For the company, the 1970s were the ideal climate for these new developments. The predecessor of Highcare grew into one of the largest manufacturers at that time.
Learn more about Highcare’s history.
Philips
In the late 1980s, the parent company, the NIG Group, was sold to Stork. At that time Philips, the largest customer, began reorganization with the powerful name “Centurion. Stork responded by privatizing all non-core activities and stipulated from the takeover candidates that they would no longer use the old company name.
As the largest customer reorganized, the need arose to change the strategy and in a new company the company continued under the name “Highcare. With international aspirations. During this period, Highcare developed an innovative construction technology: IFD.
Stand alone system
Another advantage of the IFD concept is that the cleanroom can be placed standalone in an industrial hall. As a box within a box. ‘That is particularly attractive for young entrepreneurs. If they move to larger premises after a few years, they can move the clean room with them without any problems,’ says De Bruijn.
Sale leaseback
Should a client opt for a “sale leaseback,” it is important that this cleanroom is not nail-bound to the building, except for the flooring.
Highcare installs, manufactures and designs cleanrooms
The cost of an average cleanroom is project-dependent and ranges from €150,000 to €1.5 million. HIGHCARE’s clients include DSM, VDL, Arion, BasicPharma, Pranapharm Russia, Louwers Hanique, Weener Plastics and Antwerp Space. Next year, De Bruijn will set his sights abroad. ‘We are already active in Belgium, Germany, Russia and Bulgaria. We want to expand further into Brazil and the Middle East.’
Eastern Europe
Under the safe umbrella of the Ministry of Economic Affairs, Highcare also provides cleanrooms in Eastern Europe. Since 2002, Highcare has been headed by director Bas de Bruijn. He graduated in 1985 as an ing. from the Department of Architecture at the IHBO in Tilburg (HTS).