KBI BioPharma

KBI BioPharma develops custom pharmaceutical solutions including cellular therapies that are revolutionizing the course of healthcare for some of the most challenging disease indications. Their facilities are creating lifesaving treatments daily. In August 2022, KBI BioPharma determined that it must have the most state of the art manufacturing and research facilities to facilitate their groundbreaking developments. Its executives made the very difficult decision to completely shut down their research and manufacturing environments in order to upgrade their facilities as fast as possible. Faced with the prospect of delaying lifesaving processes it was of course imperative to everyone that there be an effective, efficient and well-orchestrated process for the installation that would both provide the highest quality outcome while also minimizing the amount of time their facilities were out-of-service. Everyone at KBI BioPharma up to the highest levels expected a state-of-the-art solution and a rapid deliverable. What KBI BioPharma wanted was an integral, waterproof, floor and wall system customized to every offset, corner, and pass through within their facility. Texan Floor recommended Gerflor's WPM Decoclean wall system, Mipolam BioControl Performance ISO 3 rated sheet vinyl, and GTI Max Cleantech. The project scope consisted of 8,550sf of Decoclean wall panels (190 panels) each measuring approximately 4'x10' in size that not only had to be thermoformed to custom fit every wall curvature, but welded both together and to the flash cove Mipolam BioControl Performance sheet vinyl and GTI Max Cleantech floor products to create the integral system. Installation of this type of integral system requires a methodical, process-oriented approach that must be determined in advance and permits no deviations. Every facet of the installation requires extreme precision and attention to detail to effectuate properly. Each and every panel must be perfectly measured, heated, formed, cut, adhered, and welded together to create a contiguous system and cannot be spaced more than 1/16" apart. Each panel must also be welded to the flash cove system in turn including highly difficult welds at every inside and outside corner. Texan Floor initially prepared a bid package with an 8 week time frame for the installation--an aggressive time frame for the installation of such a highly technical system on such a large scale in a very delicate and challenging application. KBI BioPharma subsequently held a bid conference at their facility. There they explained the vital nature of their operations and advised that each day their facility is out of service means literal life or death to the patients they serve. After the meeting, Texan Floor revisited the project parameters, levered its expertise, and conferenced with various other trades and partners on the project in order to determine a means of culling down the construction schedule as much as possible. Through the collaborative efforts of Gerflor's account representative, Texan Floor's installation professionals and project managers, as well as KBI BioPharma's facilities management department, Texan Floor devised an action plan that would permit the entire project to be completed in under 6 weeks--from the date the material purchase orders were submitted to Gerflor. Gerflor expedited shipment on the materials needed to complete the job and 190 4'x10' WPM Decoclean panels were on Texan Floor's dock inside a week from the date of order. Texan Floor commenced its installation on September 19, 2022. A week into the project KBI BioPharma approached Texan Floor and advised that it would like to be fully operational again by November 1, 2022. To meet that deadline, KBI BioPharma advised that it would need two complete weeks before that date to clean and sterilize the facility, deliver machinery and equipment, and calibrate tooling. To meet this critical deadline for KBI BioPharma, Texan Floor would need to be completely done with its installation and punch by October 14, 2022--a mere 4 weeks from its original installation date and a full week earlier than its already refined and reduced schedule of 6 weeks. Texan Floor understood the ask. Lives were at stake and critical deadlines for client contracts and research deliverables were at stake. Texan Floor pulled together its employee owners and made the commitment that it would get the job done. Texan Floor completed the project on October 13, 2022 without a single punch item. It delivered a flawless, state-of-the-art, highly technical, floor to ceiling custom, integral infectious disease control system consisting of 190 panels and over 8,000sf of installation inside 4 weeks.