MECO Named in Facility of the Year Award

Merck’s Vaccine Facility uses MECO’s Vapor Compression Still with GII Centurbo™  Compressor

June 19, 2013 – MECO, a leading manufacturer of water purification engineered products, was named as a major equipment supplier for ISPE’s annual Facility of the Year Award. MECO is a leading supplier of water purification systems for the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries where ultra-pure water is crucial to the drug manufacturing process.

MECO’s MSS Vapor Compression (VC) still with the groundbreaking GII Centurbo™ Compressor technology is used at Merck’s new state-of-the-art Vaccine and Biologics Sterile Facility in Carlow, Ireland. Merck’s facility won the ISPE’s annual Facility of the Year Award (FOYA) in the Operational Excellence category. The FOYA program is the premier global awards program that recognizes innovation and creativity in manufacturing facilities serving the healthcare industry. Projects selected for these prestigious awards set the standard for pharmaceutical facilities of the future.

The GII compressor creates a more energy-efficient vapor compression system. Because they match production to demand, MECO’s VC stills have fewer starts and stops, so energy consumption is highly efficient.

Other benefits of MECO’s MSS VC stills include less maintenance, improved safety, cleaner performance, reduced noise and a smaller footprint.

The project was Merck’s first green-field sterile processing facility built outside the U.S.  During construction, a “one team” culture was developed, encouraging cross functional teams and integrating key project participants like MECO.