Maryland has long been a hotbed for the nation’s fast-growing biotechnology and biomanufacturing industries due to the state’s high concentration of doctoral scientists and engineers, proximity to federal health agencies, and many tax incentives.

Speed to market is crucial for biomanufacturing companies seeking to gain a foothold in the area and maintain a competitive advantage. The coronavirus added another layer of complexity and urgency to various construction projects, especially for companies manufacturing life-saving pharmaceutical products.

As one of the region’s largest mechanical contractors, Warner Mechanical performed mechanical installations for many of these high-stake projects. Faced with tight deadlines and wavering labor availability due to rising COVID cases, schedule certainty became a top priority. For this reason, Warner Mechanical partnered with Victaulic to mitigate risk and enhance installation efficiency for two projects at this critical moment.

Leveraging prefabrication

In 2020, Kite Pharma began constructing a new facility in Frederick, Maryland, designed to produce innovative cell therapy treatments for cancer patients.

Warner Mechanical was selected to perform all aspects of the mechanical work on the state-of-the-art facility, which included installing 68,000 linear feet of piping, four boilers, three chillers, three cooling towers, and 10 pumps using 24-inch and down large-diameter pipes.

The 279,000-square-foot building needed to be completed within 15 months. It was clear to Matt Bumgardner, vice president and chief operating officer at R.W. Warner Inc., Warner Mechanical’s parent company, that they needed to incorporate time- and cost-saving solutions to meet the accelerated construction schedule of a project this size.

“We decided to use Victaulic’s prefabrication capabilities to accomplish the owner’s goals and managed to greatly decrease the estimated schedule,” said Bumgardner.

Bumgardner engaged Victaulic Virtual Design & Construction (VDC) to design pipe schematics using a 3D Revit model of the mechanical space. Through close collaboration, Warner Mechanical’s in-house CAD department and the VDC team approved the drawings and coordinated the prefabrication of materials, pipe spools, supports, and carriers.

“The Victaulic VDC team fully understood what we would need during fieldwork and applied that to our 3D computer model — which hasn’t always been our experience with suppliers,” Bumgardner said. “There were instances where the VDC team identified missing components in the system, allowing us to foresee problems and address them upfront. It was our first time using their full prefabrication services, and this element gave us confidence in their process and expertise.”

Optimizing resources

The value of installing a prefabricated system for Kite Pharma became more apparent when COVID-19 hit the U.S. a mere two months into the project. Victaulic delivered preassembled spools to the job site, reducing the total number of field joints by more than 70%. The remaining connections were efficiently made using Victaulic grooved pipe-joining products, which do not require laborious welding, wrenching, or torquing to install.

“Victaulic tagged each spool and provided an easy-to-read spool map, as if it came out of our own prefabrication facility,” Bumgardner said. “At the end of the day, complex mechanical systems are a puzzle. The better the directions, the easier the task becomes. Victaulic keeps field installation methods in mind when designing their products and also understands how much our team values picking up efficiencies in material handling from the time of shipment to installation.”

Warner Mechanical used different modular products throughout the building, including Victaulic pump drops, air handling unit drops, and KOIL-KITs. The easy-to-install, plug-and-play design of the products reduced the number of workers needed on-site to install at a time of escalated health concerns. The speed of installation allowed Warner Mechanical to submit additional bids and secure more work for their available workforce — including one critical job for a company manufacturing at-home COVID-19 tests.

Modular products

When Warner Mechanical was awarded a fast-paced Department of Defense contract for the mechanical systems of digital diagnostics company Ellume’s newest at-home COVID-19 test production facility, they immediately thought to involve Victaulic as a business partner.

The new Ellume facility included three mechanical spaces totaling 180,800 square feet with 12,800 linear feet of heating and chilled water piping. The project had an extremely accelerated construction schedule to fast-track the production of at-home COVID-19 tests during the pandemic.

“We, again, had to stand up a very large facility within about six months,” Bumgardner said. “The best way we saw to accomplish this was using prefabricated products that are easy to put together in the field. I was fully confident that the Victaulic team would be able to help us realize what we needed for this project.”

Warner Mechanical chose to install Victaulic couplings, fittings, butterfly valves, and balancing valves at Ellume’s facility because of their experience at Kite Pharma. Bumgardner’s pipefitters, who were previously trained to use and install Victaulic products, executed a speedy installation using impact guns. Once installed, the trained crew performed visual inspections at every joint to ensure proper installation, which increased confidence in the system’s reliability.

Victaulic pump drops and air-handler unit (AHU) drops were used throughout the mechanical spaces. According to Bumgardner, these products enabled field teams to easily connect to the equipment already on-site and complete the scope with fewer pipefitters.

“Connecting individual components to each piece of equipment would have meant welding 60 to 65 joints,” Bumgardner said. “’We reduced the work down to four grooved connections using Victaulic pump drops and AHU drops. Making decisions like these enabled our team to deliver the project ahead of schedule.

“I don’t think we’ll ever go back to the old way,” he continued. “The coil packs come to the job site neatly prepackaged and tagged. It’s easy for our employees to take them out in the field, match them to the equipment, and install them with two components.”

A comprehensive business partnership

Kite Pharma and Ellume needed high-performing, reliable cooling and heating systems that would maintain the sensitive, temperature-controlled products at their facilities.

“Ellume’s COVID tests allow individuals to receive instant feedback about whether they have the virus to help make our communities as safe as possible,” Bumgardner said. “I don’t know if there’s any product in the world where speed to market is more important. Kite Pharma is also producing life-saving cancer treatments. The faster they can accomplish that, the greater impact they can have on the world we live in. We’re proud to be part of these jobs.”

Warner Mechanical completed both high-profile, high-stakes jobs on extremely tight schedules and at the height of the pandemic, all while saving on labor by collaborating closely with Victaulic representatives and maximizing the use of their diverse product and service offerings.

“The Victaulic VDC department’s capabilities to create 3D models and designs seamlessly integrated with our in-house CAD team,” Bumgardner said. “The excellent collaboration between our teams played a crucial role in our success meeting an aggressive timeline. The Victaulic staff was always there for any questions we had and throughout the installation process. It truly enhanced the quality of our end product.”

Kite Pharma’s cell therapy treatment facility was completed in 2021 and was later named the “2021 Project of the Year” by Western Maryland’s Association of Builders & Contractors (ABC) chapter. Ellume started production of at-home tests in Building A in 2022 — only 26 weeks after mechanical work began.