Many manufacturing companies embark on product or process development for a variety of reasons, e.g.
- simplification of the product mix
- market demand for product improvements
- entry to new markets
The developments often require extensive trials on a production line. These have a number of disadvantages:
- potentially expensive (if using unqualified material)
- cautious in scope (reluctance to stray too far from known operational windows)
- slow to happen (pressure to accommodate in normal production schedule)
- complex to manage (sampling at multiple stages in a process route)
We offer a faster, cheaper alternative using off-line experimental processing. This provides acceptable physical simulation of the commercial process route:
- the final product can be tested
- its evolution through the process stream can readily be determined
- a wide range of candidate products can be screened in parallel with no danger of scrapping large volumes
- a range of processing options can be assessed
Following a successful screening project, a full scale line trial can then be proposed with far more confidence of success.
