R&D/Process Scale-up
Introducing new and/or enhanced products and processes involves a significant amount of technical and commercial risk. Businesses must therefore invest in the right expertise to achieve sustainable solutions. Typical drivers include:
• Safer and environmentally compliant process, for example reduced hazardous inventory.
•New Product Development (NPD) and alternative manufacturing routes.
• Improved product quality.
• Reducing capital and operating costs.
Why RB Plant?
RB Plant have a creative approach that treats each client uniquely. We have a range of approaches that includes:
- Scaling down and/or software modelling of existing processes to understand limitations and optimisation opportunities.
- Scaling up lab/pilot processes to commercial manufacture.
- Investigating alternative technologies using Horizon Scanning that client may not be familiar with.
- Enhancing an existing process or developing and implementing a new process from a blank canvas.
We start with a client dialogue to understand not only their business drivers but also the structure of their teams. We communicate pro-actively to pursue a strategy that’s in the client’s best interest whilst keeping strict controls on costs and timescales.
The result being a practical solution that meets the client’s objectives.
What we do
Our systematic approach includes the following:
- Determine client’s goals, for example improved safety, product quality, reduced operating costs.
- Identify all relevant process data to determine most appropriate approach to meet client goals.
- Earmark options each with:
- Investment analysis showing initial study and equipment costs vs benefit to client.
- SHE and sustainability considerations.
- Specification of lab/pilot facility to mirror full-scale plant unit.
- Limitations of lab/pilot unit.
- Project program showing required experiments/trials.
- Reports and recommendations.
- A stage gate process that highlights milestone and project success criteria before proceeding to next stage.
- Program execution including all project and engineering deliverables.
Here are some examples of our services and expertise:
- Commercial and technology value vs risk assessments.
- Reaction, separation, heat transfer, mixing, bulk material handling.
- Design, build, upgrade, commissioning and trialling of lab and pilot scale facilities.
- Supervision and management of equipment suppliers and analytical services.
- Process validation.
- Reviews and studies for:
- Process optimisation.
- Process control/automation.
- Scale-up from lab or pilot to full-scale and batch to continuous manufacture.