Competitors’ products samples

The generation of targets aimed at cost reduction is an economics driven process. The targets will most likely be specific to the company s operation, since no two manufacturing plants are exactly the same, even within the same country and economic constraints. The development work will also be based on a consideration of the company s own internal information. This is because process secrecy and confidentiality means that there will be little, if any information in the external literature about a competitors process, other than the broadest outlines given in a typical process patent. It is unlikely that R D will be able to make a detailed analysis of the strengths and weaknesses of a competitor s processes in the same way that they can of their products, samples of which are available commercially. 

Microscopical methods are used in the textile industry to investigate raw materials, for product development and analysis of competitor s samples, and to check production and control effects and quality. Typical examples of their use are shown in Table 8.2. Textile microscopy is indispensable in dealing with complaints and analysing damage as well as in avoiding faults and repudiating unjustified claims. Microscopy is, of course, just as important in textile research (for example in the analysis of the fine structure of fibres, surface modifications and investigations on the distribution of dyes and auxiliaries). 

A few points about samples of competitors products are worth mentioning. 

In spite of the reported use of TG-MS in additive identification in (competitor) products (quantitative), analysis of additive packages is usually carried out with procedures not routinely including TG-MS [428]. This is on account of the low additive concentrations on the one hand, the limited resolution ability of thermal methods, the limited molar masses transiting through the (heated) TG-MS interfaces, and the availability of a broad variety of performing alternative techniques on the other hand. In view of their low concentrations, analysis of additives using TG-MS equipment is often carried out with a condensation trap [429], in which there is no dilution of the evolved samples. 

Wampler and Levy [1] have discussed factors affecting reproducibility in pyrolysis - gas chromatography (Py-GC) such as sample size, sample inhomogeneity, and pyrolyser design. There are two broad areas of application of Py-GC. The first is its use as a means of qualitatively identifying unknown polymers, for example, competitors products or in forensic investigations. This fingerprinting approach, useful as it is, is not pursued further in this book. 

Depending on the compound mixtures to be analysed, time-saving with FIA-MS and MS-MS can be impressive. So, in industrial applications, FIA-MS alone often meets the need in product control because of the information about the sample available prior to analysis. In the identification of products of competitors, the speed and specificity... 

Many of the apphcations described in the hterature do httle more than reduce the volume of sample taken. However, Perkin Elmer introduced a product particularly designed to use the flow-injection approach. At present this seems httle more than a marketing ploy to gain advantages over competitors. However, in reahty, many ICP systems, and indeed some AA systems, do not make it easy to hnk to FIA systems because the data-processing side of these instruments cannot cope with a transient rather than a continuous signal. 

With toothpaste it is not difficult to get samples from competitors. Just walk into a few shops and buy them (Figure 6-6). It is not always that easy, especially when you want to get the first of the latest products. You may wonder why there are so many toothpastes. This is because the different manufacturers have tried to position themselves. They try to cover a certain segment of the market where they will have less competition. 

Bound fraction Antigen/competitor present as a complex, attached to the corresponding antibody the fi-action of the reaction mixture which contains the antigen-antibody complex Carrier protein Large non-immunogenic protein that, when coupled to a hapten, induces production of anti-hapten antibodies in an animal Competitive assay Immunoassay based on the principle of competition between the analyte in the sample ( unknown ) and competitor Competitor Antigen derivative that is modified (i.e., labelled, coupled to a large protein) and serves for indirect detection of the analsde in competitive immunoassays... 

Analytical pyrolysis is used frequently in practice for qualitative identification and for obtaining quantitative or semiquantitative information on samples containing polymers, either synthetic or natural. However, most of this work remains unreported in peer reviewed literature but is rather common in industrial laboratories. Since the objects made from plastic or elastomers are typically insoluble or not easily analyzed by other techniques, analytical pyrolysis is very successful in this type of analysis [11]. The very small amount of material necessary for pyrolysis also allows in many cases performance of the analysis without the destruction of the object to be investigated. Qualitative and quantitative work includes applications for the identification of unknown samples and also for quality control purposes, evaluation of starting materials, evaluation of finished products, reverse engineering and competitor s product analysis, etc. [1]. Among other applications, Py-GC/MS can be used to quantitatively differentiate between natural and synthetic organic materials [12]. 

A commonly used approach, known as the competitive PCR method, exploits the competition and plateau features of PCR to quantitate the expression of the mRNA of interest (15,16). The reaction incorporates an RNA or DNA PCR template which is included with the sample and amplified along with the RNA of interest. The most frequently used alternate methods include the use of competitive RNA or DNA PCR templates that are different in size, contain a recognizable mutation detectable because of gel electrophoresis separation properties, or contain a restriction site to allow digestion following PCR. Typically, in these approaches, serial dilutions of a known concentration of the competitor RNA or DNA are added to tubes containing equal, but unknown quantities of the mRNA of interest. Subsequently, RT is performed, followed by PCR amplification. The differing PCR products are separated by gel electrophoresis, and the concentration in the unknown sample is obtained at the dilution where the product of the unknown sample is equal to the product of the competitor. 

Infrared spectroscopy has two main uses in industry qualitative and quantitative analysis. Qualitative analysis may range from the identification of contaminants in products, to the analysis of a competitor s product, to the study of reaction mechanisms. Quantitative analysis may be used in any physical state for components that may be the bulk of the sample to those present in parts per million concentrations. In the remainder of this section examples of both classes of analysis will be discussed these are intended to give an appreciation for the approach that is used and the type and range of problems that can be addressed. 

For most of our projects linked to new product development, we want to investigate in detail the sensory proximities/differences perceived between samples. For this objective, we usually rely on sensory maps obtained from Flash Profile. After the judges have ranked the products on each of their selected descriptors, the sensory map is obtained by generalized Procrustean analysis (GPA) (Gower, 1975). Depending on the objective of the study, we can use the descriptive sensory map to compare several prototypes to an internal reference, or to compare several competitor samples to our own products for benchmarking. 

Spectroscopy is widely used in industrial and government-funded scientific endeavors for a variety of purposes, including pharmaceutical analysis, feilure analysis, materials science, reverse engineering, and toxicology. Vibrational spectroscopy is widely used to aid in the identification of unknown materials. For example, an analytical chemist may use FTIR to identify foreign material found on a manufacturing line or in a finished product, materials used in a competitor s product, or unknown material recovered from a crime scene. Searchable libraries of vibrational spectra can be consulted in conjunction with spectral interpretation to determine the identity of the material in question. There are many commercially available libraries, but libraries can also be constructed from in-house samples and standard materials. 

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