Custom manufacturing characteristics

Most of today s best-known hne-chemical companies, such as Cambrex, Clariant, Degussa, Dowpharma, DSM, and Rhodia (see Table 2.2), are subject to the abovementioned characteristics. Customers prefer to do business with midsize companies, because communications are easier (they typically deal directly with the decisionmaker)—and they can better leverage their purchasing power. Lonza s custom manufacturing business, apart from biotech, is still mainly concentrated on the original Visp, Switzerland site in terms of production and R D, and therefore has conserved a number of advantages that are typical of midsize companies. 

Lonza is a major custom manufacturer of intermediates for the life science industries, and uses biocatalysis in many of its processes. Some of the products for which a biotransformation is used are achiral, however, an important characteristic of enzymes is their chirality, and this characteristic is used by Lonza to produce a number of chiral synthons. Biotransformations for the synthesis of asymmetric compounds can be divided into two types of reactions those where an achiral precursor is converted into a chiral product (true asymmetric synthesis) and those involving the resolution of a racemic mixture. Both types of reaction are used at Lonza, and several examples of each type of reaction are described for large-scale syntheses of chiral molecules that use a biotransformation in one or more of the steps. 

In practice, frequently the problem arises to manufacture a product with certain characteristics wished by the customer. These characteristics can often be achieved by slight modifications of the recipe or the manufacturing process. In addition, some knowledge is necessary, in which way the individual components of a recipe or the process parameters could affect the product properties dependent on the production method. Usually experiments are necessary to succeed. Monographs on factorial designs are available [1 ]. 

With respect to external customers, the characteristics of the products manufactured have been agreed on, close estimates made of the product amounts that will be purchased and over what time spans, inventories are kept under tight control, and the delivery methods and times of delivery arranged. 

The component illustrated in Figure Q.2 is to be manufactured by injection molding unfilled PBT. Given that dimension A is a customer critical characteristic to be maintained at... 

Most talc sold to paper, ceramics, and other industrial customers is manufactured to specifications agreed to between the producer and consumer. In paper, properties such as color, abrasion, surface area, and tint ate most important, whereas in ceramics, oxide chemistry, fired color, pressing characteristics, and alkaH metal content ate mote important. There ate some military specifications for talc used in corrosive coatings (6) and for cosmetic talc products used for cleaning of personnel in chemical warfare zones (7). 

Specifically, within the aerospace industry, for aircraft, the airframe manufacture itself is one of the major cost drivers, using the factors already addressed. Let s look at the character of how we would build an aerospace vehicle. There is typically a lot of manpower dependence. The industry itself is cyclic because the demands ebb and flow. There is typically little automation simply because of relatively low production rates, and there are very few customers. But, despite all those characteristics, there is typically also a large capacity that is founded on many highly skilled personnel, and the orientation is much more high tech than that of most other industries. Without product excellence as a driving factor, the whole industry would be an unworkable mess. 

The final element which regulations address is quality. Safety and fitness for purpose, as discussed above, are two of the characteristics that you would associate with a quality product. However, these characteristics alone would not describe a quality product. For any product or service to be considered quality you would also expect it to be reliable and consistent. Additionally in the context of medical products, quality means a requirement to demonstrate conformance to agreed specifications or applicable standards for content, purity and stability. Many organisations, from manufacturers to service providers, voluntarily apply quality assurance systems in order to more effectively meet their customers needs on a consistent basis. However,... 

The analysis of tetramethylammonium hydroxide (TMAH) solutions manufactured by SACHEM Inc. of Cleburne, Texas, includes the determination of trace elements. These elements cause less-than-optimum performance of integrated circuit boards manufactured by SACHEM s customers that use these solutions in their processes. Alkali and alkaline earth metals (e.g., Li, Na, K, Mg, Ca, and Ba) can reduce the oxide breakdown voltage of the devices. In addition, transition and heavy metal elements (e.g., Ti, Cr, Mn, Fe, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn, Ag, Au, and Pb) can produce higher dark current. Doping elements (e.g., B, Al, Si, P, As, and Sn) can alter the operating characteristics of the devices. In SACHEM s quality control laboratory, ICP coupled to mass spectrometry is used to simultaneously analyze multiple trace elements in one sample in just 1 to 4 min. This ICP-MS instrument is a state-of-the-art instrument that can provide high throughput and low detection Emits at the parts per thousand level. Trace elemental determination at the parts per thousand level must be performed in a clean room so that trace elemental contamination from airborne particles can be minimized. 

Manufacturers publish their product s performance characteristics as specifications, which are often used by the customer for comparison during the selection process. Table 1 shows the specifications of an Agilent 1100 Series Quaternary Pump, which is quite representative of other high-end analytical pumps. Note pulsation is particularly detrimental to the performance of flow-sensitive detectors (e.g., mass spectrometer, refractive index detector). Differences in dwell volumes and composition accuracy between HPLC systems might cause problems during method transfers. 

Azo dyes represent the largest group of disperse dyes for two reasons (1) the ease with which an extraordinary number of molecular combinations can be generated by varying the diazo and coupling components and (2) the relatively simple process by which the dyes can be produced. With this class of dyes, manufacturers can respond much more easily to customers and end users requests for special shades and fastness characteristics. 

Worldwide food trade as well as customers expectations regarding foodstuffs enforce implementation of measures which improve sensory, physicochemical, functional, and health-related characteristics of food products. Food producers themselves, aware of the importance of product quality, do not neglect the question of sensory, visual, and marketing features of food products. This, along with the required economic efficiency, encourages food manufacturers to use various additives in food processing technologies, which improve the characteristics of food products demanded by shoppers. In short, food additives play an important role in today s complex food supply. 

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