Pitfalls in Commercial Chemical Development THE
Incomplete reaction because of inadequate control
articles in this group describe chemical development projects drawn from actual experience. They have one unique feature which distinguishes them from other such descriptionsthey emphasize pitfalls rather than successes. The experts who prepared these articles did so in the conviction that, by examining our past experience critically, we may glean some truths that will make future development efforts more productive. Development is used in its broadest sense, and includes any process by which new dimensions are added to a company’s operations-acquisition, license, or innovation of new products. Pitfall refers to any unanticipated event which, by itself, may seriously impede or totally block the development process. To define the term “pitfall” further, we may draw a crude analogy between the development process and the operations which take place in a chemical plant. The analogy may be conveniently set out as:
Physical Chemical Process
In the development process, pitfalls take the form of: Undertaking projects for which the organization is not equipped Failure to exploit fully the creative ability of people Improper timing of laboratory research and customer evaluation of products Unwillingness to evaluate projects objectively
Development Process
Marshaling of people, production facilities, and marketing organization Exploitation of skills and the Introduction of backlog of experience and catalysts ideas Separation of masses of alternaDistillation tive projects to define them more clearly to facilitate selection Close coordination of many Mixing diverse activities Recording and control Continuous evaluation of progress and likelihood of success
Assembling of r a w materials
The desired result in either side is to turn out a product that meets previously determined specifications. With chemical processes we think in terms of physical and chemical properties. In the case of the development process we think in terms of the size and timing of financial return on investment, Causes of Failure Pitfalls are elements which cause failure to meet specifications. There are pitfalls lurking in both sides of the analogy. I n chemical processing, pitfalls take such forms as:
Selection of the wrong materials and/or catalysts Producing of cuts in distillation that are too wide or too narrow
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Failure in any one of the key elements of either chemical processing or the development process will result in failure to meet specifications on time. I n either process, the consequences of failure can be disastrous in terms of financial loss and impairment of morale. I n these case studies, our attention is focused on examples of pitfalls which caused, or might have caused, failure of a development project. This approach is of value as an antidote to the many successful projects described in the literature which tend to obscure some of the basic problems in development work. The cases cover a wide variety of products. They include a resin hardener, an organic acid intermediate, an inorganic blowing agent, a petroleum-derived fatty acid, a pharmaceutical for treatment of tuberculosis, and ion exchange resins. Also included is a discussion of one company’s basic policy decision on product planning. The projects described differ in the extent to which they were carried out. Two of the projects reached commercial production. One got only as far as semicommercial production, and three were dropped in the experimental state. In all cases, however, substantial investments were made before the pitfalls were discovered. All of the articles presented here suggest the question “How can the pitfalls be avoided?” Ideally, of course, we would like to eliminate them entirely. Practically, the best that we can do is minimize the chances that they will occur. T o return briefly to our analogy, risk from pitfalls in the construction and operation of chemical plants is minimized by careful design of the process. Engineers select and arrange all of the elements of the plant on the basis of elaborate, detailed data. Does it not seem reasonable that this same approach should be applied to the development process? The following articles attest to the probable value of designing development projects as carefully as we design chemical plants. WILLIAME. STREVIG, Chairman Marketing Research Continental Oil Co. Houston 1. Tex.
These articles are condensations of papers presented at the Symposium on Pitfalls in Commercial Chemical Development, Division of Chemical Marketing and Economics, 1 36th Meeting, ACS, Atlantic City, N. J., September 1959
VOL. 52, NO. 1
JANUARY 1960
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