INDUSTRIES

Our market solutions expand various industries including manufacturers, researchers and governing bodies. Our experiences supporting the industries in laboratory and sales & business development activities provide a keen ability to understand the nuances and pain points of each. We are able to tailor our solutions to meet both the unique requirements of each industry and the common issues that affect all, although at times with varying intensity.

Manufacturers

ALSC can assist manufacturers of all sizes with experience in solutions for single laboratories with 1-2 technicians to laboratories of large global corporations with multiple locations and hundreds of employees.

Continuous Operations

Refineries operate on a continuous basis as do many chemical companies doing business in the commodities industry. In these situations, sample turn-around time is extremely important so any adjustments needed can be made before off-spec material continues throughout the process.

Let ALSC assist with:

Automating instrumentation and testing procedures to allow maximum throughput capabilities.
Quality control procedures for determining cause of off-spec results - product quality or laboratory testing issue?
Identifying contingency plans for resources needed - personnel and instrumentation.

Batch production is completed in many forms - from a 24/7, 365-day a year schedule to a less common single shift, M-F operation (typically pilot-plant operations). Like continuous operations, speed of sample turnaround can be critical, even in situations where production has "down-time" for off-shifts. For instance, when a resin manufacturer is producing a polymer batch, operations will need to know as quickly as possible if the polymer being produced is proper molecular weight, if the catalyst is used up, and the monomers consumed. They need to know if the reaction process has done long enough and since most batch processing is specialty or fine chemical production, the value for each batch and time taken to get results can be hundreds of thousands of dollars if the process goes too long. No laboratory manager wants production delayed due to slow or incorrect laboratory results. Time is indeed money. With our decades experience in various production environments, ALSC can provide services similar to our offerings for continuous operations and more.

Batch Processing

ALSC can provide:

Evaluation of new instrumentation and techniques to determine product quality issues - will new capabilities enable faster or novel identification of impurities, side reactions, active ingredient settlement, etc.?
Method development guidance for new instrumentation and analysis techniques.
Training protocols to ensure proper skill levels on new instrumentation and methodologies not already established by standards bodies such as ASTM.

Researchers

ALSC is experienced working with researchers in industrial laboratories, government, and universities, and understands the unique challenges, demands and requirements for successful operation in each setting.

Corporate

Corporations that operate continuous and/or batch processes require laboratory support to ensure effective process and quality product. The laboratory support, however, is strategic, but not a core function within the company. Only third-party labs that are in the business of generating revenue from sample testing consider the laboratory as a core function. It is a cost center, sometimes extremely costly when advanced instrumentation and highly skilled chemists are required to operate successfully. In these situations, any relief from laboratory costs is welcome by corporate management.

Allow ALSC to assist with:

Evaluating current laboratory operations to optimize workflow, reduce unnecessary testing, establish contingency plans for continued operation, etc.
Identify resources to support one-off testing needs and/or short-term projects.
Developing alternative procedures and capabilities to ensure effective production support with maximum ROI.

Government

Government laboratories are guided by current and future funding concerns and typically are limited in new technology advancements until approved by standards governing bodies such as EPA, USDA, FDA.

Let ALSC:

Assist with identifying new technologies.
Develop roadmap and provide options for laboratory equipment service programs.

Research laboratories within universities, whether public or private, function as a mix of industrial and government operations with combined requirements and concerns. Much of the research is project-funded with limitations on the testing and support for the project which are established within the project outline. However, many universities welcome the opportunity for revenue generation by accepting outside contracts for short-term projects and sample analysis support, oftentimes from industrial laboratories that need additional support.

Universities

ALSC understands this mix well and can:

Connect parties that can assist with short-term projects - identify needs of industrial facilities and universities that can support them.

Governing Bodies

Advanced Laboratory Solutions Consulting is involved with standards governing bodies such as ASTM, AOAC, and AOCS. It is important to stay up to date with newly identified requirements and proposed solutions. We have experience operating within these organizations and understanding their influence on laboratory operations and support.

Procedures & Methodologies

Each standards governing body defines which methods can be used for a particular product, and variance from these identified methods and procedures is not allowed. For laboratories, especially those within new markets and/or companies, struggling to understand which requirements their laboratory will need to follow.

ALSC can assist with:

Identifying appropriate standards bodies to participate in and committees for involvement.
Recommending workgroups to participate in to influence new standards and procedures for improved production support.

Before methods are implemented and new technologies adopted, it is necessary to develop instructions for successfully completing the method and protocols for determining detection limits, method variability, etc. Once the method is adopted, it is not automatic that laboratories implement the change if there are alternative methods established, or an adoption period is needed to enable investment budgeting, system commissioning, and personnel training.

Quality & Compliance

Let ALSC aid with:

Ensuring adoption of standard methods and operating procedures.
Evaluating new standards methods, particularly those with new instrumentation, and how they can improve laboratory operation and production support capabilities.