Harnessing experience

The outcome of experience may be bad, good or somewhere in between - but usually we learn from it. Sometimes experience can be quantifiable by analysis so that optimum procedures or processes can be readily identified and used in future - the very best kind of experience. In other cases the procedure or process may involve subjective assessments - for example does it look, feel, smell, sound ok? Frying onions would be in this category and it works most of the time.

Powder processing presents a very special set of challenges because generally the requirement is consistent production with little variability in output quality. Unfortunately the complexity of powders - or their inherent variability - means that optimising the process, or even keeping it going, may be very difficult. Mostly this is achieved by experts at the process line who know from experience what to do to fix a problem - where to use the hammer, when to inject air, when not to fill the bin too much! This experience is difficult to quantify and usually whilst it can resolve a particular problem, very little is learned about the cause of the problem or even why the action taken was effective.

The Freeman Technology perspective is that modern instrumentation can provide a comprehensive understanding of powder characteristics. Measuring in order to manage and optimise processes makes sense. This means that the properties of powders that flow well, or not so well in a process, may be measured and correlated with processability experience. Hence we can quantify knowledge and experience and learn from it. Then we can determine the optimum powder properties for a particular process line and we can predict the processability of a new formulation or begin to understand batch to batch variablility.

This message is universal across the powder processing industries and applies to all sectors - formulation, manufacturing, QC and machine makers. Ensure compatibility of powder and plant and achieve higher productivity and quality.

Reg Freeman, Managing Director

1 ml Shear Cell launch

Freeman Technology will launch a new accessory for the FT4 Powder Rheometer at the 2007 Annual Meeting & Exposition of the American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists in San Diego (11-14 Nov 07). The new 1 ml Shear Cell will allow fully automated shear testing of powders on the FT4 using the minimum possible sample volume. This allows the study of powder flowability characteristics at an early stage in formulation development when only small volumes may be available. See us on Booth #3236 at the show.

For full details click here.

Powder service soars

A specialist team of analysts has been introduced to manage the growing workload generated by increased uptake of the powder characterization service offered by Particle Technology Labs Ltd (PTL) in Chicago. The service, built around the use of the FT4 Powder Rheometer, has been fully operational for more than two years and demand has increased significantly this year. Since inception a wide range of industrial powders has been tested, including ceramics, cement and pharmaceutical materials.

For the full story click here.

Royal recognition

At a ceremony held in September at Freeman Technology's UK headquarters, Mr Michael Brinton, Lord Lieutenant of Worcestershire, presented the company with the Queen's Award for Enterprise 2007 in the category Innovation. Since being named as a recipient of the Queen's Award in April this year, our order book has continued to grow across all the markets we serve.

For the full story click here.

Dedicated US support

We have always specialised in developing close relationships with our clients, providing the highest standard of service and support direct from the UK. While this continues, we have recently taken the first step towards local support in the US. John Yin joined Freeman Technology as Application Specialist for the US earlier this year and is now rapidly establishing a base in New York. Educated in Engineering Chemistry at the State University of New York at Stony Brook, John has considerable international experience in sales and marketing instruments for surface and particle characterization. Come and meet him in San Diego!

For the full story click here.

Download new white paper series

The first in a developing series of Freeman Technology white papers covering a variety of pharmaceutical powder characterisation topics are available for download from the Pharmaceutical Technology website. You can also receive the first in the series 'Characterizing powders for optimized pharmaceutical processing' by completing the request form here.

We look forward to meeting you at:

11 - 14 November 2007

AAPS Annual Meeting & Exposition

San Diego CA, USA
Booth # 3236

26 - 28 March 2008

Philadelphia PA, USA
Booth # 1169

6 - 8 May 2008

Rosemont IL, USA

30 Sep - 2 Oct 2008

NürnbergMesse GmbH, Nürnberg, Germany