Report

Teaser, summary, work performed and final results

Periodic Reporting for period 2 - VISUM (Cloud-enabled IR spectroscopy platform for the rapid integration and customisation of affordable, real-time chemical monitoring solutions for food and pharmaceutical industries)

Teaser

What is the problem/issue being addressed?Laboratory-based or post-production quality control (QC) methods do not provide food and pharmaceutical processors with access to information in real-time, and therefore delaying action that can lead to product discard, with cost and...

Summary

What is the problem/issue being addressed?
Laboratory-based or post-production quality control (QC) methods do not provide food and pharmaceutical processors with access to information in real-time, and therefore delaying action that can lead to product discard, with cost and environmental implications, or worse off-spec product entering the market.
There is increasing industry interest in shifting from these laboratory-based or post-production QC methods to in-line monitoring of product and process parameters during processing. The main drivers for this interest are the need to improve product quality (or to obtain standardised quality) and safety, to increase process efficiencies, to reduce waste and off spec product discard, as well as increasing awareness of the imperative of ICT adoption to remain competitive in our new Digital data-driven era.
Our affordable IR-spectroscopy-based VISUM platform enables the rapid, easy integration and customisation of in-process chemical monitoring solutions for improved process control for product quality and process efficiencies.

Why is it important for society?
Food quality is high on consumer, political and food industry agendas worldwide. The EC has identified food quality and safety as one of its top priorities and is one of the key societal challenges to be addressed during Horizon 2020. Likewise, the quality and safety of drugs is of major relevance for society.

What are the overall objectives?
VISUM is a cloud-enabled Near Infra-Red (NIR) spectroscopy integration platform for customisation of affordable, real-time chemical monitoring solutions in the food and pharmaceutical industries.
NIR is a non-destructive, reliable and accurate technique for monitoring chemical and physical parameters during food and pharmaceutical processing. However, the power of NIR is not being fully harnessed by industry because typical NIR lab analysers are expensive to buy and maintain and specialist knowledge is required to set up and maintain current systems. Moreover, product, production facilities and monitoring challenges differ for each application and as such generic systems are not as simple as “plug and play”.
The VISUM platform overcomes limitations opening up the use of NIR-based technology in effective mini PAT solutions. Our VISUM platform enables rapid and cost-effective customisation of the core technology with the vision of mainstreaming the adoption of NIR-based technology in the European and global food and pharma industries for product quality and standardisation, and greater process efficiencies, reduced waste and environmental impact. Moreover, the VISUM Cloud leverages the Internet-of-Things towards the Industry 4.0 paradigm.
In relation to the societal relevance of VISUM, food quality is high on consumer, political and food industry agendas worldwide. The EC has identified food quality and safety as one of its top priorities and is one of the key societal challenges to be addressed during Horizon 2020. Likewise, the quality and safety of drugs is of major relevance for society. VISUM equips the pharmaceutical industry with in-process monitoring and control systems during continuous production, resulting in i. Moreover, the VISUM system also holds benefits for R&D in the pharma sector as online analytics in pilot facilities could accelerate developments.
Through the SME Instrument, we accelerated the final stages of development of our affordable IR-spectroscopy-based VISUM platform and geared up for the commercialisation of in the food and pharmaceutical industries, with the Value Proposition of enabling the rapid, easy integration and customisation of in-process chemical monitoring solutions for improved process control for product quality and process efficiencies.

Work performed

Over the two years of the project, we worked closely with 7 early adopter companies from the food processing and pharmaceutical industries in order to benefit from an application-oriented development and to obtain end-user feedback to feed into an iterative and market-focused product scale up process.
Over the course of the project, we developed 5 application cases for monitoring Critical Quality Attributes and Critical Control Parameters related to the processing of snack foods, processed meats, dairy products and pharmaceuticals.
In year 1 we designed and built the core instrumentation hardware, whereby the imaging and electronic systems were integrated into rugged housing, which has yielded novelty and IP (patent). The system software and chemometric models for obtaining relevant information from the sensor data were developed. We prepared and submitted a patent claim with the European Patent Office for our innovative imaging design.
In year 2, we moved to production and industry trials. Based on a core device we customised five devices for inline trials on end user’s processes. The VISUM devices were installed and trialled in processing lines in the industry in order to demonstrate the correct functioning in an operational environment at pre-commercial scale. In the trials we performed extensive testing of the optical, electronic and mechanical systems of the devices and validated the chemometric models that were developed to monitor the processes. At the same time, we set up our Production Department that complies with regulations, quality standards and tractability. We have followed the requirements for CE Mark, ATEX and CFR certifications in the design of all variants of the device and the manufacturing process. Our customer orders can be fulfilled efficiently and cost effectively, from point of sales inquiry to delivery of a product to the customer.
In parallel and as part of our activities towards gearing up for the commercialisation phase, performing activities related to defining our 4Ps Marketing Mix, refining our USPs and Value Proposition, preparing our Product Datasheet and Applications Notes, defining our go-to-market strategy, building and training our sales team, mapping out our Sales Cycle and defining annual sales and marketing KPIs, and commencing first sales activities. We also performed promotion activities (website, exhibition at tradeshows, speakers at events, lead generation and face-to-face meetings with target customers, emailing campaigns, organisation of demonstration workshops, etc.).

Final results

VISUM is an innovative cloud-enabled NIR spectroscopy integration platform for monitoring solutions in the food and pharmaceutical industries. It responds to growing demand in Europe and globally for automatic inspection technologies that are cost effective, reliable, and fit-for-purpose for use in harsh, high speed modern processing lines. We have also gained IP through our proprietary bespoke optomechanical interface that maximises interaction between the light and the sample for more accurate measurements.
The value that we bring to our customers is that we offer customised real-time industrial solutions at an affordable cost, combining NIR with chemometrics in order to gain the following advantages:
• Accurate real-time monitoring
• Customisation of affordable, real-time chemical analysis
• Flexible interfacing with a broad range of processes.
• Applicable to inline production
• Composition differentiation
• Compact design, high inspection speeds, versatility and affordability

Website & more info

More info: http://www.seeingnewdata.com/.