Mathis Instruments Ltd. announced recently that three important (PAT) speed records have been accomplished in areas of technology performance, evaluation time and start-up time.
With the release of version 2.0 of Mathis' ESP, wireless effusivity measurements are now a full 3X faster than at its launch during Interphex 2005. This advance allows powder blending and lubrication to be accurately monitored in real time at speeds from 6-25 rpm, starting with the first rotation of the blender.
The high measurement speed and plug-and-play capability of the new ESP allows Mathis to offer clients a rapid process profiling service as a means of evaluating the technology. "In the last few months, we have delivered over a dozen on-site trials that have definitively demonstrated the ability of effusivity to correlate to chemical analysis," says Nancy Mathis, president and CEO of Mathis Instruments Ltd.
She points out that the implementation speed of the Mathis ESP into routine production puts on-line process knowledge into the hands of users in quickly.
"Effusivity was simple to bring on-line in a manufacturing environment," says David Mayers, director of quality at Purdue Pharmaceuticals."Our people were trained and we were back in operation in two days, and now we see what we are doing real time." Beyond the initial implementation, the routine use of effusivity measurements adds confidence in production quality without compromising production efficiency.
"Set-up and change over speed is critical to us as a contract manufacturer. We can switch effusivity between products with nothing more than the cleaning of the sensors," says Mark Turnbull, acting director of pharmaceutical development at Patheon's Toronto facility.
"Many organizations feel that they have fallen behind in their PAT adoption. We are pleased to offer them a rapid route to enhanced understanding," says Mathis.
