Product engineering and testing

ITCM knows that time invested early in new product development to understand manufacturability is the key to success. We utilise rigorous scientific methods such as Design of Experiments to understand the key parameters that will affect the process in a production environment. This enables us to identify the ideal operating conditions, controlling environmental conditions when necessary and avoiding unnecessary costs controlling variables which have low impact on product quality. We begin assessing the process capability early and use variation analysis, FMEA, Ishikawa diagrams and other analytical tools to continually improve throughout the design process.

Typical areas that we focus on in product engineering include heat sealing, folding, cutting, laminating, printing and component orientation for assembly. In addition, we may also carry out characterisation of powders and liquids to support design and selection of technologies for dosing and filling.

Our expertise and technical know-how also helps us to select and source suitable materials for new products and applications. We also help to develop new materials where no existing solutions are available.

Controlled environment testing

The ITCM development centre has its own laboratories for testing under carefully controlled conditions including temperature and humidity. We also have a fume extraction facility enabling us to handle and work with a variety of pharmaceutical “actives”, volatile substances and other materials requiring special handling.

These facilities are used to simulate the range of conditions that are experienced in our customers’ facilities, enabling us to explore sensitivities and prove key processes under representative conditions. This allows us to design processes which are robust and reliable in any production environment.