This is the fifth of a series of posts to share with you six important lessons we’ve learned through our experiences working with numerous commercial clients in a variety of situations. On the path to your success in developing and commercializing technologies, they will help you avoid common pitfalls, unwarranted assumptions, and other sources of technical and commercial bias that could add up to business failures.
Lesson Five.
More Facts Mean More Focus.
The “end game” of any technology assessment is to formulate and implement a plan of action – a plan that has beneficial business outcomes. Begin every technology assessment with that plan of action in mind. Doing so will drive you to develop more facts related to your implementation plan. And developing more facts will sharpen your focus and help establish priorities.
Lesson Five Case Study:
Client: Multi-plant commodity inorganic chemicals producer
Situation:
- For both environmental as well as economic reasons, the client was interested in identifying ways to turn a waste stream into a marketable co-product.
- The client had a vague idea that they could turn their waste stream into a mineral extender/filler/additive, but they were not currently selling into any markets with those types of raw material needs.
Technology Assessment Need: Develop and characterize the potential “product/market” roadmap that could be addressable by the client’s upgraded waste stream co-product.
Our approach:
- Analyzed the economic balance point between purifying the waste stream and its saleability as a co-product
- Researched industry needs, by market segment, in terms of particle size and purity
- Balanced market segment needs against the cost of refining the waste stream into saleable form
Outcome: We identified sealants as an attractive application area for the client’s co-product and projected the size of the client’s addressable market for the next several years.
On the basis of our findings, the client decided to adjust their manufacturing plant to focus on the specifications needed for the sealant market and to begin commercial development efforts directed toward that market.
For more on best practices in moving from lab-to-market, see https://www.prakteka.com/category/technology-assessment/
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Are you looking for new customers for your existing technologies and products?
Do you have excess manufacturing capacity you’d like to put to use?
Or are you launching a new product and need to understand which end-use applications are the most promising?
We’re ready and able to help you make your decisions with confidence. Contact us at https://www.prakteka.com/contact-us/
or via direct email at mah@prakteka.com
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