Sweet solutions

There is little doubt that refining and improving process control can have a positive impact on a company's costs.

In the pharmaceutical and life sciences markets, for example, increasing automation of testing processes is allowing laboratories to remove the need for some controls over the laboratory environment, with associated cost savings.

recently started to sell the Fuji QuickGene range, which is used in genetic testing and studies. The devices isolate high-quality DNA and RNA from samples automatically, reducing the risk of contamination and removing the need for isolation conditions.

'This area is very well served by manual systems,' said company director Antony Dewar. 'However, the products have moved on from a situation where people are carrying out manual processes with a small number of samples. The use of robotics at this level is used in Japan but so far hasn't spread further afield.'

Elsewhere, in the food and drink sectors, improving systems is having an important impact on a firm's energy and resource use.