Dedham, MA; June 27, 2005: New innovative spectroscopic instruments such as miniaturized spectrometers and encoded photometric infrared analyzers will breathe new life into the Process Infrared Systems market. The worldwide market for Process Infrared Systems (PIRS) is expected to grow at a Compounded Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 4.1% over the next five years. The market was $255.7 million in 2004 and is forecasted to be over $313.3 million in 2009, according to a new ARC Advisory Group study, Worldwide Process Infrared Systems Outlook (www.arcweb.com/res/pir).
An increasing number of manufacturers are implementing online measurement systems to improve operating efficiency. "In moving from the laboratory to the plant floor, it is critical that accuracy, repeatability, and reliability of infrared systems be transferable to the manufacturing environment. Process infrared systems must be user friendly in terms of installation, operation, validation, and maintenance," according to field systems analyst Paula Hollywood, phollywood@arcweb.com, the principal author of the study.
PAT Impact Will Be Huge
Unlike other industries where process automation measurement tools are constantly monitoring the production process to reduce and ultimately eliminate process variation, the pharmaceutical industry has been more focused on regulatory compliance. PAT online testing for quality will replace the protracted and expensive practice of manually drawing a sample to be tested in a specialized offline laboratory. At-line, inline, and online PIRS will be an integral component of the PAT platform for continuous quality control, assurance, verification, and validation. NIR is expected to be the greatest beneficiary of PAT due in large part to its applicability to solids measurements.
New Sensor/Sampling Initiative (NeSSI)
While process control systems, sensors, and analyzers have all evolved to become sophisticated pieces of equipment with a fair degree of intelligence, the sampling system has not changed in any meaningful way in 30 years. The reality is that the number of dedicated spectroscopists in manufacturing is shrinking and the number of analyzers is growing, indicating that more efficient analyzer and sampling systems are essential. Estimates are that the NeSSI platform will reduce the cost to build an analyzer system by as much as 40%, realized largely as the result of a reduction in analyzer system infrastructure. With the sampling system closely coupled to the process, long sample transport and return lines and the problems associated with them will be eliminated, including analyzer shelters.
