Richman Chemical Develops New Supply of Trimethylene Carbonate
Frequent mergers and acquisitions in the fine chemical industry create problems for companies trying to maintain consistent raw material supply chains. Such was the case recently for a biopharmaceutical company notified by its overseas supplier that they would be phasing out production of a key product-- Trimethylene Carbonate. The company contacted Richman Chemical for help in replacing the loss in its supply chain.
Richman Chemical's project managers understood the challenges in this request, particularly as no process information was being provided. In order to successfully meet the required production volumes and stringent technical specifications, a large-scale production process would need to be developed. A product- specific, analytically intensive quality system was needed to monitor and control batch-to-batch variance.
There were no published monographs for this material. Richman Chemical developed a new lean analytical protocol that helped reduce user testing costs. Initially, high residual solvents caused problems in certain applications. After several process improvements, Richman Chemical optimized both the physical and chemical properties of the material. Richman Chemical material is now suitable for use in a multitude of markets, including medical devices, semi-conductors and polymer backbones. A further plus for many customers is that Richman Chemical product is domestically manufactured.
Both regular and new users of Trimethylene Carbonate now have a new, reliable supplier in Richman Chemical. Feedback to date has been overwhelmingly positive, as this pro-active approach by Richman Chemical has allowed users of this critical raw material to convert to the new supply for all of their existing products.
Richman Chemical’s project managers, using their technical and management expertise, were able to develop commercial scale manufacturing of a critical raw material without the benefit of any process information. Further, scale up met required production volumes within a realistic timeline. By paying close attention to the trends of the fine chemical marketplace, Richman Chemical was able to help our client maintain business continuity for a key product, as well as offer a valuable fine chemical to an important domestic market.