Britest study for physical processes

1. Purpose

The Britest Study for physical processes methodology is a suggested workflow to aid facilitators who are leading Britest studies on physical processes with the following objectives:

• Process improvement
• Tech transfer
• Troubleshooting

The duration of these studies can vary from 0.5 to 2+ days depending on the nature of the challenge and usually  involves multi-disciplinary teams of 6 to 12 people.

2. Who should be involved

Depending on the nature of the study, consider involving people with the following roles:

• Facilitator(s) - for larger studies it is recommended to have two facilitators with complementary skills. It is particularly advisable to have two facilitators when using the Facilitator Support Tool.
• Business representative or project sponsor with knowledge of where the project sits in the business portfolio
• Project manager with knowledge of project timeline, customer requirements, etc
• Chemists
• Engineers
• Formulators
• Quality Assurance/Quality Control/Analytical chemists
• People with experience of the process (lab technicians and/or plant operators)
• Techical experts in relevant fields
• "Cold eyes" expertise to challenge current thinking

3. Information requirements

Depending on the nature and timing of the study, the following information can be useful:

• Batch records, process instruction sheets, or lab recipes and procedures for formulation
• Mass balance data (yields, where yield losses occur etc)
• Process flow diagram (or a pre-prepared Process Definition Diagram)
• Information on key transformations and material states in the process
• Process safety, health and environmental data
• Raw material costs and specifications
• Product value and specifications
• Process costs (by stage, covering costs such as operation, waste, energy, manpower) to help the team “chase the value”
• Physical properties for the main ingredients, formulated products and any known impurities
• Any development reports
• Equipment schematics

Where information isn't available - usually not all of it will be - the study will identify what data is important to find out, and actions will be agreed for collecting further information.

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4. Methodology

4.1 Methodology for physical process studies

Step	Tool/methodology	Purpose
1	ISA/PrISM	Define the problem, agree the focus of the study and choose the tools and methdologies to use	Where needed, use additional Rich pictures and cartoons to discuss detail
2	PDD	Describe the whole process, or selected complete stages of the process
3	Rich pictures and cartoons	Investigate key tasks in detail using visual qualitative models to identify rate processes occurring. It may be necessary to develop Rich pictures and cartoons of the product in use to identify important rate processes and their influencing factors
4	Transformation map	Construct transformation map models of key process tasks to clarify the network of rate processes occurring
5	TE3PO	Construct TE3PO models to analyse tasks in more detail and identify important parameters. It may be necessary to develop TE3PO tables of the product in use to identify important product characteristics, and then consider where these are introduced within the manufacturing process using further tools.
6	DFA	Use DFA to map cause and effect
7		Brainstorm process improvements and/or potential solutions to problems
8	DuDES	Define equipment duties for equipment selection
9		Action planning

 
When applying the tools to physical processes

• Start by considering the product behaviour and characteristics
• Work back through the process to identify where these characteristics are introduced.

4.2 Comments on action planning

Always allow time at the end of any Britest study for prioritisation of actions and for planning work to address these.

Prioritise actions	Quick and easy actions Actions vital to confirming process understanding Proof that high-gain ideas work
Decide and agree responsibility and deadline for each action
Where actions concern information collection:	How will information be acquired? Agree the detail of experimentation, e.g. exactly what will be measured and how

4.3 General comments on methodology

The procedures outlined in this section are only guidelines. Iteration of these studies will be required as actions are completed and understanding increases. All processes, and therefore all Britest studies, are different, so flexibility is necessary in applying the methodology. In general, start with a good ISA and use this to help guide you where to go next.