A plastics manufacturer specializing in additives for plastic materials was facing customer demand for innovative, more sustainable products. This included intensive research into bioplastics – however, the company had very limited experience with bioplastics and there was a lack of trusted information available publicly. This area was a new research area not just for the manufacturer, but the entire industry, and the company risked a trial-and-error approach that would waste significant time and resources.

This new approach helped the manufacturer focus R&D efforts on promising experimental approaches and discard others from their roadmap. This led to high success rates in their own experimentation and resulted in:

• Time savings: A projected year-long experimental period was reduced to eight months.

• Money savings: Bypassing ineffective experiments yielded an estimated $500,000 savings in laboratory costs.

• Faster time to market: The manufacturer was able to introduce its bioplastics solution to customers sooner, leading to increased order volumes and improved market positioning.