Integrative chemical product design strategies: Reflecting industry trends and challenges

A review of integrative product design strategies is motivated by current trends and challenges faced by the chemical processing industry. The transition in the chemical process industry towards more complex formulated and structured products challenges existing approaches and scientific tools that are well suited for bulk chemical design and properties estimation (Charpentier and McKenna, 2004 and Favre et al., 2002). Moreover, the ensuing market challenges, brought on by dominant global trends, demand efficient product design approaches that seek to balance technical specifications and market requirements with the business performance objectives. Integrative approaches to product design are therefore repositioned as useful strategies that simultaneously enhance technical performance and efficiency in design execution. The discussion of the integrative product design strategies is supported by findings of a recent industry benchmark study involving 15 chemical manufacturers.