Nisus
Corporation
| COMPANY/LOCATION: |
Nisus Corporation, Rockford, Tennessee |
| PRODUCT: |
Development and formulation of borate pesticides |
| YEARS IN BUSINESS: |
6 |
| EMPLOYEES: |
10 |
| SITUATION: |
Nisus Corporation develops and formulates borate pesticides for the
structural pest control industry and sells its products through distributors
to all the major pest control companies nationwide. The company's principal
product is BORA-CARE®, a low-toxicity compound for controlling wood-destroying
organisms. In its manufacturing process, BORA-CARE® is created in a
stable supersaturated solution. However, the company had seen some problems
with the storage stability of the solution, which limited the useful storage
life of the product. Nisus had been working on an in-house solution to
the problem by analyzing their process and trying different reaction processes.
Looking for technical assistance with the problem and having worked with
The University of Tennessee Centers for Industrial Services (CIS) in the
past, Nisus called CIS and was referred to the Oak Ridge Centers for Manufacturing
Technology (ORCMT). |
| PROJECT: |
Two ORCMT chemists went to the company, studied the process, and used
unique testing equipment available at ORCMT to discover what was described
as "an obvious yet subtle problem" in Nisus' production process. While
the process was designed to produce a stable supersaturated solution, a
change in the process was actually producing a precipitation of the active
ingredients. Stan Galyon, vice president of research and development at
Nisus, said the company, in order to meet increased demand for its product,
had made a slight change in the process and had crossed a "fine line" in
chemistry in which the process modification produced a small difference
in the product. The chemists' analysis detected this difference. ORCMT's
experts recommended changes to Nisus' process, the solution stability was
corrected, and the shelf life of the company's primary product greatly
increased. |
| RESULTS: |
Galyon said correcting the solution stability was a "matter of good
business for us. The product may sit on the shelves for some time and stability
is very important. If it is shipped back to us as unusable, we have no
way to reconstitute it and we have to pay to have it disposed of the product
is not a hazardous chemical, but we still have to pay for its disposal.
The biggest issue is the good will of our customers. I can't say enough
good things about the assistance we received from ORCMT. They solved a
problem we had been working on for a couple of years. This is a great program
for industry," Galyon said. Galyon estimated the technical assistance
helped the company avoid costs of up to $200,000, reduced production costs
by up to $20,000, helped increase sales by up to $200,000, and helped
avoid sales losses of up to $200,000 over a two-year period. It will
have ongoing benefits in years to come. |
Technical assistances provided to the private sector by the Oak Ridge
Centers for Manufacturing Technology (ORCMT) and its manufacturing extension
partners throughout the United States.
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