Market assessment for commercial deployment of FENAC for the benefit of UK industries
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Birmingham
Department Name: Sch of Geography, Earth & Env Sciences
Abstract
FENAC, a NERC-funded facility, provides support in nanomaterial laboratory characterisation for academic research into the nature and effects of nanomaterials and nanoscale processes in the environment. We offer extensive expertise in characterisation, and access to characterisation equipment which is not widely available, identifying the most suitable characterisation techniques for the user's materials, and giving training and support in taking the measurements. We also guide users in the interpretation of the information obtained.
FENAC's Steering Committee recently reviewed the facility's scope and future direction, and concluded that there is a wider need for nanomaterial laboratory characterisation and nanoscale process assessment, both in academia and industry, which is not covered by FENAC funding. The skills and equipment are available within the facility and there is spare capacity on the equipment. Stakeholders, including the FENAC Director and Manager, FENAC Steering Committee members, NERC, and University of Birmingham (School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Science) are all in support of rolling out a commercial wing of FENAC. We also have the support of the European Biotechnology Network.
FENAC could provide support to academics working in biosciences, environmental science and earth science, as well as a number of sectors of UK industry: nanotechnology; the environmental sector; mining; the water/wastewater industry sector.
This Pathfinder project will allow the FENAC team to fully explore the market potential of the facility as a commercially sustainable business unit. We do not have the expertise in house to undertake such an exercise so we will be appointing a specialist consultant who will provide us with the information needed to develop a full Business Case. To ensure we are the 'first choice' provider for the relevant sector and can meet the challenges of our users, the consultant will identify:
-Who our market is;
-What that market could be worth;
-Where competition lies;
-What the FENAC offer should be, at what price.
The consultant will provide reliable indication of the revenue / timescales needed to move FENAC onto a commercially sustainable footing. They will also develop a marketing strategy to be delivered by the FENAC team once they have undertaken specific skills training in this area.
Through the provision of a service encompassing nanoscale characterisation and problem-solving, FENAC will be a key player in the transfer of both knowledge and technical capability into the private sector - supporting R&D for industry both large and small, and positioning the facility as a 'centre of excellence'. We would expect in due course to generate both income from the private and academic sectors, and benefits for industry and the environment in the UK, exceeding the initial NERC funding, and demonstrating the value of Research Council investment in this area.
At the completion of this project we will have developed a good understanding of the potential market, the customer base, and the marketing required to engage with clients. This will form the background to an application for Follow-on funding in support of the business in the initial stages of its development.
Keywords: FENAC; environmental; nanomaterial; nanoparticle; nanotoxicity; laboratory characterisation; problem-solving; commercialisation; academia; industry.
Stakeholders: FENAC Director and Manager, FENAC Steering Committee members, NERC, University of Birmingham business development offices and the School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Science; potential clients within industry, academia and environmental sectors, DEFRA, Environment Agency, environmental NGOs.
FENAC's Steering Committee recently reviewed the facility's scope and future direction, and concluded that there is a wider need for nanomaterial laboratory characterisation and nanoscale process assessment, both in academia and industry, which is not covered by FENAC funding. The skills and equipment are available within the facility and there is spare capacity on the equipment. Stakeholders, including the FENAC Director and Manager, FENAC Steering Committee members, NERC, and University of Birmingham (School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Science) are all in support of rolling out a commercial wing of FENAC. We also have the support of the European Biotechnology Network.
FENAC could provide support to academics working in biosciences, environmental science and earth science, as well as a number of sectors of UK industry: nanotechnology; the environmental sector; mining; the water/wastewater industry sector.
This Pathfinder project will allow the FENAC team to fully explore the market potential of the facility as a commercially sustainable business unit. We do not have the expertise in house to undertake such an exercise so we will be appointing a specialist consultant who will provide us with the information needed to develop a full Business Case. To ensure we are the 'first choice' provider for the relevant sector and can meet the challenges of our users, the consultant will identify:
-Who our market is;
-What that market could be worth;
-Where competition lies;
-What the FENAC offer should be, at what price.
The consultant will provide reliable indication of the revenue / timescales needed to move FENAC onto a commercially sustainable footing. They will also develop a marketing strategy to be delivered by the FENAC team once they have undertaken specific skills training in this area.
Through the provision of a service encompassing nanoscale characterisation and problem-solving, FENAC will be a key player in the transfer of both knowledge and technical capability into the private sector - supporting R&D for industry both large and small, and positioning the facility as a 'centre of excellence'. We would expect in due course to generate both income from the private and academic sectors, and benefits for industry and the environment in the UK, exceeding the initial NERC funding, and demonstrating the value of Research Council investment in this area.
At the completion of this project we will have developed a good understanding of the potential market, the customer base, and the marketing required to engage with clients. This will form the background to an application for Follow-on funding in support of the business in the initial stages of its development.
Keywords: FENAC; environmental; nanomaterial; nanoparticle; nanotoxicity; laboratory characterisation; problem-solving; commercialisation; academia; industry.
Stakeholders: FENAC Director and Manager, FENAC Steering Committee members, NERC, University of Birmingham business development offices and the School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Science; potential clients within industry, academia and environmental sectors, DEFRA, Environment Agency, environmental NGOs.
Planned Impact
At the point at which we make an application for Follow-on Funding, our Pathfinder project will have already demonstrated the market potential for a commercially sustainable extension to the remit of the FENAC facility. We will have satisfactorily addressed the issues around the strengths and weaknesses of our proposal, assessed the market value of our target clientele, and have a marketing plan, and outline business plan in place. We will then require support for the execution of our plan to expand our remit from our existing model of fully-funded by NERC, to a twin facility, comprising an academic and a commercial branch.
Follow-on funding is essential to support initial marketing of the new business, and ensure dedicated staff to provide a quick and professional response to customers in the initial stages of growth, when the income would not cover the full cost of the enterprise. This support for additional staff at the preliminary stages of the business would be absolutely crucial, because industry will require a rapid and effective service, and it is not possible to provide this within current FENAC resources as there is currently no spare capacity, in terms of manpower, to take on additional work.
The establishment of a commercial wing to FENAC would have an impact in a number of different areas. Academic clients who need data at short notice could benefit from time at FENAC for characterisation work. Those with access to FENAC for a limited number of samples could pay for additional work to complete a large dataset.
FENAC support can have an impact on a number of sectors of UK industry, with wider implications for the public and the regulators:
-The nanotechnology industry in the UK is an immature sector, dominated by SMEs who cannot afford R&D into the safety of their materials. By providing reliable data, and interpretation for an environmental context, activities undertaken at FENAC will not only help individual companies but the entire sector, by contributing to a reduction of the perceptions of risk around the use of nanomaterials by industry, regulators and the public.
-The environmental sector has applications relevant to nanotech waste and includes remediation using nanomaterials, e.g. nano zero-valent iron.
-In mining, nanoscale processes are increasingly relevant to both ore extraction and post-extraction remediation.
-Water/wastewater industry sector may need support in looking at, for example, nanomaterials in domestic wastewater or nanofiltration in water-purification.
The work with industry will further the knowledge base in academia, extending the range of publications in real-life situations, and enhance the reputation of the facility, the university and NERC in addressing industrial needs.
Follow-on funding is essential to support initial marketing of the new business, and ensure dedicated staff to provide a quick and professional response to customers in the initial stages of growth, when the income would not cover the full cost of the enterprise. This support for additional staff at the preliminary stages of the business would be absolutely crucial, because industry will require a rapid and effective service, and it is not possible to provide this within current FENAC resources as there is currently no spare capacity, in terms of manpower, to take on additional work.
The establishment of a commercial wing to FENAC would have an impact in a number of different areas. Academic clients who need data at short notice could benefit from time at FENAC for characterisation work. Those with access to FENAC for a limited number of samples could pay for additional work to complete a large dataset.
FENAC support can have an impact on a number of sectors of UK industry, with wider implications for the public and the regulators:
-The nanotechnology industry in the UK is an immature sector, dominated by SMEs who cannot afford R&D into the safety of their materials. By providing reliable data, and interpretation for an environmental context, activities undertaken at FENAC will not only help individual companies but the entire sector, by contributing to a reduction of the perceptions of risk around the use of nanomaterials by industry, regulators and the public.
-The environmental sector has applications relevant to nanotech waste and includes remediation using nanomaterials, e.g. nano zero-valent iron.
-In mining, nanoscale processes are increasingly relevant to both ore extraction and post-extraction remediation.
-Water/wastewater industry sector may need support in looking at, for example, nanomaterials in domestic wastewater or nanofiltration in water-purification.
The work with industry will further the knowledge base in academia, extending the range of publications in real-life situations, and enhance the reputation of the facility, the university and NERC in addressing industrial needs.
Organisations
| Description | The Pathfinder award enabled us to carry out a market assessment for the potential of FENAC to develop as a commercial facility. The market assessment succeeded in clarifying the competitive environment for FENAC and in developing an understanding of the extent to which specific challenges and regulatory requirements may be driving actual or latent demand for characterisation and analysis services within certain industries. It has not, however, been possible to 'drill down' sufficiently within individual industries, to enable levels of demand within each to be quantified or indeed to be estimated with any confidence. This is due primarily to the size of the project budget, which necessitated a focus solely upon industry-level informants - rather than being able to progress to larger-scale research among firms within some of those industries. Despite the above limitations, there are a number of areas in which guidance could be given, as follows: 1. Given that the number of companies working with nanomaterials in the UK appears currently to be significantly below 200, the market for FENAC's services is likely to be quite limited, albeit with potential for significant growth. Furthermore, large manufacturing companies commonly have in-house facilities to address many of the needs that FENAC would seek to target, whilst a proportion of SMEs - which are more likely to require external services - will have links with other universities. The market, as it stands, therefore can be described as small and niche, and already served by a number of providers. 2. Since some respondents in the market research have highlighted small and medium sized businesses as the most likely clients for FENAC, in any decision to take FENAC's services to market, it will be essential to clarify: ? The nature of the work that those firms would require; ? The frequency and volumes involved; ? The spend (on characterisation and analysis) that they would anticipate. 3. It is recommended that the requirements of larger firms also be explored, since it is possible that there may exist areas of latent demand that have not been identified. 4. For FENAC to make an impact upon the market it would require:? A clear competitive advantage, in the form of - for example - a more attractively priced offer and/or added value services. This might focus upon: - guidance on the need for characterisation - interpretation of results - further research in order to be more confident about customer requirements. - a significant promotional campaign, to build awareness of the FENAC services - among opinion leaders (e.g. National Composites Centre) and among potential customer organisations, across multiple industries. 5. In marketing to SMEs, particularly across multiple industries, there is a risk that marketing spend is allocated in a way that is too 'thin' and therefore ineffective. Only when the approximate number of potential customers in each industry/application area is understood will it be appropriate to determine the precise marketing channels and messages. We suspect, however that the most relevant methods will include: - ? Where possible, building awareness among national-level advisors who work with SMEs to further innovation (e.g. those in industry-specific roles and others who operate across different industries but who perhaps focus upon specific technologies). This is likely to include developing informal, and potentially formal relationships with trade bodies (e.g. taking up membership, making discount offers to member organisations). -? Exhibiting at and attending targeted exhibitions and conferences, within each industry or activity group (e.g. advanced manufacturing, composites etc.) -? Developing relationships and raising the profile of the FENAC brand via business-focused social media, such as LinkedIn - ? Direct marketing by email and potentially by telephone. 6. Marketing messages should be refined after further research, undertaken directly by the University or by an external provider. It will be important however to: ? Communicate in a way that emphasises FENAC's commercial awareness and responsiveness ? 'Sell' service benefits rather than features (i.e. emphasising how FENAC will make a difference to the client's business, rather than focusing upon the equipment that is will use to achieve this). |
| Exploitation Route | Findings are tailored to FENAC, but could be useful for other analytical facilities contemplating offering services to the nanomaterials characterisation industry. |
| Sectors | Aerospace, Defence and Marine,Agriculture, Food and Drink,Chemicals,Energy,Environment,Healthcare,Manufacturing, including Industrial Biotechology,Culture, Heritage, Museums and Collections,Pharmaceuticals and Medical Biotechnology |