Saving a Fermentation Company $34 Million During Their Expansion
Situation
A fermentation company that had just been acquired, and their parent corporation, had ambitions plans to expand their production. They needed guidance on how to structure this massive expansion of their fermentation process in a cost-effective and strategic manner. The company needed to design and build a mobile unit to move between production sites, and a commercial design for installation at 50+ facilities of different shapes and sizes.
Process
To help this fermentation company scale, the Next Rung Technology team went into action:
Review and Analysis
We started by reviewing all of the client’s current lab data and understanding on a larger scale all of the different markets they could enter, and what types of commercial plants fit their strategic direction.
Process Diagram and Process Design
We created a process flow diagram that outlined each step of the fermentation process the company was going to use at the desired scale. It gave the client team a high-level overview of each major process component that would need to be priced out. The Next Rung Team also gave the client novel ideas for how to implement the new scale of their fermentation process, with their expertise replacing hundereds of potential client hours spent testing and iterating specific approaches.
“Next Rung Technology involvement was crucial in generating novel ideas on how to go about scaling fermentation.”
Capital Cost Estimation + Technoeconomic Analysis
After the process was designed, the Next Rung Team zoomed in to each aspect of the process and calculated the capital and operating costs necessary to make the process work at the desired scale.
“We were incredibly confident in the cost estimates Next Rung Technology gave us, which allowed us an advantageous position when negotiating costs with our customers.”
Pilot Plant Site Selection and Construction
After estimating the costs needed to set up and operate a plant, Next Rung worked with the client to select the optimal site to build the first expansion site.
Outcomes
After working with Next Rung Technology, the client company was able to:
Leverage the cost estimates created by Next Rung Technology in their negotiations to save $2 million on each plant they expanded to.
Over the course of expanding to 17 different plants, the thorough and accurate cost estimates saved the client $34 million dollars.
