Yokogawa Electric Corp. reported Feb. 2 that it’s acquired Fluence Analytics Inc., a U.S.-based startup that provides real-time analytics solutions to polymer and biopharmaceutical companies worldwide. Since signing investment and collaboration agreements in August 2021, the two companies have been exploring potential business opportunities.
Following the acquisition, Fluence will integrate its operations with Yokogawa and enhance its technological capabilities. It will operate as Yokogawa Fluence Analytics.
As a leader in polymerization reaction monitoring and control, Fluence reports its automatic, continuous, online monitoring of polymerizations (ACOMP) product is the only commercially available system that can measure and analyze multiple polymer properties in real time. ACOMP’s data streams provide new insights into material properties that enable customers to optimize and control polymerization processes, leading to improved product quality, greater yields, and less energy consumption and material waste. Based on the average size of a polymer reactor, the ACOMP system is estimated to deliver $1.5 million in value per year.
Fluence is presently developing its next ACOMP product, which will become part of Yokogawa’s OpreX offering. The two companies are exploring how to integrate ACOMP with Yokogawa’s advanced control solutions and the digital technologies of KBC, another Yokogawa company. Its global network will perform engineering and system integration tasks and provide after-sales field services for the ACOMP system.
“Polymers are used in nearly every aspect of modern society in the form of plastics, rubber, paint and so on. Combining ACOMP and other technology with our know-how will let us work with our customers to digitalize and automate polymerization processes that are currently monitored and adjusted manually,” says Kenji Hasegawa, VP and head of Yokogawa’s products headquarters. “This will assist customers to improve worker safety, profitability and environmental performance. We also plan to apply this technology to polymer reuse.”
Beyond ACOMP, Fluence’s products include a lab instrument that accelerates and optimizes development of biotherapeutics. It enables the rapid assessment and real-time monitoring of the stability of therapeutic proteins, peptides, and other biopolymers under various thermal, mechanical, and chemical stress conditions.
“Combining forces with Yokogawa lets us capture the full value of our unique datasets, and we can't wait to deliver this added value to our customers. Together, we will enable autonomous operations and digital transformation in the polymer and biopharma industries,” says Jay Manouchehri, CEO of Yokogawa Fluence Analytics.
