Year: 2011-12

Company: Broadley-James

Liaison(s): Bob Garrahy, Bill Reynolds

Broadley-James is a leading manufacturer of sensors, bioreactors and automation systems for the bioprocessing industry. Established in 1967 by Leighton Broadley, Marcile Broadley, and Richard James, Broadley-James has become a trusted provider of high-end solutions to bioprocessing and fermentation customers. The company’s flagship product, the BioNet® system is a highly regarded, full-featured industrial automation system that can be configured to user needs. It has a versatile controller that can manage up to 10 utility towers, and in turn network and control entire suites of bioreactors. Broadley-James works with customers to continuously improve their product offerings with the customer’s process needs in mind. Broadley-James is currently exploring the idea of potential variations of its BioNet system to reach a larger set of users. Their current full-featured industrial automation systems are expensive and limit the market size. Broadley-James would like an in-depth analysis of potential users’ needs in various markets to correctly guide a product redesign that is driven by well-defined market requirements. Saturation of the high-end market has driven Broadley-James to explore the design of a new control system with a smaller feature set at an affordable price point. The Broadley-James TMP team was asked to take a two phased approach to develop a comprehensive analysis of market requirements. During the first phase, the team conducted primary and secondary market research. The goal of this effort was to assess the bioreactor market and understand the importance of various bioreactor features from the perspective of the end user. This market survey combined with interviews of knowledgeable users provided the team with valuable data which were used to create a market definition report assessing promising market segments. During the second phase, additional rounds of surveys were completed and competitor product analysis was used to create a product requirements specification for a mid-level product. Thus, the TMP team provided Broadley-James with actionable information that can be used to expand their product offering to a new market segment.