Using a trademarked slogan of ``real help, right now,'' Battelle Memorial Institute is broadening its consulting offerings to include a yearly 40-hour plan to help companies get rapid answers to urgent problems.
``We're trying to leverage Battelle's ability to give companies a quick response,'' said Kelly Jenkins, project manager for advanced materials at Battelle, based in Columbus, Ohio.
The company still specializes in handling projects, but the new plan is a way to solve problems as they arise or to gain materials help in entering a new market.
The new plan is called Battelle's Materials Applications Technology Solutions - or B-Mats for short. It offers advanced materials help, tactical and strategic growth assistance, 40 hours of technical help, specialized technical summaries of select trade shows and a semiannual technical review publication. The program also has its own Web site, www.bmats.org.
Jenkins said the program allows Battelle to learn about a company, and it in turn can tap Battelle's strengths. He noted that it could be used by a large company needing material solutions, as well as by conventional plastics processors seeking material or processing help.
Jenkins said the program will give problems an unbiased review and will be backed with Battelle research.
``This by no means replaces a typical Battelle project. We still want to do large-scale research and development, but this is another product offering that fills a need that we identified in the R&D world,'' he said.
Battelle rolled out the plan at NPE 2006, held June 19-23 in Chicago.
The company conducts $3.4 billion in annual research and development.