Riochem Case Study

Riochem™, a micro-SME based in Wales, produces innovative instruments for chemical titration. With the assistance of a multi-stakeholder team, Riochem™ embraced ecodesign when developing their flagship product, the TinyLab™. This multi-stakeholder team included government support, external design agencies (in particular GX Design Engineers), toolmakers and suppliers.

The TinyLab™ is an innovative and revolutionary approach to titration analysis. Utilising cartridges that contain high grade volumetric standard solutions, the TinyLab™ allows for on-site and lab-based titration analysis – even by non-specialists. The product eliminates the possibility of cross-contamination of chemicals, as well as saving time and storage space. The product is also modular allowing for the incorporation of other probes for additional parameters such as pH, conductivity and temperature. Customers can purchase bespoke cartridges depending on their specific testing requirements.

As one of the key markets for the TinyLab™ is the environmental goods and services sector it made commercial sense to include ecodesign alongside criteria such as cost and performance, strengthening the company’s own sales and marketing strategy.

The ecodesign strategy covered a number of key life cycle areas such as a reduced material mix, ease of disassembly and repair, clear identification of materials and component recyclability. Design for disassembly can offer greater environmental gains than design for recycling as the reuse of the primary product with the replacement of components is less resource intensive.

Riochem™ has won a number of international awards for the TinyLab™ reflecting the innovative nature of the product and company. Riochem™ has shown that it is possible for a small business to gain competitive advantage through implementing ecodesign. The process has helped Riochem™ establish ecodesign benchmarks for any future product development.