A Case for Integrated Process Engineering

As competition gets severe, innovation in the whole value chain of a product life cycle is the lifeblood of a technology.  Unfortunately, the execution at almost every step of the life cycle in creating and commercializing an innovation currently is mostly sequential.  The lack of interactions among phases and sections in the value chain leads to losses of budget, opportunity and competitive advantages, in particular in breakthrough technology development for sustainable energy and environment, which is a key factor hindering the success of technology transfer from science to products. This paper discusses some typical applications of integrated process engineering and economic analysis.