Non-destructive process analysis · for over 25 years
See what happens inside the process, while it happens.
I’m Thomas Ricour. I help manufacturers measure in line — no sampling, no destruction — what changes between raw material and finished product.
What people ask me
The questions that bring manufacturers to call
“My process drifts, and I don’t know where.”
Understand what varies, at which step, and which parameter shows it first — before the batch is lost.
“I have to demonstrate process control to the FDA or the EMA.”
Build the analytical strategy and the dossier elements, through to the exchanges with the agency.
“We’re moving from batch to continuous.”
In continuous manufacturing, in-line measurement becomes essential: it tells you, in real time, whether material stays within its design space.
“Will it work on my material?”
The honest answer is a proof of concept, on your material, under your conditions. That’s where everything is decided.
Method
Structure, prove, deploy
Quality by Design sets the strategy; in-line measurement provides the means — a process that compensates for input variability instead of passing it on to the product.
Structure
Start from the quality need, not the technology: which parameter, where, for which decision, and against which laboratory reference method. The lab remains the reference; in-line measurement extends its reach.
Prove
The proof of concept, usually at pilot scale or directly on the process, under final deployment conditions. Several technologies can be challenged side by side. The resulting model is usable in production, with no rebuild at scale.
Deploy
Installation, team training, validation, then model monitoring and updates over time. An internal owner — the “PAT Champion” — keeps the measurement alive once the project is delivered.
Why the proof of concept
It turns a technology promise into a quantified decision: what the measurement brings in cost of non-quality, yield and batch release time. And it lets us say no, with evidence, when no non-destructive technology answers the question.
Technologies
Many ways of looking at matter
No single technology answers everything. Working across the spectrum, independent of any one brand, means choosing the one that fits the question — and proving it.
- Near infrared NIR · 780–2,500 nm
- Water, APIs, excipients, protein, fat; blend uniformity, drying end-point.
- Raman inelastic scattering
- Identification, crystal forms, reaction monitoring, including in aqueous media.
- Mid infrared MIR · 4,000–400 cm⁻¹
- Fine molecular fingerprint; reaction and fermentation monitoring.
- Terahertz 0.1–10 THz
- Coating thickness and integrity, internal structure of solid forms.
- OCT optical coherence tomography
- Layer and coating thickness, measured in line.
- ECT / ERT tomography capacitance · resistivity
- Phase distribution in a vessel or pipe: mixing, bubbles, fouling.
- Hyperspectral imaging spectrum × image
- Spatial distribution of composition, defects, sorting.
- Process sensors pH · temperature · conductivity
- PAT often starts here: simple, in-situ, real-time measurements.
- Chemometrics PCA · PLS · validation
- What turns a spectrum into a result: model building, validation and maintenance.
- Pharma
- Biopharma
- Chemicals and polymers
- Cosmetics
- Food
- Agriculture
- Anaerobic digestion and biomass
Teaching
Training, so the measurement outlives the project
In-line measurement is only worth what the receiving teams can make of it: interpret it, challenge it, evolve it. I design and deliver PAT training — from spectroscopy basics to model validation — built for experts and non-specialists in the same room.
I also teach in higher education, and I have sat on the board of HélioSPIR, the French-speaking near-infrared spectroscopy association, since 2014.
My company
PAT-INDUSTRY
from Process Understanding to Real-time Quality
Independent, multi-brand PAT integrator, successor to NIR-INDUSTRY. From upstream thinking to final installation, through training and validation: consulting and equipment from a single partner. ProcessControlExpert is its operational excellence and Quality by Design centre.
Contact
A technical conversation, not a sales pitch
You describe an operation and the quantity you’d like to follow. I’ll tell you what can be measured, what cannot, and what would need checking before you commit to anything.