Evolution of BUCHI NIR

February 12 was Darwin Day. Darwin, of course, was known for his theories of evolution. While his theories continue to be hotly debated 137 years after his passing, none could argue that products and companies must evolve in some capacity to keep pace with, and meet the demands of customers-at-large.

Borrowing the words of Spanish soccer player Gerard Pique, “Evolution is all about looking forward.” The BUCHI NIR portfolio shows evidence of evolution in that sense. 

The BUCHI NIR “big bang” occurred in 1999 with the acquisition of Buhler NIR, with incremental steps leading up to the dramatic upgrade to the NIRFlex series, and so far culminating with the N-500 FT-NIR product.

The NIRFlex bench-top instrumentation was designed to meet consumer demands in both R&D and routine testing labs for true flexibility and high performance. Hot-swap modules accommodate nearly any sample type (i.e. solid, liquid, semi-solid or slurry), while the Fourier-transform (FT) technology provides exceptional precision. A novel single-beam FT design further propels instrument performance, stability and robustness, while hardware and software components continue to meet even the demands of the  pharmaceutical regulatory agencies.

Next, the NIRMaster was added to the portfolio specifically to serve the demands of the food and feed industries, bringing with it IP-54 and IP-65 ingress protection and features designed to ensure food safety. This revolutionary design was the first to marry the accuracy of FT-NIR with a robust and hygienic standalone at-line design suited for the production floor.

In 2005, the BUCHI portfolio expanded with the acquisition of German on-line sensor manufacturer NIR-Online, just a modest train ride away from company headquarters in Flawil, Switzerland. With this acquisition, BUCHI was finally able to offer a true in- and on-line NIR solution for process control. Since its introduction, the NIR-Online product has further evolved, expanding capabilities to include multiplexing, and continuing to meet requirements for workplace safety, including explosion-proof options for hazardous environments.

In late 2018, the BUCHI NIR portfolio saw its next evolution: the ProxiMate. This at-line workhorse took the speed and agility of the NIR-Online solution at-line, creating an affordable option for the typical food and feed industry customer without compromise in quality or performance.

ProxiMate offers 3 main benefits for food and feed industry users: applicative fit, extreme robustness and simple operation.

Applicative Fit

• BUCHI application chemists have developed many ready-to-use pre-calibrations typically required by the food and feed industries, enabling accurate results with minimal effort and by users of any ability level

Extreme Robustness

• ProxiMate is designed to work effectively in the most adverse conditions. Measurements are unaffected by temperature or humidity fluctuations. The instrument can be placed where results matter: right next to the  production line. With IP-66 ingress protection ProxiMate can be pressure-hosed down to meet even the most stringent hygiene standards

Simple operation

• Thanks to the intuitive, modern touchscreen interface, ProxiMate operation has been optimized to make it logical, easy and straight-forward. The touchscreen follows the proven interface logic of other BUCHI products, making it easy for anyone to setup applications, test samples or customize preferences.

Of course, the idea of the “survival of the fittest” comes to mind on Darwin Day. It seems that the more recent of our evolutionary steps in the NIR product portfolio has been hyper-focused on robustness–survival in the dirtiest, harshest, or most hazardous environments. Learn more about ProxiMate and join us on this Extreme Journey along the NIR evolutionary path!