Analytical Chemistry November 1955 [antikvár]

ANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY WALTER J. MURPHY, Editor The Place of the Analytical Department in Modern Industry WHAT is the place of the analyst in industry today? How does the analytical department fit into the modern "team approach" pattern we hear so much about in industry today, especially in the so-called chemical process fields? "What do we mean when we talk about such subjects as research in analysis, quality control, adaptation of instrumental analysis methods in large scale manufacturing, and how are these and other factors related to other departments of a company? In many respects, the analytical department can be said to be the nerve center in modern manufacturing operations. As a department, it lias direct contact with manufacturing, purchasing, sales, research, market research and development, and top management. If it does not, something is vitally wrong in the organizational structure, a weakness that can be very detrimental to the success of a company where quality and new products are of prime importance. Despite this generally close relationship with just about every other activity in a company setup, we do not recall ever having seen or read any comprehensive .survey discussing these essential relationships. When we mentioned this apparent absence in the literature at a moisting of the Advisory Board of Analytical Chemi.stry, there was an immediate spontaneous enthusiasm for a series of articles that would discuss the relationship of the analj'ti-cal department to all other phases of company management. The first in this scries appears in this issue, page 11 A. John E. McKeen, president and chairman of the board of Chas. Pfizer & Co., a nationally and internationally known chemical and pharmaceutical manufacturing concern, discusses how top management in his company views the analyst and the analytical department. In subsequent issues, widely known leaders in manufacturing, purcha-sing, sales, product development, engineering, and research will present their ideas of what constitutes an ideal relationship between their respective departments and the analytical department. Still other articles in the series will be contributed by an independent chemical consultant and an independent manage- ment consultant. The series will close with one or more articles written by prominent directors of a number of analytical departments. We firmly believe that management today is conscious of the role of the analyst. We know from firsthand observation of many companies that the director of analytical research very frequently is made part of the over-all team assigned to the development of new processes, new products, and new large scale manufacturing operations. Thus the horizons of the analyst are constantly broadening from the classical concept that analysis has as its chief objective the maintenance of quality control. It is certainly true that the so-called "works chemist" or analj'st of the 18th or 19th centuries no longer is looked upon by management as an expensive but, perhaps, necessary evil. Very significantly the wheel of fortune for the analyst has come around a full 360 degrees. Historically analytical chemistry probably is the oldest field in the broad spectrum of chemistry. Obviously, the first challenge to the chemist was to determine the constituent parts of the physical things he could see or touch. Later emphasis shifted to organic chemistry, then to phj'sical chemistry for the reason that the challenge then was to produce synthetically many natural substances or to produce products that did not exist in nature. Ultimately, of course, the analyst reached the lowest ebb in stature when small chemical manufacturing plants sprang up. The analyst's main or sole duties consisted largely in performing routine tests to determine the quality of the raw materials coming in, so to speak, the back door, and the finished goods going out the front. No longer is the analyst the "Cinderella" of the chemical profession. Nevertheless, despite the renaissance in his professional stature, the duties and contributions of the analytical chemist are still in many instances not too well defined nor too well understood. The series whi<'h starts with Dr. McKcen's keen analysis of the role of the analytical department in Pfizer operations is specifically designed to develop discussion and controversy. Comments from readers will be most welcome. 1671