Determination of Product Shelf Life - New Product - No historical data

M

maggiee

#1
:bigwave:
Hello, friend,

Can anybody tell me how to determine the shelf life for product?

Especially on the condition that the product was newly developed , and there's no historical data support how long it could be valid .

:thanx:

maggie
 
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Wes Bucey

Quite Involved in Discussions
#2
maggiee said:
:bigwave:
Hello, friend,

Can anybody tell me how to determine the shelf life for product?

Especially on the condition that the product was newly developed , and there's no historical data support how long it could be valid .

:thanx:

maggie
:bigwave: Welcome to the Cove, Maggie!

Primary considerations are Life, Health, Safety for consumer. That is to say:
  • If it is food, will it spoil?
  • If it is a chemical, can age change it to be more or less potent?
  • If it is a product that protects people (tires, safety harnesses, etc.) can it deteriorate with age so it is no longer safe? (I've heard dynamite becomes unstable and can explode with slight jarring after long, improper storage.)
Consider cosmetic changes, too (does product color change or liquid evaporate? Some chewing gum turns hard and brittle after prolonged storage, for example.)

All in all, I guess you have to make a guess and keep testing samples at various storage terms to get definitive answer (sometimes this becomes a "root cause and preventive action" situation where packaging and/or storage conditions are modified to increase shelf life.)
 
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M

maggiee

#4
:thanx:

Wes and Craec , thanks for your idea and response. our products is pp chemical fiber which can be physically stable for a period of time , our customer request us to give them a quality ganrantee time , in this term , if any quality problem occured, they can make claims to us.

OUr previous method to define the term of shelflife is based on historical data , we have some goods had been stored in the warehouse for 1~2 years , we took samples from the stock , and re-test the product properties ,if it's within the spec. then we can determine the shelflife is 1~2year as we found no big change about the property. But the problem is if it's a new product , how we determine it ? :(

We considered to have a aging test , and thought about to make analysis of each rawmaterial , and get information from our supplier about shelf-life of the material , but think about this method, maybe 1+1 =/ 2?

Can you find solution for it ? :thanx:


maggie
 
#5
I'm afraid I can't give you a solution, but we can do a bit of reasoning on the subject.

I suppose your previous method, based on hard data is the only way to truly verify the previous shelf life estimates. With a new product... Well, you cannot really be 100% certain, no matter what you do. The only thing to do (unless anyone can come up with a better idea?) is probably to give the customer a conservative estimate, based on previous experience of similar products until you have verified the life span of the product in question.

I agree, there is no way of knowing if an analysis of each raw material will provide you with correct data. In fact, I find it very likely that it will not.

There is another factor to consider: You have a product that deteriorates over time. Can you by any chance increase the life span of the product by improving the storing conditions? You know, Temperature, humidity, packaging and so on...

/Claes
 
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S

Simon Timperley

#6
As Claes says although it is a bit unscientific using historical data, testing old stock is a useful way for you to gather data and build up an overall picture on the shelf-life of your products. If you find that the properties of the products you test from stock are within specification limits after 36 months err on the side of caution, knock 12 months off and offer a shelf-life of 24 months to the customer. That is if this is in accordance with the customer's shelf-life requirements.

For something like a short shelf-life food product it is relatively easy to simulate the ageing process and determine whether the organoleptic properties have altered unfortunately this is a lot more difficult with something like a plastic polymer Shelf-Life Prediction Methods and Applications.

In addition to testing the products yourself, as you seem to be a converter of a base material I would tend to go back to the supplier of the raw material who may be able to provide some advice / recommendations on shelf life - What shelf-life do they offer you?

Good point from Claes also on specifying recommended storage conditions - you may also be able to get some information on this from your supplier.

Hope this helps.

Simon
 
C

Cathy

#7
Hi All,

I am also trying to find a method of validating and extending the self life of one of our products. I have found a website www.ich.org That gives details on pharamacutical shelf life tests. I know it is not 100% suitable but it gives some good advice on accelerated life testing.
 
D

D.Scott

#8
Looking from a different perspective -

It seems very possible that your customer may simply be looking for your "short term" shelf life to enable them to schedule purchases without overstocking. Although it is a new product, there must be some "short term" studies to give a good idea of shelf life "so far". Once you have solid data from testing you can extend the shelf life outward. In the meantime your customer may be satisfied with your "short term" numbers.

I also agree with Claes on not relying on the data for the individual materials to determine a shelf life. There is always a possibility of interaction of materials causing a negative effect. I would not take a short-cut in doing life studies. Go with what you know for now and build on that. JMHO.

Dave
 

Mike S.

Happy to be Alive
Trusted Information Resource
#9
Perhaps you can contact a recognized expert on polymers at a university or governmental agency that supports industry and get some advice.
 

Tim Folkerts

Super Moderator
#10
There are several ideas from Reliabilty Engineering that would seem to apply, in particular Highly Accelerated Lifetime Testing (HALT). The idea is to apply extra stress to the product and see how it reacts. Depending on the product, you might use such stress as high/low temperatures, UV, vibration, extreme humidity, etc.

Sometimes, the stress is kept at a constant, high level. Sometimes it is stepped up until the product fails. In any case, there are standard ways to extrapolate back to "normal" conditions and estimate the expected lifetime. I don't have my reference materials handy, but I could check tomorrow if there are more details you would like.

Or check with your friendly neighborhood Reliabilty Engineer :) .

Tim Folkerts
CRE (& hopefully CQE by the end of the month)
 
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