WipWare’s innovative technology provides an accurate analysis of the size, shape and distribution of any material a company needs to measure, based on image samples. This information can optimize manufacturing processes and energy costs, improving a company’s bottom line.

“We have a saying at WipWare,” says Palangio. “‘You can’t manage what you can’t measure.’ Decisions need to be based on hard data. There’s an optimal particle size for every operation, and that’s what our technology can determine.”

Take mining, for instance. Rock needs to be broken down before minerals can be extracted from it. Particle sizing allows companies to fine-tune their drilling and blasting for optimum fragmentation at each stage.

Twenty years ago particle sizing was done by passing a sample of blasted ore through a sieve, a time-consuming and imprecise method. With WipWare’s technology, particle sizing is done in real-time and there’s no need to stop the process to get measurements.

“Our technology can give a running analysis 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year and it’s very precise.”Originally developed for the explosives industry, it didn’t take long before companies in other sectors were beating a path to WipWare’s door.

Today, the North Bay company’s technology is used in sectors as diverse as mining, pulp and paper, aggregate, manufacturing, energy, pharmaceuticals and cosmetics. It’s even used by NASA to test lunar vehicles on earth.

And soon, WipWare may branch out into the life sciences sector. Palangio is in early talks with the Health Technology Exchange with a view to using WipWare to quantify and qualify cell types.

“The applications for this technology are almost limitless,” says Robert Deline, Executive Director, Innovation Initiatives Ontario North. “We’re looking forward to working with WipWare to help it expand into new markets.”