Oxford Instruments.
Turning complex alloy science into an app anyone in the field can use.
Oxford Instruments, a pioneer in technologies for sampling metallic materials, asked WMP to design and develop Materials Analysis eXpert: a hybrid mobile and tablet app that helps manufacturers, structural engineers and scrap dealers identify and grade alloys with confidence, wherever they're working.
Sectors
Expertise
Background.
Making sense of thousands of alloys, in the field, in seconds.
Oxford Instruments has been developing scientific technology since 1959, and its metal analysis tools are used across manufacturing, structural engineering and scrap dealing worldwide.
The landscape of metal alloys is incredibly diverse, with thousands of specified alloys in use worldwide, each combining a base metal with other elements to create properties suited to a specific job. Despite industry classification standards, the sheer number and variety of alloys made proper identification a real challenge, and Oxford Instruments identified a gap: their customers needed a comprehensive tool to identify specific alloys quickly and accurately, wherever they were working.
The Solution.
An app built on field research, then packed with a decade of materials science.
Starting with the people who'd actually use it.
We began with extensive research into the needs of manufacturers, structural engineers and scrap dealers, and reviewed Oxford Instruments' existing technologies and tools to make sure the new app integrated seamlessly and stayed consistent with what customers already knew.
Making complex science feel simple to use.
We focused on an intuitive interface that made complex information easy to access, building prototypes to visualise the user journey and gather feedback from stakeholders before development began.
Let's work together
Let's partner to create brand, product, and experience solutions that move people and markets.
Putting a 1,200-alloy database in someone's pocket.
The finished app gives instant access to more than 1,200 alloys across four grade libraries (AISI, GB, DIN and International), with a search function that works by alloy name or percentage composition, and a comparison tool that lets users evaluate up to three alloys side by side, work that had previously needed a laptop or desktop computer.
Backing it up with a full periodic table and a product finder.
A built-in periodic table adds elemental properties, principal X-ray lines and OES wavelength data for deeper analysis, alongside a full directory of Oxford Instruments products and an interactive product finder that asks a short series of questions to recommend the right analyser for the job. Nearly all of this, including the periodic table and alloy guides, works offline.
The impact.
An app confident enough to be covered by the industry's own press.
Materials Analysis eXpert helped position Oxford Instruments as a leader in material analysis, giving field users a tool previously only available on a laptop or desktop computer. The app was covered by trade press including Recycling Product News, and Oxford Instruments remains unique in offering a complete metals analysis solution across three leading elemental analysis techniques (XRF, OES and LIBS) through a single app.
