Intelligensys data mining package applied to formulations

Intelligensys, the Billingham, UK based specialist in artificial intelligence software, has released a new data mining system, FormRules.

The product provides a route-map for formulators, as it takes data from trial formulations and turns them into easily understood models and rule statements that map the cause-and-effect relationships in the data. This creates a better understanding of which variables are important, and enables new formulations to be developed more quickly.

Graphical display of relationships makes it immediately clear which variables influence each individual formulation property, and captures information about subtle inter-relationships between ingredients and processing conditions. The program also generates simple IF....THEN rules, with associated confidence levels, to provide guidance for formulators.

FormRules is based on neurofuzzy logic, one of the newest AI techniques to be applied to data mining. After successful application in financial and marketing applications, its use in formulation has been proven by Intelligensys. The program integrates neurofuzzy techniques with visualisation and statistics so that the quality of data and of the models produced can be assessed easily.

Neil Robertson, commercial director of Intelligensys, said: 'We are pleased that the work we have done shows that this powerful technique can be used for formulation problems, using relatively small amounts of high quality data.'