As a contract research organization, samples are received for analysis that were taken at a Sponsor or manufacturing location. Production batches of formulated product may fill entire train cars while only one pound of material is submitted for analysis. From that one pound, only one to two grams may be used for analysis. When analyzing samples derived from a much larger batch, the samples must be properly composited to produce meaningful analytical results. By Deni Jo Williams, Melissa Whitsel, and Michael Wallace, MPI Research