The impossible example is a bad one.
The reason that the company couldn't immediately make a really good polaroid film was because the old chemists were brought in to work on the new films however they were not allowed to use the same processes as they use with Polaroid because of licensing and patents... If they were allowed to use the same exact process as Polaroid, they would have the same exact stuff Polaroid film today, it's the patents that are owned by someone else that they can't easily procure, it's not financially feasible to buy them, thats preventing them from having the older Polaroid films in stock
Thought I agree the machines kodak use probably have as much to do with quality as the chemistry behind the emulsions.
Then again ilford can easily coat the Rollie IR films... So...
Sorry that reads like a Holywood SiFi script, it is total denial of the problem.
The manufacturing is as much the process workers as the chemists. Kodak could not make plusx at Harrow UK with the patents and Rochester staff to hand they would need several attempts, all the old hands from 2005 have long gone.
It would be easy for Ilford to rebadge SFX...
How many times did your team need a second take?
Ask the sites pet technical expert...