Thanks for all your help, the parts arrived this morning on site at about 8am, the service we received from you and your company was just the best.
- A Nutraceutical Company
Whitepapers
Natoli regularly contributes to multiple pharmaceutical manufacturing trade publications by supplying articles and whitepapers for subscribers and readers. These whitepapers are also available for free download from Natoli.
To make finding a whitepaper topic that interests to you, we have separated them into these three main areas: Tablets and Tooling; Research and Development; and Maintenance.
Tablets & Tooling:
Whether you want to learn how to increase the life of tooling or improve the patient acceptance of a tablet, these whitepapers have detailed information to help.
Answering the question, “How long will this set of tools last?” is difficult. With so many factors coming into play, estimating tooling life varies significantly. Even though we can’t guarantee the number of batches or tablets produced, there are several key things you can do to provide the greatest return on your investment. Learn how to save money by investing some time and energy into keeping your tablet compression tooling operating longer.
First Impressions are everything, even in the world of tablets. A tablet’s size, shape, color, and perceived ease of use are quickly determined by the consumer from their first encounter. Because a design can so strongly influence acceptance, departments like marketing, production, and research and development must all come together when determining how a finished tablet should look and feel.
Tablet sticking and picking are ubiquitous in the tablet manufacturing industry, whether pharmaceutical, nutraceutical, or confectionery. While the regulated world of drug-product manufacturing often has a sense of urgency to develop a new molecule, this paper examines the design issues that need to be considered to help eliminate manufacturing complications or tablet defects before production scale-up.
Steel quality is the summation of how well a steel meets its specified chemistry. In the design of tablet compression tooling, nothing is more important that the quality of the materials used. Since quality is a quantifiable attribute, don’t allow a salesman to tell you about the quality of their steel, ask them to show you!
There are three main reasons why you should consider incorporating a land into your tablet’s design including added strength and durability to your punch tips. But does that mean you should have land on all your tablets? Read about the points of consideration so you can make a more informed decision about what is best for your tablets.
A variety of options are available for punches and dies to help compress difficult drug products. One commonly overlooked punch modification is the extended head flat, which offers multiple benefits. However, extended head flats and the resulting extended dwell time are not always ideal for mitigating common tableting issues. This paper discusses how to determine which head profile is right for your situation.
Consistently manufacturing tablets to a uniform hardness, weight, and thickness require punches of consistent lengths—but not all lengths of tablet compression tooling have the same importance. Know the differences between working and overall lengths, how cup depth factors into the mix, and why uniform tool length is critical for maintaining tablet consistency and smooth press operations.
Choosing the right tablet compression tooling can increase tablet output, decrease waste and determine the success of a product launch. Consider limitations, build the right teams, and have the right type of high-quality tooling created to meet your needs.
Research & Development:
There is a lot that goes into developing a new tablet. Whitepapers in this section can help by suggesting specific tableting profiles to generate during development, multi-tip tooling challenges and fixes, and discussion on powder die filling troubleshooting.
Scale-up and performance of a formulation at production levels is often quite different than during Research and Development. To keep issues like tablet capping, lamination, sticking, and picking to a minimum, compaction profiles and strain rate sensitivity analyses should to be completed. By taking these extra steps, tableting issues can be resolved early reducing lost time and energy during scale-up.
Speed to market is a significant concern in tablet manufacturing, but moving too quickly may cause delayed production, lost product, and missed deadlines. This paper discusses the tablet analysis data that should be gathered during R&D to reduce product development and delivery stress and loss.
Multi-tip punches are an effective way to increase your tablet output without increasing press run time or the number of presses in your operation. Although their use follows a similar principle as single-tip tools, there are operating techniques that must be understood to tablet products successfully. Learn the critical stages of the rotary press process, the impact multi-tip punches have, and how to overcome common challenges for manufacturers.
Compression tooling and tablet press manufacturers are faced with ongoing challenges in tablet manufacturing environments. Use the resources and support from your tooling and tablet press partner(s) to help you navigate potential issues early and reduce Scale-up and Post Approval Change (SUPAC) costs.
There are many challenges in the tablet manufacturing process and an understanding of the steps leading to the final compressed tablet is crucial. Before you begin tableting, there are multiple steps and variables that must be considered. Read more about the most important of these variables.
Transitioning product from one tablet press to another during scale-up has been a challenge for decades. There are many different approaches that must be considered including the tablet press, punch design and powder characteristics. In this paper, we discuss the impact of dwell time; it’s definition, what you can do to change it, and why it is important to understand the affects.
The science behind compressing a block of particles or granules into a single tablet can be complication. That’s where common compression studies can help. Learn how development of profiles for each of the terms tabletability, compactability, and compressibility can benefit the development of a tablet and how each of their respective meanings offer different ways to characterize material under compress.
This whitepaper is currently under review and is being updated for 2021. The new version will include the latest science and technological advances.
Maintenance:
Keeping your tablet compression tooling and presses in good working order is essential. Each of the whitepapers available in this section will help manufacture quality tablets and save money by providing simple solutions to tableting problems.
Proper maintenance isn’t only for your tablet compression tooling, and keeping your tablet presses operating smoothly takes some dedication. By following these seven simple steps you can ensure your tablet press operates with optimum performance. Help stop unnecessary wear and untimely press failure by following this thorough cleaning guide.
Inspecting tooling and press components for wear or defects is one of the most important steps in improving tablet quality. By dedicating some time for simple tooling and press part reviews, wear and damage can be quickly addressed, increasing overall quality and reducing tooling costs. Learn where and what to look for, and how to make changes.
It’s no surprise that companies are facing increased pressures to reduce costs from both regulatory entities and consumers. Learn some easy ways to make sure that you aren’t spending more than necessary to consistently manufacture quality tablets.
While some OEMs use scare tactics to discourage their clients from using non-OEM replacement parts for their tablet presses, premium replacements parts from a reputable vendor such as Natoli meet and often exceed OEM specs. Learn about the factors to consider before paying a premium for OEM replacement parts.
Clean punches and dies are essential to maintaining the integrity and efficiency of your tooling. By using high frequency pressure waves, an ultrasonic cleaner is highly effective and efficient at cleaning your tablet compression tooling. Use of ultrasonic cleaners can also reduce costs and are more environmentally friendly that you may think.
Wear to the edges of punch tips is a common problem that is commonly overlooked by most tooling inspection procedures. Many things can cause tip wear, including poor tablet and tool design, granulation characteristics, improper steel selection, and improper press set-up. Learn more about how to reduce and prevent tip wear to help eliminate tablet defects.
Did you know that tableting issues may be caused by a single, fixable defect with your punches? Anyone who has experienced capping or lamination during tablet production knows the frustration that comes with trying to diagnose the issue. Learn about several ways that j-hooks can be prevented and how to quickly and efficiently repair your tablet compression tooling if it becomes an issue in your production.
There are several ways to effectively polish your tools, but which is better? Read why proper polishing is a key tenet of tool maintenance, the benefits of each area, and why we believe one option will provide a better overall tableting experience that other alternatives.
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All rights reserved. No part of this content may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher.
