Production Boost: A Case Study
Recently, an organic nutra company asked Natoli to help them achieve their desired tablet output.
The Natoli team headed to their location to investigate the situation.
Our team was able to assist them by assessing their formulation, flow and sticking issues, and developing a solution that increased their production rate immediately!
So what was the solution?
Natoli Improves Flowability
Before tablet production can begin, it’s important to conduct research on powder flow.
Powder flow is essential for successful tablet manufacturing. The powder must flow from the tablet press hopper to the feeder system and fill the die cavity in a homogeneous manner.
If the powder doesn’t have efficient flow properties, the tablet weight won’t be uniform, causing active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) content uniformity issues, along with hardness and weight variation.
Before tableting, basic flowability energy, (BFE), is required to initiate powder flow. This fundamental test gives the scientist insight on material flowability. High energy indicates poor powder flow, causing weight variation and compaction pressure issues during the tableting process.
It’s typical for many API’s to have flow and compactibility issues, so formulators use excipients, such as ProSolv and others, to add flowability and compactibility to the blend.
Although their API was compatible for tablet compression, our team assisted the customer with some sticking issues.
Sticking is one of the most common tablet manufacturing issues. At the manufacturing stage, formulation changes require a process following SUPAC (Scale-up and Post Approval Changes) guidelines. This approach reduces manufacturing issues, costs, and downtime during full production. Utilizing SUPAC guidelines also gives scientists insight on formulation at an early stage, allowing for modifications and successful tool selection.
After working with Natoli, the production output greatly increased, but we knew it could be even more successful.
With their formula flow rating satisfactory and sticking issues resolved, it was time to focus on the next step in tablet production: Obtaining the most efficient press with essential features for easy, efficient tablet compression.
An inefficient Press
So, with their formulation intact, why wasn’t the company producing tablets at an optimum rate?
The entry-level press being used wasn’t efficient enough for their production needs.
After assessing their requirements, our team recommended the Natoli NP-255, a robust tablet press designed to meet even the most demanding tablet compression needs.
Our goal when leaving an on-site visit is to ensure that our customer is satisfied. And satisfaction comes from tableting efficiently and producing desired tablet output.
By the time the Natoli team left, our customer was producing nearly 100,000 tablets per hour, whereas their previous press was producing only a few thousand per hour.
Do you want to increase your tableting efficiency? Contact Natoli today!
