New solutions for nutraceuticals.

Authors Stefano Biserni, Product Manager for Capsule Fillers at IMA Active Stefano Crivellaro, Capsule Filling Technologist at IMA Active Fabriano Ferrini, Product Manager for Capsule Fillers at IMA Active Alessio Tarozzi, Product Manager for Capsule Fillers at IMA Active

1. Introduction

Nutraceutical products are predominantly contained in capsule form when they reach the consumer market. Filling a capsule with powders using the tamping pin method is seen as a consolidated technology and producers of nutraceuticals have simply grown accustomed to the issues they face.
It is likely they are unaware of the alternative opportunities that exist to significantly improve the performance and efficiency of their production lines. Consistent filling, precise doses, fewer rejects and optimised costs can all be achieved when the supplier of the technology understands the characteristics of the products being handled and adapts their solution to match the producer’s needs. Especially with a different technological approach. 

2. The growing trend for nutritional supplements

Since the beginning of the century and recently in the wake of the pandemic, consumers are seeking for more and more nutritional supplements. In addition to performance-boosting supplements for athletes, increased awareness about the benefits of preventing health issues instead of curing them has enhanced the demand for probiotic supplements, mineral and vitamin supplements as well as natural products that reinforce the immune system. Consumers are also becoming more selective, demanding natural ingredients, possibly with zero excipients. In the race to satisfy the market, several shortcuts upstream (quality and consistency of the raw materials) lead to processing difficulties, unwanted waste and avoidable costs downstream.
Whereas it is easy to obtain bulk powder, processing powders with different characteristics is not a straightforward option when the machine technology is relatively basic. Leading manufacturer of automatic packaging solutions, IMA has nearly 60 years’ experience in the pharmaceutical industry and has developed technologies to handle all sorts of powders, with and without excipients.
Today, that knowledge and experience, much of which is housed in a vast database of recorded processing parameters, is at the disposal of the nutraceutical industry. 

3. A closer look at the demands of the industry

The nutraceutical industry is well aware of consumers’ priorities. Packing as much product into a large capsule, preferably made of natural, plant-based materials such as HPMC and modified starch, is one objective. Just a few milligrams more in each capsule strongly appeals to consumers. Consistent capsule weight, maximum production efficiency and minimal product waste will all improve profitability.
There are many ways to achieve these objectives, especially with a technology that is gaining a greater share of the market thanks to a number of key benefits.

This technology addresses the major issues:

• variable powder quality and characteristics
• variable capsule quality and characteristics
• stoppages and downtime between production batches.

So what is the difference and how does it improve output and quality?

4. For each issue, a technological solution

Powders manifest different characteristics, from extremely sticky behaviour to exceptional flowability; they can also possess extremely variable Carr index values.
Tamping pin-type capsule fillers will encounter difficulties when the flowability is poor because gravity is insufficient to manage the powder correctly. Holes in the dosing plate receive variable quantities of powder leading to variable slugs and capsule doses. In most cases, the standard configuration of an intermittent capsule filler (rotating bowl and dosators) makes it possible to manage even complex powders with very different technological characteristics.
In addition, when required by a critical issue specifically related to the product, an exclusive feature of IMA capsule fillers (the suction bowl) increases the density of the powder by removing a significant amount of the air contained in the powder mixture. A pre-compacted layer is then ready to be dosed with optimal density into each capsule. Each slug contains a consistent quantity of the nutritional supplement throughout the batch.

When flowability is excessive, it is difficult to keep the powder inside the dosator especially in a continuous-motion capsule filler. IMA uses a system with alternating motion, which, if needed, retains the powder by means of aspiration by creating a temporary state of vacuum during transit. The dosator then rotates and releases the slug into the capsule. This ensures no powder is lost and each capsule is filled with the same quantity throughout the batch.
Even a poor flowability can present problems of machinability, and in addition many nutraceutical powders are formulated 100% pure without excipients and no binder.
As reported in the application data (Table 1), it is worth underlining that, as with a standard configuration, it is possible to work at maximum speed, within the target weights and tolerances, thanks to the correct management of the powder layer height, chamber height and compression parameters and other simple optimisations.

Table 1: application data

5. Maximum flexibility and high-speed processing

Producers of nutraceuticals obtain two major benefits with IMA capsule fillers: the ability to handle the huge diversity found in powder quality and the chance to achieve high-speed production. The technology behind IMA capsule fillers is easily adapted to suit different powder types. Companies can adjust several key parameters on the machine using an intuitive HMI. When producing small batches requiring regular adjustment of the dose, the IMA capsule filler can be reconfigured in just a few minutes compared to the time required for the tamping pin type equipment (30-60 minutes). More importantly, when changing capsule format, the IMA capsule filler requires no specific alignment tool and configurations, and the parts are Poka-Yoke designed.
Instead, the tamping pin machines need alignment tools and complicated assembly times, even up to a full 8-hour shift. Cleaning operations are also extremely fast with the IMA solution, so between batches, little time is lost. However, performance also means running production at high speeds. IMA has a track record of capsule filling operations with customers in the nutraceutical industry. Each of these has generated valuable data which is now housed in a database, benefitting new customers with the acquired experience. The majority run at full capsule-filling speed and none of the cases recorded has ever run at less than 75% of full machine speed capacity.

6. Greater efficiency, better quality, reduced costs.

In conclusion, the technology developed and implemented successfully by IMA has proven effective in many ways. Producers are able to optimise the amount of powder in each capsule and can be sure of filling precision and consistency. The diversity of raw material quality is overcome by the technological solutions or by simply adjusting processing parameters batch by batch. Rejects are rare and all causes of downtime, such as format changeovers and cleaning operations are much faster than alternative technologies. In the long term, savings are substantial. Fewer capsules because of fewer rejects. Production costs per capsule decrease because production efficiency and output increase as well as product consistency. And the better the product is, the more the consumer will want it.