A 3-Step Guide to Sourcing Empty Capsules

There was a time, decades ago, when I could’ve recited the location of nearly every empty-capsule manufacturing plant in the world. These days, I discover new suppliers of empty capsules at a surprising rate. This growth in the number of capsule suppliers must make it challenging for new R&D scientists, purchasing agents, production leaders, and quality professionals to make objective decisions about where to source empty capsules.

The following is a 3-step guide that new decision makers can use as a framework when sourcing empty capsules for pharmaceutical and dietary supplement products. 

Step 1: Use business sustainability logic 

Separate the wheat from the chaff by using business sustainability logic. Capsule suppliers who own their own technology and produce their own manufacturing equipment are the only ones worth considering. These suppliers have invested in themselves and plan to be in business for a very long time. Not only have they invested in the technology to make capsules, they have also invested in the technology to make the equipment that makes the capsules.

Many empty-capsule suppliers purchase ready-made capsule production equipment, flick a switch, and start making sales calls. Disregarding these “ready-made” companies cuts your list of potential suppliers down to a manageable number that you can count on one hand. These are the leading global capsule suppliers, with proven track records and established business models. 

Step 2: Eliminate non-issues

Don’t worry about “non-issues” that cloud the water and make selecting a capsule supplier more confusing. Non-issues include:

Availability and logistics

All of the leading global capsule suppliers have enough capacity to supply any single capsule user, including you. All have decades of experience in global capsule supply chains. They are already supplying companies around the world and may be supplying the company across the street from you. 

Aesthetics and custom branding

All of the leading global capsule suppliers have ample technology to produce or reproduce any standard commercially available capsule.

Composition equivalency and chemical performance

All of the leading global capsule suppliers manufacture their capsules using the identical grades of starting materials in the same percentages and purchase the materials from the same vendors. This has been vetted through various regulatory bodies over many decades.

Regulatory and quality compliance

All of the leading global capsule suppliers will pass your quality, technical, and/or regulatory audit of their manufacturing sites and be able to provide any and all regulatory and quality compliance documentation required.

R&D and technical support

All of the leading global capsule suppliers will support your R&D and technical requirements and/or issues. They have all made significant investments in the technology to do so and are all experts in the capsule field. 

Step 3: Focus on the real value drivers

Only two issues really drive value when selecting empty capsules: purchase price and filling machine performance. Prices for empty hard capsules vary widely as does their performance on capsule-filling machines. Usually you get what you pay for, but some- times you don’t.

Ask potential capsule suppliers to provide you with capsules to run on your equipment. It’s best to do this prior to asking for a formal quotation. When testing the capsules, be objective. First and foremost, the capsules must perform to your expectations in your manufacturing process. You don’t want to purchase capsules that run poorly or are problematic in your process, no matter how good the price is.

Finally, it’s common for compa- nies to be unaware that the capsules they are currently using are actually performing poorly. Internal benchmarking and comparative studies are critical for determining capsule performance and will help you select the best capsules for your process.