Lorenzo Menarini, R&D Process Engineer, IMA Active
The global rotary tablet market is on the rise, for a variety of reasons. The growth of the market can be partially attributed to the increasing use of rotary tablet presses in the pharma industry, laboratory research and other life sciences industries. In addition to that, greater health awareness in the post-COVID era has significantly raised the demand for medicines, ultimately boosting the demand for tablet presses.
Considering that oral solid dosage (OSD) forms, which include tablets, capsules and powders, are the most common and preferred methods of drug delivery due to their convenience, stability and ease of administration, investments in R&D to develop innovative medicinal solutions in the form of tablets are increasing. Other industries, such as the food and confectionery industries, are also introducing tablets to their product lines.
It’s clear that rotary tablet presses will play an increasingly pivotal role pharma’s tablet production. The addition of segment tools — the compact components that offer an alternative to the traditional dies on rotary tablet presses — has brought increased productivity and more efficient changeover, while offering quality that is consistent with the well-established die technology.
Productivity
Segments in tablet compression machines enhance productivity by increasing the number of punches inside the rotor. This benefit is especially noticeable with the larger punch shapes that can achieve a 22% increase in output for the EU-D punch dimension. This increase is easily explained by the losses of those dies having a predetermined, according-to-standard radius.
On the other hand, with a smaller punch size increased output is less significant. A clear example of this statement is the IMA 8 standard, for which the external die size reaches the optimal dimension to fit the same number of punches as for segment technology.
Figure 1 highlights this aspect, showing that the use of segment technology is convenient when coupled with large tablet dimensions or when the powder blend requires high dwell time. For these two cases, the number of punches than can be fitted inside the rotor is higher than with die technology, allowing an increase in throughput.
Changeover
An additional advantage of segmented dies is the accelerated changeover process. Segmented dies consist of individual sections that can be easily removed and replaced. This modular design significantly reduces the time required to change the tooling configuration. Moreover, the segmented structure simplifies the cleaning process as each segment can be cleaned independently.
Using segment technology, cleaning time and overall setup time for different tablet formulations are reduced compared to dies. Faster changeovers lead to increased equipment uptime and higher overall productivity as machine downtime is minimised. This improves production flexibility enhancing the efficiency for batch and continuous technology. Segmented dies effectively streamline the changeover process, resulting in possible time and cost savings for pharma manufacturers.
Efficiency, Accuracy and Precision
Ensuring accuracy and precision in the production of a pharmaceutical tablet involves meticulous attention to both die and segment technologies. Both rely on precisely engineered cavities within which the tablet material is compressed. This state-of-the-art manufacturing technology achieves the highest efficiency regardless of the technology chosen.
Manufacturing accuracy is based on the uniformity of die dimensions and the consistency of the filled material, ensuring each tablet meets stringent specifications. This fact is proven by the high stability of tablet mass shown in Figure 3.
Making Informed Decisions
In the pharma industry, tablet manufacturing plays a vital role in the production of medicines. Tablets will remain the preferred dosage form in the worldwide market and this market is expected to grow further.
Among the many benefits of segment tools, they also come with some disadvantages, such as the initial investment cost and formulation compatibility. Knowing these advantages and disadvantages enables informed decisions when selecting and utilizing segment tools. A careful weighing of the pros and cons will enable companies to best optimize tablet production and maintain high standards of quality in the ever-evolving pharmaceutical landscape.
About the Author
Lorenzo Menarini joined IMA in 2019 and is currently employed at IMA Active as an R&D process engineer. His main responsibilities are the research and development in the field of continuous dosing, mixing and direct compression. His main focus is on process optimization and intensification, including the application of process analytical technologies. Lorenzo graduated from University of Bologna with a degree in Chemical and Process Engineering.