Tablet Press Tooling (Punches and Dies)

Tablet press tooling consists of the tablet punches and dies that compress powders or granules into tablets. The equipment can produce tablets in a variety of shapes and sizes as well as embossed with a logo or text. The process involves passing the ingredients into a die, a steel cavity that holds the powder in place, where it is compressed by an upper punch while being supported by a lower punch (which controls the amount of powder and ejects the finished tablet).

Standard configurations for tablet press tooling are B tooling (which has a small barrel diameter) and D tooling (for larger tablets and higher compression forces), although there are also variations, with BB and DB being the most common. In the U.S., equipment meets standards for the Tablet Specification Manual (TSM) and in the EU for European Standard guidelines.