The traditional family-owned company Dr. Willmar Schwabe is known for high-quality plant-based medications. After a field test with the F20i from the new i Series, the specialists were certain that this prototype should be used immediately in production.

The fact that we rapidly got the press up and running at twice our normal production speed, yet with higher quality, impressed us from the start” reports Sebastian Kopf, Group Manager Maintenance at Dr. Willmar Schwabe. The field test made it possible to double capacity within a short period of time. “We are now producing 4.5 million tablets a day of our blockbuster Tebonin® with a special ginkgo extract – that’s two batches instead of just one,” according to Kopf. The new i Series also displays numerous other convincing features. This led the company to take the unusual step of retaining the actual F20i prototype, which had been used on a trial basis, in-house.

Efficient, innovative and user-friendly

The i series from Fette Compacting has stood for ultra-efficient and flexible tablet production for decades. The new i Series offers even more possibilities on the basis of a technology platform. One innovation, for example, is a multi-format tablet outlet that is suitable for the majority of common tablet formats. Its special switch shape ensures that the tablets automatically find the path with the lowest frictional resistance, thus reducing the likelihood of material jams.

“We also save cleaning time, have reduced product loss, and consume less power,” Kopf adds to the list of benefits. And the F20i has significantly fewer surfaces to clean. In addition to the reduced effort, this also lowers the potential exposure to active ingredients. Further time savings are provided by an optimized rotor change system, which reduces removal to just a few minutes with the help of an integrated removal carrier.

Quick training with intuitive operation

“I was also pleasantly surprised by the short training period,” adds Kopf. “Due to the new user interface, some of my colleagues  were understandably very cautious. After all, you don’t want to make any mistakes with a new machine. However, these concerns were quickly dispelled, as operation is intuitive. The F20i scores points here with helpful graphic solutions that make our work easier. In addition, many machine parameters have been stored for troubleshooting, which saves an enormous amount of time. Thanks to the integrated help texts, we have even learned a few new things during our work.”

All-rounder for high demands

With an output of up to 475,000 tablets per hour and Pmax® technology, the F20i is the all-rounder of the new i Series. It is suitable for a wide range of products and batch sizes, allowing maximum flexibility in production. A decisive advantage of the entire series: Components from existing systems can continue to be used, as the new i Series is system-compatible across all generations. In fact, all process-based assemblies are identical or similar to those of the classic i Series. The models also have all of the technical requirements for a modern production environment such as the Internet of Things (IoT) and can be monitored via an app from any location.

For Dr. Willmar Schwabe, two aspects in particular ultimately tipped the scales in favor of the F20i: “Plant extracts are usually more demanding to process than chemically synthesized medicinal substances. The F20i enables us to achieve an optimum for both target variables: high output with consistently superior quality. We are therefore also considering further increasing production with another F20i,” concludes Kopf.

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