From June 10 to 14, 2024, ACHEMA took place at the Frankfurt Exhibition Center, featuring 2,842 exhibitors from 56 nations who showcased the latest equipment and innovative processes for the chemical, pharmaceutical, and food industries. A total of 106,001 participants from 141 countries attended the trade fair to learn about the latest developments and trends in these industries.
Together to the Next
At ACHEMA 2024, Fette Compacting presented new ways to shape the future of tablet production together with users: from in-depth process understanding and formulation development in the laboratory to Continuous Manufacturing.
In the pharmaceutical and nutraceutical industry, mechanical engineering traditionally focuses on the commercial production phase. However, changing product portfolios, shorter times-to-market, and high pressure on costs often require earlier and more intensive collaboration in the product life cycle. This is why Fette Compacting supports users right from the research and development stage.
„As a tableting specialist, we have embarked on a journey to become a process partner for our customers for the entire powder formulation and tablet production process,” explains CEO Joachim Dittrich. “We support manufacturers in all processes from research and development through to production. To this end, we will be presenting a comprehensive range of services and consulting on the first floor of our stand, ranging from process development and laboratory analysis to continuous direct compression.“
Bundled expertise with QED
With its process development and laboratory analysis services, Fette Compacting aims to deliver the ideal process and the most efficient machine configuration for specific products. This covers the entire product life cycle and includes all processes, from continuous manufacturing to batch-to-batch. To this end, extensive knowledge has been accumulated in a database Qualified Expert Database, QED), which is constantly being enriched with new data. Visitors to the Fette Compacting stand will be able to gain an insight into the database for the first time.
Emulating processes close to production
The QED knowledge base allows processes to be developed close to production. Accordingly, experts from Fette Compacting presented new solutions at ACHEMA that enable users to simulate processes and analyze critical quality characteristics of formulations. This interplay of material analysis, process knowledge (QED), and test equipment (emulators) paves the way for developing optimal, material-friendly processes together with customers.
Laboratory services via Quality by Design
The process emulations are followed by numerous laboratory services and devices for material and tablet characterization with Lab Solutions, which provide a deep understanding of the product and process. Only with this knowledge is a quality-by-design approach possible from the development phase through to ongoing production. The focus is on critical material attributes (CMAs), which have a significant influence on product quality. By linking the CMAs with the critical process parameters (CPPs), Lab Solutions enables users to develop more robust processes and ensure consistently high quality. The associated system with powder compression analysis units from the F Lab Series, along with other components, was presented in more detail by Fette Compacting at ACHEMA 2024.
Turnkey system for continuous tableting
In terms of production technologies, the continuous manufacturing process is a particular highlight of the trade fair. Fette Compacting has reinterpreted continuous direct compression from the ground up and developed the FE CPS (Continuous Processing System) to market maturity. Compared to granulation-based production, several steps are now eliminated, which reduces space requirements and energy consumption while making the process leaner overall. The sensors for quality control have been fully integrated into the system and its controls. In this embedded process analysis technology (ePAT), sophisticated sensors continuously monitor the most important quality features. With FE CPS and ePAT, visitors to ACHEMA 2024 experienced a complete turnkey solution for tablet production.
Next-generation tableting
Visitors to the trade fair were provided with comprehensive and in-depth insights into tablet presses and tableting tools. At ACHEMA 2024, all three models of the new i Series were showcased together at one location: the F10i, F20i, and F30i. These models are based on a common technology platform, are cross-generational system compatible, and are suitable for modern digital production environments. Fette Compacting also presented its complete solutions for tool and spare parts management at its own stand. This included the modular EasyCare handling and maintenance system for tablet tools.
