Equipment · Mārupe, Latvia · European Union
Your supplement is made on pharmaceutical machinery
IMA, Uhlmann and Cremer. Five machines, each named here with its model and the maker’s own published data, so you can check every one before you talk to us.
from 4 weeks
from order and brief to shipment
100,000
capsules per hour — IMA PRACTICA 100
250 / min
blisters, rated maximum — Uhlmann B 1240
55 / min
bottles counted and filled — Cremer CF 1220
Our facility
Equipment we use to manufacture and pack your product
Pharma Manufacture manufactures and packs food supplements at a GMP, ISO 22000 and HACCP certified facility in Mārupe, Latvia, European Union, which is also registered with the US FDA. Tablets are compressed on an IMA PREXIMA 300 rotary tablet press, capsules are filled on an IMA PRACTICA 100 capsule filling machine, blisters run on an Uhlmann B 1240, bottles are counted and filled on a Cremer CF 1220, and finished packs are closed on an IMA IC 150 cartoning machine. Tablets, hard capsules, softgels and powders are all produced on site.
When you hand your brand to a contract manufacturer, you are handing it to their machines. So here are ours, by name, with the figures their makers publish. All five are built by IMA in Italy, Uhlmann in Germany and Cremer in the Netherlands.
A tablet or capsule is made, blistered or bottled and boxed without ever leaving the site. Check the figures below against your product, then tell us your format and we will confirm it.
The line at a glance
The machines your product passes through
| Machine | Built by | What it does | Rated output or format range |
|---|---|---|---|
| IMA PREXIMA 300 | IMA Active, Italy | Tablet compression | Up to 396,000 tablets/hour |
| IMA PRACTICA 100 | IMA Active, Italy | Hard capsule filling | 100,000 capsules/hour |
| Uhlmann B 1240 | Uhlmann Pac-Systeme, Germany | Blister forming, filling, sealing | Up to 250 blisters/minute |
| Cremer CF 1220 | Cremer, Netherlands — Uhlmann Group | Counting and bottle filling | 55 bottles/minute |
| IMA IC 150 | IMA, Italy | Cartoning | Cartons 28 × 12 × 55 to 92 × 60 × 190 mm |
These are the machines a tablet or capsule passes through, from powder to boxed pack. Around them the plant runs a sieving and mixing workshop, a warehouse complex and its own laboratory, where raw materials and every finished batch are tested before anything ships.
Tableting
IMA PREXIMA 300 rotary tablet press
The PREXIMA 300 is a single-sided rotary tablet press from IMA Active, the solid dose division of I.M.A. Industria Macchine Automatiche S.p.A. in Ozzano dell’Emilia near Bologna, Italy. It compresses powder or granulate into finished tablets, applying pre-compression before main compression, which is what keeps tablet weight and hardness consistent across a run.
The press is built for tablets in the broad sense, not only plain round ones: effervescent tablets, minitablets, orodispersible tablets and matrix tablets are all within its range. One design detail matters especially when the product is a food supplement: the upper punch lubrication is designed so that no oil drips into the product zone. The machine also runs below 75 dB.
Output depends on tablet size and tooling
A tablet press does not have one single speed. Output is set by the combination of turret and tooling, not by tablet diameter alone, which is why the figures below do not fall in a straight line. These are the manufacturer’s rated outputs for the PREXIMA 300:
| Tablet diameter | Tooling | Rated output |
|---|---|---|
| 25 mm | EU-D / TSM-D / EU-441 | 194,400 tablets/hour |
| 19 mm | EU-B / TSM-B segments | 302,400 tablets/hour |
| 16 mm | EU / TSM-B, B dies | 237,600 tablets/hour |
| 13 mm | EU / TSM-B, BB dies | 295,200 tablets/hour |
| 11 mm | EU / TSM-B, BBS dies | 295,200 tablets/hour |
| 11 mm | IMA 8 | 396,000 tablets/hour |
IMA PREXIMA 300 technical data
| Specification | Value |
|---|---|
| Manufacturer | IMA Active, a division of I.M.A. Industria Macchine Automatiche S.p.A., Ozzano dell’Emilia (Bologna), Italy |
| Type | Single-sided rotary tablet press |
| Application | Tablets, effervescent tablets, minitablets, orodispersible tablets, matrix tablets |
| Press stations | 27 to 55, depending on turret and tooling |
| Rated output | 194,400 to 396,000 tablets per hour, depending on tablet size and tooling |
| Maximum tablet diameter | 25 mm as standard |
| Product contact | No oil dripping from the upper punches into the product zone |
| Control | MAX corporate HMI |
| Noise level | Below 75 dB |
Encapsulation
IMA PRACTICA 100 capsule filling machine
The PRACTICA 100 is a capsule filling machine from IMA Active, dosing 12 capsules per cycle at a rated output of 100,000 capsules per hour. IMA describes its single product dosing system as filling powders, granules or pellets with top-level accuracy.
The size range is the practical point for a brand owner: the machine covers capsule sizes 5 through 00EL, plus 000 and DB. That spans everything from a small size 5 capsule for a concentrated active up to the largest formats used for bulky botanical powders, so the capsule can be chosen to suit the formula rather than the formula being cut down to suit the capsule.
IMA PRACTICA 100 technical data
| Specification | Value |
|---|---|
| Manufacturer | IMA Active, a division of I.M.A. Industria Macchine Automatiche S.p.A., Italy |
| Type | Capsule filling machine (encapsulator) |
| Application | Filling hard capsules with powders, granules or pellets |
| Rated output | 100,000 capsules per hour |
| Capsules per cycle | 12 |
| Capsule sizes | 5 to 00EL, plus 000 and DB |
| Dosing | Single product dosing system |
| Control | MAX corporate HMI |
| Machine weight | 1,900 kg |
Blister packaging
Uhlmann B 1240 blister machine
The B 1240 is Uhlmann’s compact blister machine for solid dose products. According to the manufacturer it is the most frequently installed blister machine in the world, with more than 1,300 units in the field.
It forms the blister pocket from film, fills it, seals it with lid foil and punches out the finished blister in one continuous pass. The main drive is a servomotor with servo-driven indexing stations, and Uhlmann states the frame is built to current GMP requirements: cantilevered work stations, a one-piece base frame, smooth stainless steel surfaces without hidden corners, drive components separated from the functional decks, and toothed belts instead of chains.
Uhlmann B 1240 technical data
| Specification | Value |
|---|---|
| Manufacturer | Uhlmann Pac-Systeme GmbH & Co. KG, Laupheim, Germany |
| Application | Blister packing of tablets, capsules and softgels |
| Rated output | Up to 250 blisters per minute |
| Sealing principle | Platen sealing — uniform sealing pressure at low sealing temperature |
| Format area | Up to 128 × 156.5 mm |
| Forming depth | Up to 24 mm |
| Forming films | PVC, PVC/PVDC, PVC/Aclar laminate, aluminium forming foil (alu-alu), PP, PET |
| Lid foil | Heat-sealable materials based on aluminium and paper |
| Control | TouchControl HMI, password-protected operator login, production and parameter audit trails |
| Machine footprint | Approximately 3,000 × 955 mm, height approximately 1,500 mm |
Counting and bottle filling
Cremer CF 1220 counting and bottle filling system
The CF 1220 is a 12-channel linear tablet and capsule counter with an integrated indexing bottle conveyor, built by Cremer Speciaalmachines B.V. in Lisse, the Netherlands. Cremer is a member of the Uhlmann Group, the same group as our blister line, so counting and blistering come from one engineering family.
Counting is where margin quietly leaks on bottled products: one tablet too few in every bottle is a complaint, one too many is stock given away across the whole batch. Three vibratory plates separate the product, a 12-channel infrared detection unit counts it, and the manufacturer states 100% counting accuracy. The system also identifies broken tablets and unusual shapes and rejects them instead of bottling them.
Cremer CF 1220 technical data
| Specification | Value |
|---|---|
| Manufacturer | Cremer Speciaalmachines B.V., Heereweg 5A, Lisse, the Netherlands — member of the Uhlmann Group |
| Type | 12-channel linear tablet and capsule counter with indexing bottle conveyor |
| Application | Counting and bottling of tablets, hard capsules and softgels |
| Rated output | 55 bottles per minute |
| Counting speed | Up to 5,500 products per minute |
| Counting accuracy | 100%, per the manufacturer |
| Detection | 12-channel infrared detection unit |
| Product separation | Three vibratory plates |
| Reject function | Identifies and rejects broken tablets and unusual shapes |
| Bottle height | 40 to 200 mm |
| Bottle diameter | 20 to 110 mm |
| Bottle material | Glass or plastic |
Cartoning
IMA IC 150 cartoning machine
The IC 150 is an intermittent motion cartoning machine from IMA. It erects the carton, loads the product and closes it, so blisters, bottles or jars leave the site as a finished retail pack rather than as loose product.
For a brand owner the useful figure is the carton format range, because it decides whether your box design can be produced at all. The machine handles cartons from 28 × 12 × 55 mm up to 92 × 60 × 190 mm, and closes them either with straight or reverse tuck-in flaps or with hot melt glue.
IMA IC 150 technical data
| Specification | Value |
|---|---|
| Manufacturer | IMA, Italy |
| Type | Intermittent motion cartoning machine |
| Application | Cartoning of blisters, bottles, jars and other finished packs |
| Minimum carton size | 28 × 12 × 55 mm (width × height × length) |
| Maximum carton size | 92 × 60 × 190 mm (width × height × length) |
| Carton closing | Straight or reverse tuck-in, or hot melt glued flaps |
| Carton type | Pre-glued cartons |
Who builds our machines
The machine brands the pharmaceutical industry runs on
IMA, Uhlmann and Cremer are the names the leaders of this industry buy from. They build for pharmaceutical production, where a miscount or a weak seal means a recalled batch. A food supplement is legally a food, and much of the sector is equipped accordingly. Ours is equipped like a pharmaceutical plant.
Here is the practical difference between this class of machine and budget equipment, and it has nothing to do with where a machine was assembled. A maker at this level publishes the specification, so anyone can check it. It supports the machine for decades — Uhlmann runs a spare parts, format tooling, maintenance and training programme behind the B 1240. And it sells the format parts, so your pack format can change in five years without replacing the line.
That gives you a test you can apply to any supplier, not just to us. Ask for the model number of the press. If it can be looked up on the maker’s own site, you know exactly what your product will be made on. If it can’t, you don’t — and that is the whole difference, stated without adjectives.
Process
From raw material to finished pack
- Raw materials are weighed, sieved and blended into a homogeneous powder or granulate.
- The blend is either compressed into tablets on the PREXIMA 300, which fills each die, applies pre-compression and main compression and ejects the finished tablet, or dosed into hard capsules on the PRACTICA 100.
- Tablets and capsules are checked for weight and appearance, and each batch is laboratory tested and shipped with a Certificate of Analysis.
- If the product is blistered: on the B 1240, forming film is warmed in the heating station and the forming station shapes the blister pockets.
- Product is fed into the pockets, the lid foil is sealed on by platen sealing, the blister is cooled so it does not curl, and the punching station cuts out the finished blisters.
- Products going into bottles instead are counted on the CF 1220, which separates them over three vibratory plates, counts them by infrared and fills the bottle.
- The IC 150 erects the carton, loads the blisters or bottles and closes it, and the finished retail packs go to the warehouse for despatch.
For your product
What this equipment means for your product
The whole route under one roof
Pressing, encapsulation, blistering, bottle counting and cartoning all happen on site, so one supplier is responsible from raw material to the boxed retail pack.
Real output, stated honestly
The press is rated from 194,400 tablets per hour for 25 mm tablets up to 396,000 for 11 mm tablets with IMA 8 tooling, and the capsule filler at 100,000 capsules per hour. Your actual figure depends on your format.
Capsule sizes 5 to 00EL
Sizes 5 through 00EL, plus 000 and DB, so there is a capsule for a concentrated active and one for a bulky botanical powder. Powders, granules and pellets can all be filled.
Barrier options for sensitive formulas
Aluminium-aluminium (alu-alu) forming foil is available for moisture and light sensitive formulas, alongside standard PVC and the higher-barrier PVC/PVDC and PVC/Aclar laminates.
Room for larger dose forms
A tablet diameter of up to 25 mm and a blister forming depth of up to 24 mm cover effervescent formats, large capsules and softgels.
Traceability at machine level
Password-protected operator login, plus production and parameter audit trails on the blister line, supports batch traceability within our GMP, ISO and HACCP quality system.
Accuracy in dosing and compression
Pre-compression before main compression holds tablet weight and hardness steady across a run, and every batch is laboratory tested and shipped with a Certificate of Analysis.
Named, published, checkable
Every machine on this page is named with its maker and its published data, so you can check each one on the manufacturer’s own site. They run at a GMP, ISO and HACCP certified plant in Latvia, so your product is made in the EU on European machinery, not merely packed here.
Quick format changeover
The B 1240 stores format data so the line is set up again quickly after a change, and its forming station needs no hand tools to change format. With pressing, filling, blistering, counting and cartoning under one roof, the waiting that normally sits between separate suppliers disappears.
Photo gallery
Blister packed food supplements
Other formats
Other packaging formats we offer
We also pack into PET and glass bottles, jars, tubes for effervescent tablets, doypacks and zip-lock bags.
FAQ
Common questions about our equipment
What equipment do you use to manufacture food supplements?
Five machines at Pharma Manufacture cover the route from powder to boxed pack. Tablets are compressed on an IMA PREXIMA 300 rotary tablet press, capsules are filled on an IMA PRACTICA 100 capsule filling machine, blisters run on an Uhlmann B 1240, bottles are counted and filled on a Cremer CF 1220, and cartons are erected, loaded and closed on an IMA IC 150 cartoning machine. All five are installed at Pharma Manufacture’s GMP, ISO 22000 and HACCP certified facility in Mārupe, Latvia, European Union, registered with the US FDA. Scans of the certificates are on our manufacturing page.
How many tablets per hour can you produce?
Between 194,400 and 396,000 tablets per hour, depending on tablet size and tooling. On the IMA PREXIMA 300 at Pharma Manufacture that is 194,400 per hour for 25 mm tablets, 302,400 for 19 mm, 237,600 for 16 mm, 295,200 for 13 and 11 mm, and 396,000 for 11 mm with IMA 8 tooling. Tell us your tablet size and we will give you the real figure for your product.
How many capsules per hour can you fill?
The IMA PRACTICA 100 at Pharma Manufacture is rated at 100,000 capsules per hour, dosing 12 capsules per cycle. It fills hard capsules with powders, granules or pellets.
How accurate is the dosing, compression and counting?
The IMA PREXIMA 300 at Pharma Manufacture applies pre-compression before main compression, which is what holds tablet weight and hardness steady across a run. IMA describes the PRACTICA 100 single product dosing system as filling powders, granules or pellets with top-level accuracy, and Cremer states 100% counting accuracy for the CF 1220, where broken tablets and unusual shapes are rejected rather than bottled. Every batch is laboratory tested and shipped with a Certificate of Analysis.
Which capsule sizes can you fill?
Hard capsule sizes 5 through 00EL, plus 000 and DB, on the IMA PRACTICA 100 capsule filler at Pharma Manufacture. Tell us your formula and fill weight and we will confirm the capsule size and type.
Which tablet types can you compress?
The IMA PREXIMA 300 at Pharma Manufacture compresses standard tablets, effervescent tablets, minitablets, orodispersible tablets and matrix tablets. Maximum tablet diameter is 25 mm as standard, which covers effervescent formats as well as ordinary round tablets.
Can you blister pack moisture sensitive food supplements?
Yes. In addition to standard PVC film, the Uhlmann B 1240 at Pharma Manufacture runs higher-barrier PVC/PVDC and PVC/Aclar laminates and aluminium forming foil for aluminium-aluminium (alu-alu) blisters, which give the highest moisture and light protection. Platen sealing at a low sealing temperature is particularly suited to alu-alu applications.
How accurately are tablets counted into bottles?
Bottling at Pharma Manufacture runs on a Cremer CF 1220, a 12-channel linear counter with infrared detection and three vibratory plates for product separation. The manufacturer states 100% counting accuracy, and the system rejects broken tablets and unusual shapes rather than bottling them. Rated output is 55 bottles per minute, counting up to 5,500 products per minute.
Which bottle sizes can you fill?
Glass or plastic bottles from 40 to 200 mm in height and 20 to 110 mm in diameter, on the Cremer CF 1220. Send us your bottle drawing or a sample and we will confirm it before you commit to the packaging. Bottle sizes in millilitres are listed on our packing solutions page.
What carton sizes can you pack into?
The IMA IC 150 cartoner at Pharma Manufacture handles cartons from 28 × 12 × 55 mm up to 92 × 60 × 190 mm, closed with straight or reverse tuck-in flaps or with hot melt glue. Send us your carton drawing and we will confirm it before artwork goes to print.
Do you offer packaging formats other than blister and carton?
Yes. We also pack into PET and glass bottles, jars for powders, plastic tubes with moisture-absorbing caps for effervescent tablets, doypacks and zip-lock bags. All formats are listed on our packing solutions page.
How long does production take, from order to shipment?
From four weeks, and about eight for a typical run, counted from the moment Pharma Manufacture has both your order and your technical brief. That window covers the production run and the packing; raw material availability and how quickly artwork is approved are the two things that usually move it. Tell us your product and format and we will confirm the schedule for your case.
Do you produce softgels in house?
Yes. Softgel capsules are produced at Pharma Manufacture rather than subcontracted, alongside tablets, hard capsules and powders. Softgels are also blister packed on the Uhlmann B 1240 on the same line as tablets and hard capsules.
What happens between products — how is the line cleaned?
Full cleaning and disinfection is carried out between products as part of our HACCP food safety system, and the equipment is designed for it: the blister line has smooth stainless steel surfaces with no hidden corners and drive components separated from the functional decks, and the tablet press is built so no oil reaches the product zone.
Do you print the batch number and expiry date on the pack?
Yes. Batch number and expiry date are printed on the blister and on the carton, which is what makes a finished pack traceable back to its production batch and its Certificate of Analysis.
What is the minimum order quantity?
From 150 units for a ready-made formula in tablets or capsules. Above that the figure moves with the dose form and the packaging: a blistered tablet and a counted bottle do not have the same minimum, and a single-serve powder sachet needs a far larger run because the laminate roll is printed in one go. Send us your product, format and target quantity and we will confirm the exact minimum order and lead time. We reply within 24 hours.
Check whether your product fits our line
Tell us the dose form, the tablet or capsule size and the carton you have in mind, and we will confirm the format, the real output for your product, the minimum order and the lead time.
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