In the Spotlight March 2010

Money, time, and raw materials are increasingly precious to pharmaceutical manufacturers. Avoiding waste is becoming paramount for plant personnel and managers alike. Consequently, firms are seeking ways to improve the efficiency of their operations. This month's products are designed to shorten process time, minimize scrap, and enable companies to respond quickly to new demands. RonI's ergonomic lifter facilitates the handling of bulk ingredients. A unit from L.B. Bohle coats tablets without wasting solution. Deacom's updated software helps users retrieve important information quickly.

Tablet coater operates with high efficiency

L.B. Bohle's (Warminster, PA) Bohle Tablet Coater (BTC) was designed for efficient operation. The machine's coating pan is longer and has a smaller diameter than coating pans in conventional units. This design results in a thin tablet bed that creates less static force than a typical coater bed. The BTC unit's tablet bed is designed to eliminate slow-moving zones and reduces tablet twinning. The large bed surface area allows the machine to have more spray guns than common coaters do.

Bohle Tablet Coater L.B. Bohle www.lbbohle.com

Unlike traditional devices, the BTC brings air directly into the tablet bed from below. All airflow in the coater is through the bed in the direction of spray. Almost no air movement occurs in the spray zone, thus solution is not dried before it reaches the tablets. This design allows the BTC machine to operate with 96–98% efficiency, says Martin Hack, L.B. Bohle's vice-president and general manager.

Lifter accommodates various production needs

The Wash Down Series ergonomic lifter from RonI (Charlotte, NC) is designed for cleanroom applications. The lifter's base is made of electropolished stainless steel, and its lift mast profile and lift carriage are hard anodized aluminum. This construction allows the lifter to withstand washdown using cleaning solutions and hose or power washing. The lifter safely handles cytotoxic products, and operators can clean it for other cleanroom or noncleanroom applications. A slip clutch eliminates kickback on the lifter's downward stroke, thus preventing damage to products and equipment.

Wash Down Series ergonomic lifter RonI www.liftoflex.com

Software improves data retrieval

The updated version of Deacom's (Wayne, PA) enterprise resource-planning (ERP) software contains features designed to help users retrieve information quickly. The software's menu is now presented as a collapsible menu tree to make room for a section of frequently used documents. Users can grab items from the menu and move them to this new section. This feature makes the software easier to navigate and enables users to configure the system according to their own preferences.

Deacom software Deacom www.deacom.net

The new version of the ERP also allows users to access dashboard reports more easily. These reports can be set up to retrieve data automatically from a particular week, month, or year, according to the user's requirements.

The company also improved the software's forecasting algorithms. Users can create forecasts based on historical data or data provided by customers. Operators also can adjust a forecast to reflect anticipated changes in operations.