Issue link: https://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/1163217
12 September 2019 Tablets & Capsules prone to capping and the formulation doesn't cause film- ing problems on the die bore, then selecting an EU-style tip clearance can reduce flashing and provide better tool alignment, which can reduce excessive edge wear and extend the life of the punch tips. Cup depth and land. As previously mentioned, the punch cup is the cavity at the end of the punch tip that forms the shape of the tablet face. Land is the flat surface around the perimeter of the punch tip between the cup and the tip's outside diameter. The dimensions of the punch cup and land not only determine the tablet shape but can also greatly influence tooling performance and tablet quality. Often, simply increasing the land can increase tool life and decrease flashing. Nutraceuticals. Nutraceuticals are typically more dif- ficult to compress than pharmaceuticals. A pharmaceuti- cal product may have only 3 to 4 active ingredients and 4 to 5 excipients and/or fillers to aid in compression. Nutraceutical formulas, such as multivitamins, on the other hand, may have 25 or more active ingredients or contain more natural ingredients that don't respond well to compression. These formulas may have particle varia- tions as well as flow issues that then dispose the tablets to capping or lamination. This, combined with pressure from the nutrition industry for more natural products, limits the amount and number of excipients or fillers added to the formulas to aid in compression. I recommend investing in a setting tool that's designed to reduce setup time and achieve more consistent align- ment. This tool can add a little to upfront costs, but over time, it can save thousands more by reducing tooling wear and preventing critical fracture from tools being repeatedly misaligned and developing excessive cross-edge wear. Make time to discuss this issue with your tooling vendor and see what setting tools the company has to offer. Tablet and tooling design Making subtle tablet design changes can optimize pro- duction and increase tooling life. These changes can be so slight as to be unnoticeable to the eye, preserving a tablet's look and marketability and maintaining proper weight and thickness. Clearance values. The clearance between the upper punch tip and the die bore affects both air release and the amount of flashing. The Tableting Specification Manual (TSM) [1] specifies clearance values that are optimized for air release, which can increase tablet integrity during high-speed production but may allow more flashing than desirable. In most cases, the TSM clearance values also prevent tip binding. On the other hand, the European Union (EU) stan- dard—International Organization for Standardization (ISO) 18084.2011 [2]—uses the tighter ISO F7 clearance values, which are based on the tablet's length for oblong tablets and diameter for round tablets. If your tablet isn't