Issue link: https://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/1331851
Tablets & Capsules January/February 2021 32C Ung: We believe that working from home will con- tinue into 2021 and beyond. COVID-19 has already accelerated the telecommute trend. Like many compa- nies, we've invested in IT equipment and infrastructure to support our team. On the product development front, we are continuing to invest in vegetarian softgels and for- mulas that will allow us to create more complex products. From a manufacturing perspective, we believe that com- panies will continue to invest in automation, not only for increased output and efficiency but also to provide safe distancing for employees. Peirce: We have always communicated our needs with our production facilities but are moving forward with a more structured system. We also identified additional suppliers to meet increased demand, began requiring quarterly forecasts from our customers to ensure product availability, and continue to provide forecasts to vendors and contract manufacturing plants. This will continue beyond the pandemic as we plan for additional growth and want to best serve our future and current customers. In light of COVID-19, consumers have increased their consumption of dietary supplements. What effects have you seen because of this increased demand? Dudziak and Myers: We have experienced a signif- icant increase in sales to our customers in the nutraceu- tical industry as consumers have dramatically increased consumption of dietary supplements. In fact, many of our customers report that they have experienced difficulty keeping up with demand at times. As a result, we have not only seen an increase in new customers but have had many of our loyal customers purchase several additional machines in the past year, with our Capsylon line of cap- sule filling machines leading the way. Bunting: The increase in dietary supplement consump- tion has meant that manufacturers had to ensure that pro- duction was efficient and effective to meet the demand. Tooling is an important part of this because nutraceutical formulations are known for their coarse granules, which lead to wear and degradation of the tooling, which in turn cause many tableting problems and delays. Choosing and testing tooling materials and wear-resistant coatings will enhance nutraceutical production, increase volume, and reduce downtime due to production issues. Ung: The biggest effects the increase in demand for dietary supplement products had on our company were on the supply chain and employee staffing. For decades, business systems have been driving towards lean oper- ations and less inventory, so when China closed down at the beginning of 2020, the supply chain impact was felt almost immediately. Companies that did have safety stock, forecasts, and solid relationships fared better in securing materials. Around March 2020, states started shutting down, and that severely affected employee staffing. As schools closed, childcare became an imme- diate issue impacting attendance. Although there were large unemployment numbers, recruiting new employees became a challenge. indeed still are, committed to doing everything within our power to support our customers' businesses through the pandemic. Fortunately, we have a diverse network of suppliers and high levels of stock at our manufacturing facility, so business was not halted. We continue to mon- itor the situation in order to implement necessary actions if required to maintain continuity of supply and ensure distribution runs smoothly in 2021. Eugene Ung, chief executive officer, Best Formu- lations: Our focus from the start was to ensure that our employees had a safe work environment and personal protective equipment. There was a heightened level of communication across the board with our employees, customers, and business partners. We tried to proactively communicate as best we could what we were doing in order to manage expectations and address any concerns as they came up. Steve Peirce, president, Ribus: We were fortunate as a company to have a steady increase in demand but unfortunate to have limited production capacity. We made the strategic investment to purchase a manufactur- ing facility for one line of products as well as additional production equipment for a second line of products to ensure we have enough inventory to satisfy our custom- ers' current and future needs. Kevin Dudziak and Thomas Myers, business devel- opment managers, Syntegon Pharma Technology: Like many industries, we had to adapt to a virtual model for most customer-facing functions. Though our service group continues to support customers with on-site ser- vice, our sales and business development personnel have migrated to the virtual environment for nearly all cus- tomer calls. In addition, we have increased our use of internet-based meeting platforms for activities such as trade shows and technical seminars. Will any changes your company made in 2020 continue into 2021 and possibly beyond? Bunting: The biggest change was the adoption of online learning, which we will to continue to invest in during 2021 and beyond. One-to-one training, classroom learning, and seminars were no longer possible due to the requirement for social distancing and travel difficul- ties. Nutraceutical tablet manufacturers had to look for other methods to ensure staff were proficient in their job, whether that was training an operator on the production line or ensuring that a manager was up to date on the lat- est tableting advancements. I think this online learning trend will continue to be important even after the pan- demic because it is so flexible and adaptable. Dudziak and Myers: We will continue to hold our sales and business meetings virtually well into 2021. We have certainly become more adept at conducting virtual meetings and seminars over the past year, so I assume we will continue to embrace this operating model even when businesses begin to open up again. Of course, we hope to begin visiting our customers in-person again later in the year.