Consumer emphasis on self-treatment and preventive medicine, combined with FDA regulations, has propelled steady dietary supplement market growth. According to Transparency Market Research of Albany, NY, the global nutraceutical market will grow 6.3% annually, reaching $204.8 billion by 2017.
 
Makers of dietary supplements and nutraceuticals are moving to new packaging formats and manufacturing processes favored by the food and pharmaceutical industries. Package formats—including flexible and shaped flexible pouches, unitized packets, stick packs and blisters—are popular alternatives for packaging solid, liquid and powder product forms of vitamin and mineral dietary supplements. They can also be used for packaging amino acids, herbs, botanicals and plant extracts, as well as functional foods and additives. The new formats are increasing brand differentiation, lengthening product shelf life and enhancing portability and consumer convenience.
 
Pharma EXPO (Nov. 2-5; McCormick Place, Chicago, IL) will display a variety of solutions for maximizing product and package production. The show, owned and produced by PMMI, The Association for Packaging and Processing Technologies, and the International Society for Pharmaceutical Engineering (ISPE), will be co-located with PACK EXPO International, giving attendees access to both show floors. There they will encounter a wide range of advanced machinery and lines for forming, filling, and lidding different package formats, shapes and sizes with high efficiency and less waste.
 
‘Nomad’ Packs for Consumers Who Keep Moving
Single-use packaging containing pre-measured amounts of product offer portability and convenience for on-the-move consumers. T.H.E.M. (www.them.net; Booth #S-4107), a nutraceuticals contract packager and seller of packaging machines, will feature Snap ’n Dispense packaging from Snapsil Corp, manufactured and filled on a dedicated thermoform-fill-seal machine from Multivac, Inc. (www.multivac.com; Booth #N-4928, W-926).
 
Users pour or squeeze out doses of granules and liquids in precise volumes from 1 ml to 80 ml and 1 gram to 60 grams from portion packs renderable in different shapes. The Snapsil opening feature snaps open with an audible sound and remains intact after use, providing assurance the package has been opened only once. The Multivac machine runs a variety of stock sizes and shapes or customers can order tooling for custom designs in tailoring packaging to their markets, said Tom Martin, vice president, new business development, for T.H.E.M.
 
“People want convenience. You can carry your liquid vitamins, healthy additives to water, powdered aspirin, or cough syrup in premeasured doses as you go. The Snapsil has a very durable opening feature so you can put it in a gym bag or purse and not worry about it snapping open. We are using the Multivac machine at our plant for contract packaging. As customers’ volumes increase, they can then buy the machine and bring it in-house,” Mr. Martin said.
 
Compact and easy-to-use stick packs are a popular choice for granular powders and liquids. T.H.E.M. will show the Sanko FC1000L/S, featuring volumetric- and auger-fill options for stick pack powder filling, and the Sanko FC1000LP for filling liquid nutraceuticals in stick packaging.
 
“Liquid nutraceutical ingestibles, such as vitamin mixes in liquid form, are really growing in popularity right now. We are doing more and more liquid stick packs than we have in the past,” said Mr. Martin.
 
The Sanko FC1000LP features a new monopump for enhanced accuracy and speed for filling liquids in a range of viscosities, from water-like to thick-and-chunky.
 
For companies moving to high-volume production of sachets, packets, and three- and four-side-sealed pouches, the Sanko FR3 continuous-motion, high-speed pouching line for liquids will debut at Pharma EXPO. The machine produces up to 600 packs per minute with a two-lane option, and customers can boost output with a T.H.E.M-supplied, low-drag-coefficient, high-speed film. Easy to set up and change over, the FR3 can run a liquid fill from 1 ml up to 16 oz without change parts.
 
Stand Up for Flexible Pouching
Flexible packaging can provide advantages over rigid containers in many packaging applications. Standup pouch formats and pouches with integrated fitments or spouts promote ease-of-use and shelf appeal for nutraceutical liquid supplements, powdered drink mixes and functional foods.
 
PPi Technologies Group (www.ppitechnologies.com; Booth #S-3582), a leading supplier and integrator of standup pouch machinery, will introduce the new SN Junior model FBM S1 horizontal form-fill seal-machine for roll stock fabrication of standup and three-side-seal pouches with or without zippers. A small-footprint machine with a double-side-seal system, the SN Junior can handle three filling systems: scales for dry products, pumps for liquids and auger-filling for powders.
 
“The need for pouch machinery to have the capability to package with all three filling technologies is increasing daily. The 'wellness' market segment offers products ranging from pills to tonics to powders, so a machine capable of handling various pouch sizes and filling needs helps them offer all three product formulations at minimum costs,” said F. Charles Murray, PPi Technologies CEO.
 
A duplex PSG LEE fill-seal machine for packaging dried fruit in standup and zipper pouches includes a patented LamiPurge gas-flush system that uses half the nitrogen of other systems. Operators accomplish PLC screen-driven toolless changeover in five minutes.
 
“The standup pouch with spout is a very cost competitive product to a bottle, jar or box, and offers multiple benefits. The consumer can see or feel the product; the package does not break easily and offers a larger print area for market branding. Pouches weigh less than bottles, jars or boxes. From an environmental point of view they can be incinerated and the energy recovered with no need for landfills. An NFC (near field communication) chip can be easily added to provide both the brand manager and the consumer all types of information,” Mr. Murray said.
 
PPi Technologies will display a high-speed line for filling a beverage concentrate into pouches with spout adaptors, which are then clicked into a dispensing system for product distribution. Premade, shaped 20 ounce-pouches made on a NISHIBE pouch making machine are fill-sealed on an SN Junior machine using a RINCO Ultrasonic sealing system. After a Xavis X-ray machine inspects for pouch integrity, pouches pass to a NOW checkweigher. Approved pouches are packed on a Radpak case former and shipper machine.
 
Delivering Functional Foods
Flexible packaging films and multi-layer structures from Glenroy, Inc. (www.glenroy.com; Booth #S-4017) are used in the packaging of a broad spectrum of liquids, powders and functional foods. The converter of extrusion-coated and laminated roll stock and pre-made packaging custom-develops materials. Glenroy’s products are designed for peel- and tear-ability, strength and puncture properties, and barrier resistance to oxygen, moisture and light.
 
“Customized fitment pouches are now allowing products that were previously limited to rigid packaging to be converted over to flexible packaging, which provides many key benefits, including increased graphics surface area, better shelf appeal, convenience, transportation savings and environmental advantages,” said Glenroy Marketing Manager Amanda Dahlby. “Also, we have seen significant growth in stick packs for nutritional drink mixes as well as the use of stand-up pouches for nutritional foods such as chia seed and flax seed.”
 
Solid Dose Blisters for Mid-Sized Batches
Solid dose blister packaging machines designed for medium-sized batch production offer efficiencies for nutraceutical companies ramping up volume and contract packagers running several different products. These scaled-down machines feature smaller, lighter-weight format parts, upgraded electronics and quick change over systems for new blister configurations. They also offer attractive pricing and lower cost of ownership and operation compared to higher-volume machines.
 
Uhlmann Packaging Systems (www.uhlmann-usa.com; booth # W-651) will showcase the Blister Express Center 500, which integrates the Uhlmann B1440i blister machine and Uhlmann C2305 intermittent motion cartoner for assembly-line processing of 500 blisters and 300 cartons per minute. The BEC 500 produces a range of package shapes, using rotary or platen sealing, and includes the SmartControl operating system, which offers step-by-step guidance through format changeover.
 
“The BEC 500 is ideally suited for realizing very high efficiencies and yields when running medium-size batches from 300,000 to 750,000, and an attractive solution for contract suppliers that need very low tooling costs. Changeover/set up times can be accomplished toollessly by a single person in under 30 minutes,” said Ralf Klotz, regional sales manager for Uhlmann Packaging Systems.
 
As with the first-in-the-series BEC 300, each BEC 500 package is tracked through shift register control with positive transfer verification. This provides full assurance that only approved packages are passed downstream. Product-specific format data is entered once and made available to all control units using the integrated batch management system. Confirmed good blisters are direct-transferred into the cartoner module in an end-to-end handling system that reduces line complexity, eliminates the potential for line jam ups, and reduces the overall equipment footprint.
 
Tablet Press & Capsule Filling
For companies filling different forms and sizes of hard-shell capsules, MG America (www.mgamerica.com; Booth #W-677) offers the AlterNova Capsule Filler, an intermittent motion capsule filler for dosing any oral form of pharmaceutical or nutraceutical at medium to high production rates. A modular design supports an easy upgrade from running 110,000 capsules/hour to 150,000 capsules/hour.
 
The innovative dosing chamber can be adjusted—without parts replacement—to combine up to four different liquid or solid products into the same capsule. A tamping disc supports tight packing of powders, pellets, tablets, liquids and combinations of forms.
 
Fette Compacting America (www.fette-compacting.com; Booth #W-655) will showcase the FE35 Tablet Press, the second machine in its new FE Generation tablet press series designed to simplify changeover, operation and maintenance. A small-foot-print, medium-output, single-rotary tablet press, The FE35 can be fitted with up to 51 stations to produce up to 367,000 tablets per hour.
 
Fette has also launched a third machine in the FE Series, the FE75 Tablet Press, a double-sided rotary tablet press with a footprint of only two square meters. The FE75 can be fitted with up to 115 punch stations for large batch production of more than 1.6 million tablets per hour.
 
In the FE Series, a newly designed pressing cell allows easy access for refitting and cleaning—and fast product change out. Redesigned compression stations are simply swung out and compression rolls and compression-measuring load cells automatically adjusted to parking positions.
 
A new filling system using a single inverted cone paddle can increase product output by 100%. Operators raise or lower the feeder in positive-lock steps of 30 microns by sliding a lever back and forth without the need to remove the feeder to find the most efficient clearance setting. The load cells with integrated measuring amplifiers can be calibrated at the completely new HMI featured in the FE Series.
 

PMMI, The Association for Packaging and Processing Technologies, is a trade association representing over 650 packaging and processing supply chain companies that provide a full range of packaging and processing machinery, materials, components and containers. PMMI actively brings buyers and sellers together through programs and events such as The PACK EXPO family of trade shows, packexpo.com, PMT Magazine, PACK EXPO Show Daily, networking events and educational programs.
 
PMMI organizes the PACK EXPO trade shows: PACK EXPO International, Pharma EXPO, co-located with PACK EXPO International and presented jointly with the International Society for Pharmaceutical Engineering (ISPE); PACK EXPO Las Vegas, PACK EXPO East, EXPO PACK México and EXPO PACK Guadalajara, connecting participants in the packaging and processing supply chain with their customers around the world. Coming Up: EXPO PACK México 2014, June 17–20 (Mexico City, Mexico); PACK EXPO International 2014, Nov. 2–5 (McCormick Place, Chicago); Pharma EXPO, co-located with PACK EXPO International 2014; PACK EXPO East, debuting Feb. 16–18, 2015 (Pennsylvania Convention Center, Philadelphia); EXPO PACK Guadalajara 2015, March 10–12, 2015 (Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico).
 
Learn more about PMMI and the PACK EXPO trade shows at PMMI.org and Packexpo.com.