There are basically FOUR steps to massproduce veggie capsules and please check the breakdown.
1. Preparation procedure
Before we dig into the production processof veggie capsules, we need to know what it is composed of. The primary raw materials are HPMC and excipients are like gellan gum and potassium acetate.
Other ingredients can be added to the gelling agent solution including plasticizers to decrease the capsule’s hardness, coloring agents, preservatives, disintegrants, lubricants and surface treatment.
HPMC (Hydroxy-propyl-methyl cellulose is apolymer of cellulose ethers, derived from wood cellulose fibers. HPMC comprises over 90% of EEK veggie capsule composition. As the most important materials, we have full control over the production of HPMC, ensuring all process in line with GMP standards.
Once raw materials have been received andreleased by EEK quality control, the glue and hot purified water are mixed under vacuum in melting system for 5 hours. Then the solution is transferred to feed tanks. Dyes and any needed water are added to the solution in feed tanks to complete the preparation procedure.
2. Automatic section
From the feed tank, the glue is gravity fedto dipper section. Here, the capsules are molded onto pin bars which are dipped into the solution. Once dipped, the Pin Bars rise to the upper deck allowing the cap and body to set on the pins.
The pin bars pass through the dryingsystem. Here gently moving air which is precisely controlled for volume, temperature, and humidity, removes the exact amount of moisture from the capsule halves.
Once drying is complete, the pin bars enterthe table section which positions the capsule halves for stripping from the pins in the automatic section.
In the Automatic section, capsule halvesare individually stripped from the pins. The cap and body lengths are precisely trimmed to a ±0.15 mm tolerance. The capsule bodies and caps are pre-joined automatically in the joiner blocks. Finished capsules are pushed onto a conveyer belt which carries them out to a container.
3. Sorting and polishing
The containers with finished pre-lockcapsules are moved to sorting section. Capsules are sorted (100,000 pieces/minute) and visually inspected on specially designed inspection stations.
Perfect capsules are imprinted with theclient logo on high-speed capsule printing machines and polished to look bright and crystal, further make sure capsules run smoothly on filling machines.
4. Packaging, storage, and delivery
Capsules are now ready to be sterilized,packaged, and stored in our temperature/humidity-controlled warehouse.
We ship full container load of veggiecapsules to overseas warehouses in the USA and Europe, as well as our distributors and customers worldwide. And definitely we use reefer container with constant temperature and humidity, plus a data logger to record condition inside the container over the whole transport period.
Capsule quality is monitored throughout thewhole process including size, moisture content, single wall thickness, color, storage and transport.