Pharmaceutical Processing created a questionnaire to learn more about Pharma Technology Inc. (PTI), their technologies, and some of the upcoming trends they are seeing in the industry. PTI is an exhibitor at INTERPHEX 2016. Nic Michel, General Manager of North America at PTI, answers our questions.
Below are the edited responses to this exclusive Q&A.
Q: Tell us a little bit about your company—what do you do and what are some of the areas that you specifically excel in?
Michel: Pharma Technology Inc. (PTI) designs and manufactures specialty dedusters, metal-detecting devices, and loading systems for tablet- and capsule-producing machinery. Since its founding in the greater Brussels, Belgium area in 1991, PTI has been developing complete handling solutions for tablets and capsules tailored to specific niche requirements.
In addition to providing ancillary and connectivity equipment for a variety of tablet presses and capsule filling machinery, PTI also serves as the exclusive North American distributor of Roeltgen Marking Systems’ state-of-the-art FLEXITAB line of tablet presses. Any machine, equipment, or service provided by PTI in North America comes with available engineering and maintenance services to ensure successful factory integration and continued product performance.
Q: What is one of the biggest successes of your company?
Michel: We introduced the PharmaFlex elevating tablet deduster range in 2009 with a revolutionary concept with much higher efficiency than traditional units:
- Instead of a spiral with dust extraction through the center, dust is extracted through the circumference, closer to the tablet path
- Compressed air is blown at each turn of the spiral from its center towards the circumference to help push residual powder towards the dust extraction and flip tablet from side to the other
- The segmented spiral can be dismantled one turn at a time and is modular with height to suit the final tablet container
Q: What are some of the biggest challenges in your industry?
Michel: New concepts take several years to be adopted and validated. Precision takes time.
Q: What is one of the biggest areas of growth your industry has seen in recent years?
Michel: Continuous processing is undergoing tremendous growth. We have developed and installed a number of bespoke high performance tablet dedusters and tablet testers on fully continuous production lines.
Q: Where do you see the industry going in the next 10 years? Your area of expertise?
Michel: More continuous manufacturing for shortened increased yields, decreased cleaning time and shorter production release time.
Q: Will you be exhibiting any new products at the show? If so, tell us about them!
Michel:
- AIO tablet deduster / metal detector with combined IPC tester (weight, thickness, hardness)
- Latest ISeries version of our PharmaFlex tablet deduster with higher output, fully ambidextrous design, integrated touchscreen
Q: What is one of your favorite INTERPHEX memories?
Michel: They are a few you probably should not be printing… I remember my first INTERPHEX when a customer I had some trouble understanding told me how great our technology was and that he would be most likely be ordering several million dollars’ worth of it. At the time, I was a little incredulous. Within a few years he had become our largest customer and remains a close friend.
Q: If your company was a superhero, what superhero would it be?
Michel: Our CEO who is also our chief inventor. He started the company in his garage 23 years ago when he was in his early 30s. He could not pay his first employee for most of the first six months and came really close to bankruptcy at the time. He is now at the head of our multinational group with employees on four continents and agents in over 75 countries.
Click here to learn more about what Pharma Technology Inc. will be exhibiting at INTERPHEX 2016! To view the live INTERPHEX show floor plan, click here.
Pharmaceutical Processing is a platinum sponsor of INTERPHEX.
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