Food supplements are becoming increasingly popular.
For companies like MediGrün Naturprodukte GmbH, this development is both an opportunity and a challenge.
MediGrün is one of the most renowned certified organic manufacturers of food supplements and is also one of the European market leaders in contract filling.
Company owners Mihaela and Markus Grün have been relying on capsule filling machines from Syntegon Technology for their day-to-day production since 2007.
Dr. Grün, what range of products do you manufacture at MediGrün?
We specialize in the entire value chain for the production of capsules and tablets as well as the filling of powders and liquids.
At the beginning of the value chain, our customers can rely on our expertise in developing recipes for complex formulations.
In addition, we serve our customers from mixing the raw materials to dosing and secondary packaging of the products.
For example, we have the largest line for counting and packaging Oral Solid Dosage (OSD) products in Europe.
In total, we produce over one billion capsules a year, which we can fill with either powder, microtablets, liquids or a combination.
What trends do you see in the food supplement market over the next few years and what challenges will this bring?
Quality assurance is a constantly present topic in production.
The food supplement industry is booming and new, innovative products are constantly entering the market.
Production standards are constantly rising and are increasingly based on those of the pharmaceutical industry.
As a result, increased automation will also find its way into our industry.
Lines with integrated inspection technology are also increasingly in demand.
On the other hand, there is constant cost pressure and the associated need for cost-sensitive production.
On the product side, I assume that the proportion of liquid capsules, i.e. capsules filled with liquid, will increase significantly, for example in the area of vitamin preparations.
In addition, combination fillings are becoming increasingly interesting for our customers.
For example, they want to fill capsules into capsules or tablets into capsules.
To what extent is MediGrün prepared for these developments?
Our aim is to always be a reliable partner for our customers.
Because success comes to those who make others successful.
This is why we decided years ago to see developments in the industry as an opportunity.
We align our production with pharmaceutical standards and continuously invest in top-class equipment.
For example, we have been using GKF capsule filling machines from Syntegon Technology for the production of our capsules for a long time.
Which Syntegon Technology machines do you use?
In 2019 alone, we purchased ten new GKF capsule filling machines.
In quality control, we also rely on the GKF 2500 100% ASB (ASB = automatic fault elimination) and GKF 1400 capsule filling machines as well as the KKE 1700 and KKE 2500 inspection trolleys.
Due to current market developments, we have also recently invested in a GKF 2500 ASB with KKE 2500 combination and a GKF liquid capsule filling machine.
In addition to the GKF machines, we also have a TPR 200 tablet press from Syntegon Technology.
With these investments, we are well prepared for change.
In what way?
Can you be more specific?
As a family business, we are characterized by more than ten years of experience in the food supplement sector, a high degree of flexibility and a comprehensive range of services.
However, contract manufacturing is above all about trust and reliability: hygiene, safety and a well-implemented quality management system therefore play a decisive role.
We take this responsibility very seriously.
The machines from Syntegon Technology enable us to offer our customers particularly high quality and safety standards and at the same time respond flexibly to their diverse needs – without losing sight of the issue of cost efficiency.
In 2019, as a customer of Syntegon Technology, then still known as Bosch Packaging Technology, you were honored with the “Customer Appreciation Award” for the most machines purchased worldwide.
What do you particularly appreciate about Syntegon Technology?
Quality, speed and reliability are decisive factors for us when selecting our suppliers and partners.
In my opinion, Syntegon Technology scores particularly highly in terms of speed and availability during ongoing projects.
But we were also impressed by the delivery reliability and response time for service and maintenance issues.
First of all, the GKF capsule filling machines run very reliably and require little maintenance.
The short set-up and cleaning times also ensure high productivity.
In addition, the modular GKF machines can be flexibly and quickly converted to a wide variety of formats – without long downtimes.
We have access to different filling options for a wide range of products and can therefore also optimally process complex products with changing filling parameters.
By using GKF machines with slide gate technology, MediGrün was able to significantly reduce product loss.
We were also able to significantly reduce product loss by using GKF machines with slide gate technology: The technology enables powders and pellets to be filled precisely into capsules.
As a result, our production is now even more sustainable, and the reduced waste naturally also means lower costs for our customers.
We ourselves benefit from shorter cleaning times due to the reduced contamination.
How satisfied are your employees with the machines?
Thanks to the modular design, our employees can change over the capsule filling machines in a very short time.
The freely accessible production area enables easy cleaning and user-friendly operation.
This is also optimized by touchscreen monitors.
Overall, the operators are very satisfied with the user-friendliness of the machines and were able to familiarize themselves with them within a few hours.
