At CapsCanada customers often tell us that the extensive support provided by our Technical Services Department provides a tremendous boost to their bottom line. How? By increasing their production yields and product quality. By eliminating the need for expensive inspections and rework, whether they use gelatin capsules or vegetarian capsules. By improving their employees’ skills, morale and retention. By providing money-saving repair services for their capsule filling machine. And by being there to do everything possible to get and keep the capsule filling process running smoothly. All at absolutely no extra cost.The number one goal of our Technical Services Department is to ensure CapsCanada’s empty capsules are performing properly on our customers’ capsule filling machines. To that end, CapsCanada’s customers in good standing in the pharmaceutical industry or the dietary supplements industry can take advantage of a broad range of technical services. We can…
Provide on-call support
Quite often our technicians can trouble-shoot a capsule filling problem and walk you through the solution immediately, over the phone. 
Provide on-site quality assurance
Each of our technicians has 20+ years of experience setting up and running both automatic filling machines and semi-automatic filling machines, and trouble-shooting capsule filling machinery and processes. Every month they travel the country, working on-site with various types of capsule filling machines and filling processes to help our customers succeed. As part of this dedication to quality assurance we will:
- Ensure our empty capsules are performing as expected – Are the capsules opening and closing properly? Are they seating correctly in the equipment? Is everything running smoothly? If not, we will find and address the problem.We will also check to be sure that the best empty capsule has been selected for the filling material. For example, if you’re running a hygroscopic or moisture-sensitive formulation, the K-CAPS vegetarian capsules are your best option, as they have a very low moisture content. Gelatin capsules, on the other hand, are a flexible option for a wide range of non-hygroscopic formulations.
- Optimize and fine-tune your capsule filling machine set up – Help you achieve greater productivity by setting up your equipment so that it runs faster, cleaner and more efficiently. As a result you’ll enjoy better throughput, yield and quality.
Provide on-site trouble-shooting
You’ll never be left with that sinking feeling that comes when something is going wrong and your in-house team members do not know what to do about it. Count on our Technical Services team to:
- Help you get your “clean label” products running well – Successfully filling capsules without the excipients that have traditionally been used to help the filling process can be tricky. We can show you how to adjust your capsule filling machines and equip them with the latest technology to overcome challenging formulations.
- Resolve problems with capsule defects – If you’re using low-quality vegetarian or gelatin capsules, issues with dents, splits and tucks are likely caused by the capsules themselves. Because our capsules are generally thicker-walled and more robust than other capsules in the market, they tend to withstand the rigors of the filling process where other capsules fail. In cases where defects are present, we can usually minimize the frequency through adjustments to your filling equipment. We’ll find the root cause and address it.
- Resolve problems with yield and waste – We’ll get to the root of the problem, whether it is being caused by the equipment or equipment set-up, capsules, fill material or something else.
- Investigate and resolve problems with the capsules – In the rare situations where there is a problem with our capsules, we’ll collect data, and assist in getting the investigation into the empty capsules defects going as quickly as possible. We will represent you to our manufacturing team and make sure your voice is heard, so that appropriate action can be taken to prevent reoccurrence.
Make proactive site visits
We offer a “Huddle Program” with regularly-scheduled pro-active visits. While we’re at your facility we’ll discuss any questions or problems you may be having, look for ways to finetune and improve your operations, provide feedback and more.
Train your staff
Training not only ensures that your team members can do a good job, but it also improves morale and employee retention. If you do not have the internal resources to properly train your team members on all the ins and outs of capsule filling technology, we’ll do it for you.
Options include:
- Online training – We are currently offering a live webinar on “Encapsulation 101” that’s designed for new personnel. A Six Sigma presentation about applying continuing improvement efforts to our industry is also in the works.
- Classroom training – In a workshop type setting, we’ll educate your staff about how the encapsulation process should work.
- Machine training – On-site training on how to set up, disassemble, reassemble and do preventative maintenance on your filling equipment (whether you’re using an automatic filling machine or a semi-automatic filling machine). Our technicians are happy to repeat this training for each of your shifts, during their normal shift hours.
- Quality assurance training – Help your QA people learn how to identify product defects and their associated root causes.
- Annual training – Ensure your team members’ skills remain fresh and up-to-date.
- Brand/model-specific training – We are currently developing in-depth maintenance-level training which is specific for different brands and models of capsule filling machines. This bottom-to-top training will help to address nearly any issue which could go wrong with your filling equipment.
Design Your Encapsulation Facility
From recommending the best machinery for your needs to helping you determine exactly how to lay things out, CapsCanada’s Technical Services Department can help you design or improve your encapsulation department. Best of all, although we are intimately familiar with all of the equipment options, we do not have an affiliation with any of the equipment manufacturers. So you get unbiased advice based on the best fit for your budget, space and capacity needs.
Repair your capsule filling machine
If your machine breaks down, our technicians can come out and help you fix it.
The bottom line is, CapsCanada is dedicated to helping our customers succeed. Our extensive Technical Services offerings are just one aspect of how we do this.
