Gerteis gets ready for Mexico’s scale-up boom

Jona, Switzerland: – Gerteis, the world-renowned specialist in roller compactors and dry granulation, is anticipating rapid expansion of Mexican pharmaceutical research and development. The company is reflecting the trend by exhibiting its revolutionary Mini-Polygran® roller compactor solutions at the upcoming Expo Pack Mexico exhibition.

Gerteis will exhibit at Expo Pack Mexico under the banner of its local distributor, Grupo Rasch, on stand 4530. This is a return appearance at Expo Pack for Gerteis, which last attended the event in 2012, also in conjunction with Grupo Rasch.

This year’s Gerteis display will give a starring role to the Mini-Polygran®; a roller compactor designed for R&D applications and stringent GMP requirements. The technology is based on a unique patented feed and force control system for controlling the compaction of products, as well as large diameter rolls to maximize dwell time in the nip area.

Start-up stars

Mini- Polygran® systems are aimed at laboratory and start up production, with outputs ranging from 10grams up to 20kg. Mini Polygran® and Mini Polygran® Plus uses the same design and similar control systems as the Pactor® Series to produce up to 40kg/hr, while its distinctive roll surfaces and easily changed screens allow end-users to maximize output efficiency.

These new Gerteis roller compactors have already attracted world-wide attention for their ideal suitability to start-up programs, with innovative technologies that assist in linear scale up from R&D to medium scale production, extending dry compaction techniques to new fast development industries, such as those now starting up in Mexico.

Booming market

“Mexico is rapidly expanding as a pharmaceutical market and production centre and we expect higher demand very soon for our roller compaction technologies,” said Gerteis VP for Sales & Technology, Hartmut vom Bey.

“This is because roller compaction has been decisively proven to offer the most economical way to develop and produce granules. This makes roller compaction technology especially important in growing and changing markets,” said Mr. vom Bey.

“We think Mini Pactor and Mini Polygran will be of particular interest to project engineers and development experts attending Expo Pack, since their unique technologies make these solutions that are particularly suitable for rapid development. Laboratories that need to do R&D proving and then smoothly transfer into scaled up production,” said Mr. vom Bey.

“We will be able to show our visitors and Expo Pack how these are not simply machines but integrated technological solutions. We will also be offering visiting companies opportunities to conduct their own full-scale trials with Gerteis systems in Mexico and Switzerland to see why they are essential components for any scale-up or continuous manufacturing processes using dry granulation,” added Mr. vom Bey.

About Gerteis

Gerteis Maschinen + Processengineering AG is a Swiss-based company that has rapidly established itself as a world leader in the field of premium roller compactors. The company’s products and services cover all aspects of dry granulation processes, with unparalleled experience in this field built up since the company was founded in 1986.

Gerteis manufactures a wide range of high quality roller compactors that are versatile enough to process a vast range of powders, even notoriously problematic ones at both laboratory and production scales. The company’s patented technologies are widely used by the pharmaceutical, chemical and food industries.

Rapidly increasing demand recently forced the company to move from its original site in Jona on the shores of Lake Zurich to larger and purpose designed premises nearby, in a move completed at the end of 2013.

As well as manufacturing machinery, Gerteis offers complete solution packages that help customers increase productivity including support on identifying ideal formulations and in-house training courses on dry granulation processing. Gerteis constantly seeks to expand its knowledge on dry granulation, participating in numerous research collaborations with German universities.

About Expo Pack Mexico

The annual Expo Pack Mexico exposition is the largest packaging and processing event in Latin America, attracting close to 30,000 customers, buyers and exhibitors from some 30 countries. These include packaging and processing professionals from all over Mexico. In 2013 the event also attracted significant buying groups from Guatemala and Costa Rica and other Central and South American countries.

Expo Pack 2014 is being hosted at the Centro Banamex exhibition centre in Mexico City from June 17 to June 20 and will feature more than 1,000 exhibitor stands across the 18,500m2 exhibition space, which will include eight national pavilions for Brazil, Canada, China, France, Italy, Spain, Taiwan and the USA as well as four Specialized Pavilions representing Processing, Containers & Materials, Innovations and Finance. There is also an associated Expo Pack Verde program, featuring green and sustainable technologies.

The event is organized by PMMI, the trade association representing 600-plus member companies that manufacture packaging, processing and related converting machinery in North America along with machinery components and packaging containers and materials.

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