Winkworth Mixers are the workhorse in manufacturing tablets and two-piece capsules
Supplying mixing equipment to process demanding formulations while meeting exacting hygiene standards.
Thompson & Capper is a long-established, premium UK contract manufacturer of nutritional supplements and speciality tablets.
The business produces a wide variety of dosage forms, developing and delivering nutritional supplements to some of the best-known brands globally. The company was formed in 1798 originally as a homoeopathic chemist in Liverpool and grew to include a manufacturing facility as well as several retail outlets in the UK. In 1976 it relocated to Runcorn, Cheshire to concentrate on the production of tablets.
Previous mixer investments
Thompson & Capper had invested in Winkworth Mixers for a number of years, the forefront of which were three Double Cone Blenders. The blenders have been used to great success in the blending together of as many as 40 different ingredients, being able to reduce mixing time on one particular line by as much as 70%.
These competent and versatile machines are the optimum equipment for homogenous blending and their gentle, low-energy tumbling action makes them ideal for mixing powders, granules and fragile products. Their conical shape and hygienic design enable uniformity of mix and facilitate easy discharge of product with minimal retention.
Winkworth Machinery RT200
Thompson & Capper has found that Winkworth’s Double Cone Blenders perform successfully for the straightforward blending of materials involving three or four ingredients to the complex mixing of between 30-40 ingredients.
The challenge
Thompson & Capper wanted to disperse a fairly small amount of liquid to a powder, allowing it to be blended evenly into the rest of a particular mix without the risk of agglomeration.
In addition, as all Thompson & Capper products are manufactured in premises licensed by the UK Medicines & Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency, it was imperative that all processing machinery conforms to stringent hygienic design which can be easily maintained and cleaned.
The solution
Winkworth recommended an RT80 high-speed mixer customised to the specific process, using its paddle blade agitator to break up unwanted agglomerates. Previously this part of the process had been performed by hand and it has been estimated that Winkworth’s RT80 has reduced labour time by between 70-80%.
Being easy to wash down and clean, the RT80 provided the ideal solution.
“Winkworth Mixers are our workhorses in many ways in manufacturing tablets and two-piece capsules. The Winkworth machinery works perfectly for our needs and we have designed our factory as an easily expandable modular construction with available space for additional Winkworth Mixers when the time is right.”
Matthew Dyal, Operations Director, Thompson & Capper Ltd