Case Study: Pharmaceutical and Nutritional Tablets Contract Manufacturer achieves mirror-finish punches, fewer defects and reduced downtime with Proto3000

Tablet Punches Manufacturing & Refurbish For Pharma Industries

The Pharmaceutical and Nutritional Tablets Contract Manufacturer, an EU-based contract producer making over 1,000 million pills annually, was facing quality and productivity issues caused by poor surface finish on tablet punches and dies. Manual polishing and existing automated abrasive methods produced inconsistent results, risked geometry deformation, increased labor and downtime, and could not reliably achieve the mirror finish (Ra ≤ 0.1 µm) required to prevent sticking, capping and other tablet defects while preserving coatings, logos and notches.

Proto3000 implemented a DryLyte solution using the DLyte PRO500 system with a dry suspension electrolyte, custom fixtures and controlled motion and electrical parameters to electrochemically polish batches of up to 48 punches in ~20 minutes. Results showed roughness reduced from ~0.5 µm to under 0.1 µm, mass removal ~0.2 g/piece, an estimated media lifecycle treating ~25,000 pieces, OPEX ~€1.30/part and CAPEX ~€1.50/part (5 years, 170,000 pcs/yr); the Proto3000 DLyte process replaced multiple manual steps, cut costs by ~60%, improved corrosion resistance, preserved geometry and logos, and reduced press downtime and lubricant use.