A major change is taking place in the Pharmaceutical industry: patents expire and very little new products are developed for the substitution of blockbusters, production sites are closed down and moved to low labour cost countries, generic companies are taking more products on board. Net working capital is an issue and just in time production is key. Production campaigns are small rather than large and as a result the industry is looking to more flexible machines for quick change over, low investment level for capital equipment, associated with low Total Cost of Ownership (TCO).

The Kilian S250 tablet press was launched to the market in the nineties, and is well know in the pharmaceutical and chemical industry for its robustness and reliability, however, the design needed to be reviewed to meet the latest industry requirements. The S250 concept has therefore been enhanced with more flexibility and automation, giving birth to the new S250 SMART.

The trademark mechanical robustness of the S250 has been maintained in the new generation of SMART machines, together with its compact dimensions. Customers with multiple installations have demonstrated lowest TCO and spare parts consumption in comparison to other models. Operators with experience on existing machines are able to operate the S250 SMART, while for operators with no tableting background the standard training course is sufficient for effective tablet manufacturing. The electrical cabinet, integrated in the machine frame, allows for more flexibility in installation and maintenance.

The first element of the design review was turret exchange: this feature is requested more and more frequently in the present pharmaceutical environment, to shorten cleaning times and to improve machine flexibility. On the IMA Kilian S250 Smart this operation can be achieved within 30 minutes. An arm to swing out the turret and a trolley are available as an option.

The second big change concerns the level of automation: handwheels have been removed and the press is completely operated via the operator interface. The software design has the same self explanatory manner that customers already appreciate in other Kilian machines, enabling operators to manage the machine efficiently and safely.

Although flexibility and automation were the main driving forces of the renovation project, cost containment within a defined target was also set as a priority: the investment level and the price/performance ratio of the IMA Kilian S250 Smart are extremely competitive when compared to other European or even Asian producers. In order to combine flexibility with standardization, and to keep production costs low, three different machine configurations have been produced (tradition, classic, prime): each modular package includes, as standard, a number of functions with different possible options, in order to comply with different market requirements.

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