Pilot Plant Prep

Pilot plants are a critical part of the supplement launch process, enabling manufacturers to run small test batches of products before scaling up to commercial production. When set up correctly, a pilot plant can help manufacturers save time and cut costs by testing products before investing in a mass-market launch. Traditionally, supplement manufacturers themselves would have to invest in a pilot plant to make test runs of their products. Now, though, contract manufacturers are adding pilot services to their repertoires as more customers seek custom solutions. As pilot plants grow in popularity, both contract manufacturers and supplement manufacturers need to keep several things in mind regarding choosing and equipping pilot plants. Here’s how manufacturers can ensure their pilot plants start and run seamlessly.

Equipment Sizing Differs from a Full-Scale Plant

Perhaps the most noticeable difference between a full-scale production plant and a pilot plant is the fact that equipment in a pilot plant is sized differently. Erin Dillon, media & marketing coordinator for Ross Mixers (Hauppauge, NY), says that pilot plants should be equipped with machinery that can handle small batch sizes while maintaining process and product consistency.

“Factors like scalability, mixing intensity, heat transfer, powder induction, and the ability to replicate full-scale production conditions should be prioritized,” Dillon says. “Additionally, interchangeable mixing elements like a high-speed disperser and a high-shear rotor/stator, where applicable, allow for adjustments as formulations evolve.”

Dillon says that when choosing machinery for a pilot plant, manufacturers should start by identifying their essential processing requirements: Batch sizes, material characteristics, viscosity ranges, and shear requirements. Dillon notes that it’s essential to choose equipment that mirrors the capabilities of full-scale production, but in a smaller, more flexible design. Finally, Dillon says, versatility is an important factor, as pilot plants often test multiple product formulations before scaling up to production models.

Sacrificing Automation for Data Collection

One key difference between pilot plants and commercial-scale plants is the fact that a pilot plant needs to gather data. Tobias Borgers, head of marketing for L.B. Bohle (Warminster, PA), says that pilot plants require much greater flexibility in terms of equipment as a pilot plant’s equipment must accommodate multiple formulations and batch sizes. While full-scale plants prioritize efficiency and high throughput, a pilot plant involves extensive data collection and process analysis in order to refine formulations.

“Machines should also have fast, easy changeovers to minimize unnecessary downtime between R&D runs,” Borgers adds.

Scalability Remains a Challenge

While pilot plants work well for research and development purposes such as creating product samples they’re not intended for full-scale production, and this can cause challenges for manufacturers that want to scale up production of supplements. Frederick Murray, president of Korsch America Inc. (South Easton, MA), says that in some cases, a pilot plant may be equipped with hand-me-down or surplus equipment with limited production capacity. For tablets in particular, Murray notes, pilot-scale tablet presses often have significantly different design parameters from production-scale machines.

“Working on a pilot-scale press that has a different feeder design, turret and cam design, or a different control system than the production scale machines is often a recipe for failure,” Murray says.

Recommended Machinery for Pilot Plants

When equipping a pilot plant, experts say some machines are a must-have. Borgers says that L.B. Bohle’s BRC Dry Granulator is ideal for dry granulation, an essential process for moisture-sensitive ingredients. Another popular L.B. Bohle option, Borgers notes, is the BTS Sieve Mill, which yields uniform particle size for optimum flow.

Dillon notes that Ross Mixers’ High Shear Mixers are ideal for emulsification, homogenization, and particle size reduction to ensure uniform ingredient dispersion. Meanwhile, Ross Mixers’ Ribbon Blenders work well for dry powder blending, such as in the case of protein powders, pre-workout formulations, and other powdered supplements.

For manufacturers looking to create tablets, Murray recommends the STYL’One Evo Compaction Simulator and X 3 Tablet Press. The STYL’One, Murray says, can provide streamlined material characterization and optimization, whereas the X 3 offers both pilot-scale and production-scale turrets. Both scale-up machines are capable of producing bi-layer tablets.

“The key to scale-up is the capability to reliably predict performance at production scale,” Murray explains. “Today, a compaction simulator will very quickly identify the best formulation by looking at both the pilot scale and production scale performance with small quantities. This allows the rapid transfer of the product to a scale-up press, and eventually to production scale, with confidence and repeatability.”

Pilot Plants Offer Critical Advantages

Pilot plants are a highly effective way for supplement manufacturers to save time and cut production costs by leveraging facilities that are custom-designed for small-batch production. As more supplement manufacturers and contract manufacturers realize the benefits of pilot plants, they’ll increasingly become a larger and more important aspect of nutraceutical manufacturing. Before manufacturers rush to invest in pilot plants, though, they should consider their goals, which machinery they’ll need, and how they’ll choose machinery that meets their needs.

Mike Straus is a freelance writer living in Kelowna, Canada. He writes for trade publications like Hoist, Canadian Chiropractor, Grow Opportunity, and Massage Therapy Canada.