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Excellence United Aims for Growth through Quality

Quality has become a key issue for the pharmaceutical industry. On the one hand, increasing global demand for medical care is leading to new challenges in high-volume production; on the other, international regulatory authorities are defining increasingly stringent standards for the pharmaceutical industry. As a result, drug companies are more dependent on high-quality production chains than ever before – and this is true of all production locations and for all phases of production from development to manufacture to packaging. Excellence United – an alliance of five leading German manufacturers of specialized machines for pharmaceutical and medical products – offers production solutions for the entire value chain. Since its foundation in 2011 Excellence United has continued to successfully drive growth with numerous strategic and technological innovations.

In its third year, the chief executives of Bausch+Ströbel, Fette Compacting, Glatt, Harro Höfliger and Uhlmann can report a very positive interim result. The five partner companies have continued to successfully drive growth in recent years. Excellence United’s total turnover rose from roughly €800 million in 2011 to €965 million in 2013. The €1 billion mark is expected to be passed for the first time in 2014. More than 40,000 of the partner companies’ machines are currently in operation worldwide. The five companies employ 6,000 people around the globe, including more than 600 service employees. 

New Excellence United Marketing GmbH

In 2014 the partner businesses founded a joint marketing company to centrally coordinate combined marketing and press activities in the future. In addition to public relations activities, the new company will be supporting various project work groups on subjects such as technical cooperation, service, sales and quality management. In future, integrated project management is intended to ensure the smooth development of ambitious line projects – from planning to after-sales service. Information about Excellence United is also immediately available on the new website at www.excellence-united.com.

First Sales & Service Hub

Pharmaceutical production is highly complex. Faults, breakdowns and stoppages quickly lead to unwanted additional costs and quality defects. A great deal therefore depends on the service provided by pharmaceutical equipment manufacturers. Ideally, good service prevents production problems occurring in the first place. That is why Excellence United has set itself the task of establishing central points of contact with qualified sales and service teams worldwide. The first hub opened in Istanbul, Turkey, on 1 March 2014, and further sites are planned. Additional Excellence United centres are the joint sales and service office of Fette Compacting, Glatt and Harro Höfliger in Mumbai, India, as well as the joint offices of Bausch+Ströbel, Fette Compacting and Uhlmann in France. In Egypt, Akhnaton is the first sales representative of the corporate alliance.

Standardized Remote Servicing

Instead of lots of separate systems, Excellence United is relying on a standardized comprehensive service solution for pharmaceutical production. That is why the partner companies are equipping their machines with the Excellence United Service Portal. In the event of a fault, the user can reach a specialist engineer at the machine manufacturer directly via the Human Machine Interface (HMI) – for example, using online messaging, a webcam or a whiteboard. The maintenance management tool also ensures that wear parts are replaced in good time. Customers can even order spare parts quickly and easily using the system.

New Culture of Quality in the Pharmaceutical Market

The pharmaceutical industry is facing new challenges. More and more people have access to basic medical care, and this is leading to an enormous expansion of production and increases in the number of production sites. Additionally, there is increasing pressure on prices as a result of new competitors from emerging markets as well as the rush to produce blockbuster drugs as a result of expiring patents. Furthermore, the increasing importance of personalized medicine also requires the development of appropriate medicines and highly complex production processes. In light of the supply bottlenecks resulting from production errors, international regulatory authorities like the FDA, EMA and ISPE have taken wide-ranging measures to establish new quality standards in collaboration with the industry. Quality has therefore become one the key challenges for the pharmaceutical industry.

Highest Quality from One Source

The five companies have responded to these challenges. The alliance offers state-of-the-art production technology of the highest quality along the entire value chain – from planning and product development to service and maintenance to the training of operators. By working together, the partner companies can ideally match individual interfaces in the process chain and orient quality standards to current and future requirements. As a result, they are pooling their expertise and developing common standards to optimize their customers’ production and equip their new plants with machines ready for the future.

Innovations at INTERPACK 2014

All five Excellence United partner companies are presenting their pharma production innovations at this year’s INTERPACK.

Bausch+Ströbel presents an intelligent modular system for isolators: individual production modules in a clean-room class A isolator can easily be changed on the basis of a lock-and-key principle. Different laboratory devices, semi-automatic units, dosing systems and inspection stations are available. An additional highlight is the FVF 5063 filling and closing machine: it can fill up to 24,000 vials per hour and close them with stoppers – including 100% in-process control at full speed. 

Fette Compacting reveals another world first for efficient tablet production in the shape of the FE75. The tableting machines of the FE Series combine the very highest performance with unique handling. The TRI.EASY design enables user-friendly operation during production, changeover and maintenance. Another innovation is the Pmax turret with FS12 punches that can increase production volumes by 40%. 

Glatt, the leading supplier of fluid bed systems, is opening up enormous savings potentials with the MODCOS production line. Its new process insert makes it possible to easily convert existing batch machines in the GPCG 2 and GPCG 10 Series to continuous fluid bed systems. This creates an integrated production line for the manufacture of complex granulates. 

Harro Höfliger is setting a new speed record with its new Modu-C High-Speed capsule-filling machine. The equipment processes approx. 200,000 capsules per hour. The patented trolley system delivers greater flexibility: trolleys can be changed quickly to facilitate the processing of different ingredients. 

Uhlmann has responded to the increased need for flexibility in pharmaceutical production and is setting new standards in packaging technology with its Blister Express Centers. Up to 72 packaging combinations, plus many secondary variations, are possible with Uhlmann production lines. They each consist of a blister machine, pillow pack machine, cartoner and stretch-banding machine. The Blister Express Center 500 processes up to 500 blisters and a maximum of 450 cartons per minute.


Excellence United Marketing GmbH
71573 Allmersbach im Tal
Germany


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