In agglomeration, different particles are glued together to form a blackberry structure with the aid of fluid bed technology. In the simplest case, water acts as the adhesive; alternatively, bridging solutions, e.g. sugar, work. The advantage over pure powder mixtures, which easily segregate: the new, bonded particles do not segregate, are low in dust and can be easily stirred into water. Manufacturers of compresses and tablets also like to use this type of product. Agglomerates can usually be compressed well and quickly and are very machine-friendly. Agglomeration can also be used to achieve a homogeneous and stable fine distribution of active ingredients.
Coating means that powder or granulate particles are encased for their protection. Fluid bed technology offers optimum conditions for this, because particles can be separated and kept in suspension. In this way, coating materials can be applied evenly to form a completely closed protective layer. The process is used, for example, in pharmaceutical products to protect active ingredients or for the targeted release of the coated substance.
In co-manufacturing (abbreviation for contract manufacturing), the service provider takes over not only the filling and packaging of products but also the entire manufacturing process.
A contract manufacturer produces goods on behalf of another company. SternMaid has established itself as such over many years and offers the complete range of contract manufacturing services – from the procurement of ingredients to the finished and packaged product in the field of powdered foods, dietary supplements and pharmaceutical excipients.
Co-packing (= abbreviation for contract packing) is a service and the common international term for the packing, repacking or enclosing of goods for an external customer. Companies use specialists to keep their own structures and processes as lean and efficient as possible. The outsourcing of such services is widespread in many sectors of industry, including food and pharmaceutical products. As a contract packer, SternMaid has highly efficient filling equipment and offers customers full flexibility – from big bags, bags, cardboard boxes or drums to filling in shelf-ready consumer packaging. We offer co-packing only in the context of powder filling. For sensitive projects in the pharmaceutical sector, SternMaid is GMP certified by the State Office for Health and Social Affairs.
In our context, the term dispersing stands for the stirring in and ultra-fine distribution of soluble powder particles in liquids. The goal is a lump-free dissolution into an optimally homogeneously blended liquid. Ideally, the complete ability of the powder particles to be wetted by the liquid medium is important for this.
In addition to pharmacologically active ingredients, pharmaceuticals contain additional excipients – among other things for stability, taste and appearance, but also for bioavailability or simply as carriers. Pharmaceutical excipients, which must be atoxic and microbially harmless, can be of natural, semisynthetic or synthetic origin.
The term fluidised bed originates from the field of thermal and mechanical process engineering. Fluidised bed technology can be used to refine powders and granules, individually or as blends, in a variety of ways. This results in products with definable properties – highly soluble, free-flowing, dust-free, tabletable, masked or with active ingredient protection.
FSSC 22000 stands for Food Safety System Certification and is a standard for the certification of quality management systems to ensure food and feed safety. The international standard, recognized by the Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI), is based on ISO 22000 and fits in between existing quality management systems, such as ISO 9001 and ISO 14001.
GMP is the abbreviation for Good Manufacturing Practice. This is associated with guidelines for quality assurance in the production of pharmaceuticals and active ingredients, as well as for food and feed. Quality assurance plays a particularly crucial role in the manufacture of pharmaceutical products. The reason is obvious: any deviations could have a direct impact on the health of consumers. A GMP-compliant quality management system ensures product quality and compliance with the mandatory requirements for marketing by the health authorities.
Instant products are powdery or granular products that dissolve immediately when liquid is added and are transformed, for example, into beverages. They are manufactured at SternMaid on the fluidised bed system. Depending on the starting material and product requirements, various processes, which can also be combined, and, if necessary, suitable solubilizers are used. The aim is to achieve an optimum powder structure, among other things for high wettability and optimum dispersibility to improve the solubility of powders in liquids.
Fluidised bed technology offers the possibility of embedding sensitive substances in a matrix in order to keep proteins or vitamins stable against external influences, for example. The release of the substances can also be controlled in this way and can be provided with an additional coating in a multi-stage process.
Sachets (French = small bags) are portion bags for single servings. These sachets are usually made from airtight sealed composite films. Depending on the shelf life requirements, films with and without an incorporated aluminum layer are used. The outside of the sachets is printed with customer-specific graphics and texts in a variety of ways. The biggest advantage of sachets is that they can be dispensed in exact portions, for example for blending beverage powders or, in the pharmaceutical sector, for powdered medicines or dietary supplements. SternMaid currently offers sachets with a filling weight of approx. 5g to 25g.
In spray granulation, a liquid (solution, suspension) is sprayed for granulation onto powder particles placed in the process chamber, the so-called fluidised bed. The moisture is dried out by the individually controllable temperature of the circulating process air. Thus, layer by layer, a compact onion-like ball structure is formed. In contrast to spray drying, the residence time of the product in the fluidised bed can be freely selected. This allows spray granulation of temperature-sensitive products at very low temperatures and individual adjustment of residual moisture and particle size of the granules.
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SternMaid GmbH & Co. KG
Am Mühlenberg 4
19243 Wittenburg
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