Pharmaceutical Equipment

A rotary capsule filling machine separates each empty capsule into its body and cap, then indexes the body through a series of dosing stations. Powder is compressed into the capsule body in stages — a partial-thickness slug first, then progressively more, ending at full dosing-disk thickness — before the two halves are rejoined and ejected. This staged compression keeps fill weight consistent capsule to capsule, which is what "filling precision" numbers on a spec sheet actually measure.

Sensors on both the powder hopper and the empty capsule hopper keep the line running continuously, and defective or unseparated capsules are automatically rejected via vacuum suction rather than requiring an operator to catch them by eye.

Capacity scales with the number of dosing stations and cycle speed — our UAF-2500C runs up to 150,000 capsules/hr, while the UAF-1200C mid-speed model fits lower-volume or R&D-adjacent production runs. Both handle capsule sizes #00 through #5 without requiring a different machine for each size.

For vitamin and nutraceutical manufacturers filling powders, pellets, or granular blends into hard gelatin capsules, this staged-compression approach is what lets a single machine hold tight fill accuracy across long, continuous production runs.

See our full high-speed vs mid-speed comparison guide → for help choosing between the two.

Softgel production starts with gelatin preparation: granulated gelatin (or a vegan tapioca starch alternative) is blended and heated in a jacketed, temperature-controlled melting tank until it forms a thick syrup called a gel mass. That gel mass is spread into two thin ribbons, which feed into opposite sides of the encapsulation machine.

As the two gelatin ribbons meet at the die roller, your liquid or semi-liquid fill material is injected between them at the exact moment the die seals the softgel shut — forming a fully sealed capsule in one continuous motion, sized and shaped by whichever die set is loaded.

Freshly formed softgels move to drying — typically a combination of tumble drying and tray drying — which removes excess moisture and firms up the gelatin shell. Softgel-specific environments matter here: workspace conditions are generally held around 70–75°F with 30–35% relative humidity to keep the gel mass workable and prevent shells from sticking or drying unevenly.

Softgel formulations aren't limited to oils — suspensions, emulsions, and pastes can all be encapsulated, which is part of why softgel systems see heavy use in vitamin, nutraceutical, and CBD/cannabinoid production, not just traditional pharma.

Gummy production for vitamin, nutraceutical, and CBD/cannabinoid products follows a cook-and-deposit process: a gummy mix (gelatin or pectin, sugars, actives, and flavoring) is cooked in a jacketed kettle, then deposited into molds by a depositor that meters the exact same dose into every cavity. Active ingredients — vitamins, CBD, or other functional compounds — are added at a controlled point in the process so dosing stays consistent batch to batch, which matters for regulatory compliance as much as customer trust.

After depositing, gummies move through cooling and demolding before final counting and packaging. Our production systems scale from R&D-adjacent batch sizes up to continuous, high-volume output, and the same underlying equipment — cooking kettles, depositors, coolers, and channel counters — applies whether you're running standard vitamin gummies or CBD/THC-infused formulations.

Not sure which format fits your product? See our softgel vs capsule vs gummy comparison →.