ABSTRACT
A tablet is formed by reducing the volume of a set of autonomous particles until they are
consolidated into a solid body; a tablet is manufactured by placing a powder in a die and
then reducing the volume of the powder with a set of punches. Tablet presses range from
small, bench-top single-station presses to large industrial multi-station rotary presses.
Most commercially produced tablets are made by rotary tablet presses (Fig. 1). A typical
rotary machine runs anywhere from 1 to 200 rpm, and has from 16 to 75 stations or sets of
punches and dies. A high speed rotary tablet press can produce over 500,000 tablets per
hour, making tablets one of the most cost effective dosage forms. On a rotary tablet press,
the die and punches are mounted on a turret. The turret moves the punches and dies
simultaneously through the different stages of compaction. Tablet consolidation occurs
when the punches and die go between two compression rollers (Fig. 1). The complete
tablet manufacturing cycle occurs in four steps: (i) the die is filled, (ii) the fill weight is adjusted, (iii) the tablet is compacted, and (iv) the tablet ejected from the die.
