The In-Cap machine - manufactured by the Italian company Dott Bonapace - supplied to Reckitt Benckiser is a standard In-Cap for filling powders but, claims Isopak, it could be adapted to include a liquid filling system.
''Bonapace carried out trials of their powder in Italy and analysed the accuracy of the weights achieved - these proved very satisfactory,' said Isopak managing director Robin Davies.
Stating his wholehearted support for the product, Davies continued: ''The In-Cap, which is attracting a great deal of interest among pharmaceutical and healthcare companies, represents Italian engineering at its best. It goes to show that size does matter - when you need something small, compact and highly effective.''
Dr Ian Jolliffe, gastro-intestinal research and development manager at Reckitt Benckiser is in agreement. ''When we first saw the In-Cap we were impressed by how small and compact it was because we have limited space available. And the machine, which will be used for small-scale laboratory work developing our formulae which use powder, will mimic the equipment we use for large-scale production," he said.
''It will mean we only have to use small amounts of materials in the laboratory trials we do before going on to factory testing. But it is important we make sure the formulae we use will work before we move into the factory as everything there is on a tight schedule and the time for experimenting is short."
According to Isopak, the compact machine has a new, low-volume powder hopper which allows operation with 50 grammes of powder, helping to cut wastage to the minimum.