Founded in 1908, Fette Compacting has a brand development history of over 100 years and is a globally renowned leading enterprise in the solid dosage form industry.

Fette Compacting’s success story in China has began in 2004 with just 20 employees and has grown into a leading manufacturer of tablet press， with around 70-80% of the high-end market share in China. With advanced tablet production and continuous manufacturing technologies, Fette Compacting has been deeply involved in the Chinese market for two decades, witnessing the rapid development of the Chinese pharmaceutical industry.

As we celebrate 20 years of development in China, Fette Compacting is globally launching the new generation p Series — the F30p tablet press. On this occasion, we had the privilege of interviewing Dr. Andreas Risch, General Manager of Fette Compacting China, who introduced us to Fette Compacting’s development history in China and its advanced solid dosage form production technology.

1.Can you introduce the history and future vision of Fette Compacting in China?

Dr. Andreas Risch: In the year 2004, we have founded Fette Compacting China, as the 3rd subsidiary in our group. Fette Compacting was one of the first medium-sized German machine manufacturers in 2004 to invest in Nanjing. With roughly 20 employees, when only 2% of the Foreign Direct Investments in China originated from Germany. We were part of it. Retrospectively it has been a very wise decision.

The Chinese Pharma Market was ranked at position no. 17 on the global market. Today China is the 3rd biggest pharma market in the world. It shows what a dramatic change has taken place within the last twenty years in China and in the world.

Fette Compacting is coming from a machine maker of excellent tablet press solutions, and we are now on the way to a process technology provider for powder formulation and tableting in the Pharma and Nutrition industry.

Our latest Group Strategy underlines this and is supposed to bring even more benefits to our customers: we provide significant added value through in-depth consultancy and support with experience of over 6,000 installations covering nearly all OSD products worldwide (and more than 720 machines are running in the Chinese market）, enabling the pharma industry to increase production efficiency without waste, to shorten the time to market and to be most successful in all aspects of tableting from Lab to production.

2. As a leading manufacturer of tablet press equipment in China, how does Fette Compacting view the role of the Chinese market in its global strategy?

Dr. Andreas Risch: Looking back on 20 years of successful development in China, developed from a Sales Service and assembly hub for China at the beginning; in the meanwhile, grown to a full scope Technology and Production company that is one cornerstone of the global Fette Compacting Group, providing high-quality Machines, services and competence for Chinese and global customers. Today, besides our Germany facility, China is our 2nd production site around the world. For us, it is a very important pillar in our strategy development, and we understand the Chinese market is very important.

3. Compared to traditional tablet presses, what pain points does the new p Series address? What are the application scenarios for this series of tablet presses?

Dr. Andreas Risch: The Chinese pharmaceutical industry faces deep transformations due to healthcare reforms and centralized procurement. At the crossroads of an ever-changing international market, Fette Compacting faces new challenges in rapidly creating new production capacities to address these changes.

Over time, even Fette Compacting’s proud traditional flagship products have shown diminishing marginal returns. The traditional accumulated momentum now seems inadequate for meeting the demands of this disruptive growth era. This presents a severe challenge for Fette Compacting and a pain point for the industry.

Against this backdrop, Fette Compacting China has successfully developed the New Generation p Series Tablet Presses. This new series of products not only inherits Fette Company's consistent high quality but also incorporates numerous innovative elements designed to address industry pain points and meet new demands of the market. In May this year, Fette Compacting China proudly unveiled the representative work of the New Generation p Series Tablet Presses, the F30p, at the “China International Pharmaceutical Machinery Expo.”

The launch of this product not only demonstrates Fette Compacting China’s technological prowess but also heralds a new breakthrough in the tablet press field. More excitingly, the F10p, the shining star of Fette China’s New Generation p Series Tablet Presses, made its glorious debut at Fette Compacting China’s 20th-anniversary celebration. This product is bound to continue the new chapter in Fette China’s tablet press technology, setting new industry trends. These series of moves by Fette Compacting China undoubtedly showcase our firm determination and strong strength amid the ever-changing international market. We believe that the New Generation p Series, an innovative equipment that integrates high productivity, versatility, robustness, and efficiency, will bring better production benefits and competitive advantages to Chinese pharmaceutical companies, usher in a new era of tablet production.

4. As an advanced provider of intelligent manufacturing solutions, how does Fette Compacting’s innovative continuous manufacturing technology help customers achieve efficient production?

Dr. Andreas Risch: Fette Compacting’s leap in China is closely related to its outstanding achievements in continuous tablet production and other fields.

Continuous production is becoming the future trend in drug manufacturing, bringing numerous opportunities to pharmaceutical companies. Traditional unit-based production is gradually shifting to continuous production models, which requires redesigning production lines and enhancing equipment modularity, automation, and intelligence.

Continuous manufacturing is a key model for addressing the current challenges in the pharmaceutical industry, it still faces many challenges, including unclear quality attributes, production process conversion, online testing technologies, and equipment compatibility. Continuous manufacturing requires support from technological innovation, digital automation, and also needs coordination with government regulatory systems. Fette Compacting’s latest advancements in continuous manufacturing for solid dosage forms fully demonstrate its innovation strength and development vitality.

The second-generation continuous production line FE CPS developed by the company features miniaturization, quick changeover, and full online testing capabilities, which can enhance flexibility and automation. Additionally, by cooperating with regulatory authorities to develop standards, Fette Compacting can provide full-process support strategies from system optimization and process validation to quality control. Promoting continuous production has many potential advantages, such as improved production efficiency and reduced costs. Fette Compacting has a global service team and is willing to collaborate with all parties to explore continuous manufacturing solutions and drive the transformation of the pharmaceutical industry.

5.How does Fette Compacting China collaborate with local pharmaceutical companies to drive the development of the global pharmaceutical industry?

Dr. Andreas Risch: We have a global installed base of over 6,000 machines and five global technology centers. One important technology center is located in China, where we also have a production hub. We can leverage our knowledge and expertise in product transfer to meet customer needs.

For example, we had a customer with two existing tablet presses that had low production efficiency and quality issues. Fette Compacting conducted a comprehensive analysis and diagnosis, and developed an optimization plan tailored to the customer’s specific needs, including equipment replacement and process improvements. After implementation, the customer’s capacity, yield, and quality indicators were significantly improved, with nearly a 50% increase in production efficiency. This case fully demonstrates how Fette Compacting’s customer-centric approach and full lifecycle equipment management services can help clients achieve significant performance improvements.

As the wholly-owned subsidiary of Fette Compacting in China, Fette Compacting China, with its deep expertise and relentless pursuit of tablet press technology, has successfully rooted itself in the solid dosage production field in China. With the successful launch of the F30p tablet press, Fette Compacting China will continue to deepen its engagement in the Chinese market, collaborate with more Chinese pharmaceutical companies, and jointly promote innovation and development in the Chinese pharmaceutical industry, contributing to high-quality development in the pharmaceutical industry both in China and worldwide