CIPM 2026 Q&A: Smart OSD Manufacturing, Triple-Eccentric Mixing and Coating

At CIPM 2026 in Xiamen (October 27-29, 2026), visitors to JIANPAI Booth 2-B27 did not ask for brochures. They asked hard, practical questions, the kind that come from people who have to run a solid dosage plant every day. This is the second of our two CIPM 2026 Q&A articles. The first covered centrifugal granulation and the 3-in-1 granulator. This one covers smart OSD manufacturing, the triple-eccentric mixer, and the coating and wet granulation problems customers keep running into.

Q3: Smart Solid Dosage Manufacturing: Where Is the Innovation, and Can It Really Be Implemented?

Customer question: “Everyone talks about smart manufacturing, but many suppliers just add a screen to the machine. How does JIANPAI build a smart OSD line, and can it really be implemented? If it cannot be implemented, we would rather not do it.”

JIANPAI answer: In smart factory projects, the first concern is whether it can actually be put into practice. And that depends on whether the equipment layer delivers true and complete data.

Pharmaceutical plant digitization is usually described in three layers:

• Equipment layer: process equipment, utilities, warehousing and logistics.
• Production control layer: DCS, PLC, SCADA and batch control.
• Business management layer: MES, LIMS, WMS, QMS and similar systems.

If data does not flow between these layers, even the best upper-level software cannot make accurate decisions. The first point where data is created is always the equipment. That is where JIANPAI focuses: data that should come from the equipment is generated inside the equipment, without manual re-entry or after-the-fact reconstruction, so data integrity is protected at the source. In practice that means four things.

1. Merge steps at the equipment level, so there is less to record. Equipment is the foundation of any smart line. The 3-in-1 granulator, for example, puts wet granulation, fluid bed drying and dry sizing into one chamber, so the transfer step disappears. Material does not touch the floor, is not exposed and is not moved, and the related losses and cross-contamination risks go with it. One fewer transfer means one fewer uncontrolled variable, and one fewer point the system needs to monitor.
2. Lock process parameters into recipes, not operator memory. Parameters are stored as PLC recipes that can be saved, adjusted and reused. Spray volume is calculated automatically to reduce manual errors. When the recipe lives in the machine, repeating the same batch becomes realistic.
3. Make the process transferable, so scale-up does not drift. A process developed at small scale should not need to be rebuilt for production. When the process transfers, data becomes comparable across batch sizes, and that is when “smart” starts to mean something. The line can integrate PAT tools such as different types of NIR spectrometers, moisture measurement and particle size measurement to collect quality data in real time, linking process parameters to quality results in a traceable way. Once these three points are in place, the equipment delivers not only capacity but a stable, repeatable process record.
4. Connect the data to MES, WMS and other systems. Where a plant already has mature systems and suppliers, JIANPAI connects to them rather than replacing them. For a new plant, JIANPAI provides the overall line system design and intelligent control architecture. Either way, the reliability of this layer depends on the first three: if equipment data is not true and complete, upper-level decisions have nothing solid to stand on.

For a planning view of the whole line, see how to plan an efficient solid dosage production line from scratch and our totally-enclosed granulating production line.

Q4: Why Has the Triple-Eccentric Mixer Stayed in Demand in Pharma and Lithium Battery Materials?

Customer question: “Mixers are everywhere: V-type, double-cone, 3D motion, double-shaft. Why does your triple-eccentric mixer sell at a higher price, and keep selling for so long?”

JIANPAI answer: The difference is in several patented design features, not in the outside shape.

1. Triple eccentricity. The JPH triple-eccentric mixer is eccentric radially, axially and vertically at the same time. As the vessel turns, material is pushed in three offset directions and never repeats the same path. The vessel is also asymmetric in six directions (up-down, left-right, front-back), so material keeps crossing at different speeds and directions, leaving no dead zones.
2. Loading and volume. Triple-eccentric mixers cover 50 L to 20 m³. Other conventional mixers usually stop at around 2,000 L, so larger batches need several machines running in parallel, which creates batch-to-batch differences. The vessel and drive design lets one triple-eccentric mixer handle large volumes. That is the key reason it is established in lithium battery materials, where anode graphite batches are often measured in tonnes (see our anode graphite mixing application).
3. High uniformity. Uniformity is the most important performance indicator of any mixing process. The triple-eccentric mixer reaches 99%+ mixing uniformity; 1 kg of material can be blended directly into 1,000 kg of other material and mixed evenly. This does not change with machine size: the 100 L lab model and the large-volume models use the same motion principle, so uniformity does not drop on scale-up.

Its long run in both industries comes from four properties holding at the same time: large volume, high uniformity, low particle breakage and easy cleaning. Pharma cares most about uniformity; battery materials care most about volume and low breakage. One machine serves both. Browse the full pharma blender range, or read why uniformity matters in tablet content uniformity failures.

Q5: Coating and Wet Granulation: Common Problems and How JIANPAI Solves Them

Coating

Customer question: “Our coating keeps showing the same problems: edge chipping, broken tablets, color difference and spots. You have built coating machines for 30 years. How do you solve these?”

JIANPAI answer: Those problems fall into four groups by root cause, and each one is answered by a specific design feature.

• Edge chipping, broken tablets, uneven surfaces. The root cause is the baffle design: conventional baffles push tablet cores against each other, and edges wear first. JIANPAI coating pans use a patented agitation structure that keeps the tablet bed tumbling steadily, without dragging, squeezing or breaking tablets.
• Color difference within a batch. Usually caused by unstable spray volume and uneven atomization. JIANPAI uses a variable-frequency peristaltic pump to dose the liquid, so spray rate no longer depends on operator feel, and the total spray volume can be calculated automatically.
• Spots and color patches. Mostly caused by a clogged or dripping spray gun: one drop on the tablet surface becomes one spot. JIANPAI precision spray guns are anti-clog and anti-drip, atomize steadily and are easier to clean.
• Long cleaning and difficult changeovers. Switching from sugar to film coating, or between products, often means half a day of strip-down and washing. The JGB-K replaceable drum coater changes the pan, not the machine, with pans available in several sizes.

More on coater selection: how to choose a tablet coating machine, or browse all tablet coating machines.

Wet granulation

Customer question: “We already have wet granulators. The problem is that granules from the same bowl sometimes have uneven density and low yield, every new batch needs the parameters reset, and we keep adding more binder. What do you do about it?”

JIANPAI answer: These four symptoms are really one problem: unstable material flow in the bowl. If the material does not turn over evenly, density is uneven. If shear is insufficient, yield drops. Without recipe memory, parameters depend on the operator. And when the front end is uneven, the back end can only compensate by adding more binder.

One honest reminder: wet granulation uniformity depends not only on the machine, but also on fill level and formula moisture. Results come when loading stays within a sensible range and binder addition is well paced. That is why JIANPAI invites customers to bring their own material and run their own formula on our trial machines before choosing equipment. See the high shear mixer range.

First-Class Medicines Need First-Class Equipment

A little less uniformity, and tablet content varies. Poor particle size control, and coating and filling problems follow. One more transfer, one more chance of cross-contamination. Two extra hours of cleaning, and over a year that becomes hundreds of labor hours. None of these are “minor issues”. They end up in batch records and release decisions.

That is why JIANPAI holds that first-class medicines need first-class equipment and manufacturing, a view built on project experience. Founded in 1997, JIANPAI has focused on solid dosage equipment for about 30 years, covering coating, granulation, drying, mixing, transfer, cleaning, milling and sizing, and fully enclosed smart production lines. We have served more than 2,000 customers, completed thousands of projects and exported to more than 30 countries. JIANPAI is a national high-tech enterprise, a National Torch Program project undertaker and a Zhejiang specialized and innovative SME. See our facts & figures.

FAQ

How does JIANPAI make a smart OSD line work in practice?

By making the equipment layer produce true, complete data: merging steps at the machine, storing parameters as PLC recipes, making processes transferable with PAT such as NIR, moisture and particle size measurement, and then connecting to MES and WMS.

Can JIANPAI connect to our existing MES or WMS?

Yes. Where a plant already has mature systems, JIANPAI connects to them; for new plants, JIANPAI provides the overall line system design and control architecture.

What volume range does the triple-eccentric mixer cover?

From 50 L to 20 m³, while many conventional mixers stop at about 2,000 L.

How uniform is the triple-eccentric mixer?

Mixing uniformity reaches 99%+, and 1 kg of material can be blended evenly into 1,000 kg. Uniformity does not drop from the 100 L lab model to large models.

How does JIANPAI reduce color difference and spots in tablet coating?

A variable-frequency peristaltic pump doses the spray liquid with automatic total-volume calculation, and precision anti-clog, anti-drip spray guns prevent drops that cause spots.

Why does wet granulation give uneven density and low yield?

Usually because material flow in the bowl is unstable. Fill level and formula moisture also matter, so JIANPAI recommends a trial with your own material.