The compounding industry is changing. While there may be some running the same formulations day-in day-out, most compounders now run shorter production runs and are making more frequent product changeovers. Many are also very likely handling an ever more diverse variety of recipes. This shift to small batch production brings new challenges — having the flexibility to handle many different resins and additives and the ability to reconfigure a line from one production job to the next becomes critical in controlling cost and maintaining quality.

To learn how compounders can prepare their operations for efficient and effective small batch production Compounding World Editor-in-Chief Chris Smith turned to three compounding industry experts: Luis Roca, Leader of Compounding at the Aimplas plastics technical institute in Spain; Austin Lindsey, Regional Sales Manager at US-based compounding machinery and wear parts manufacturer Entek; and Frank Lechner, Head of Process Technology at German compounding machinery and systems maker Coperion.

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