The following is a Tablet Matrix check list where you will be asked some general information. It will give us an idea of your needs and give you some things to consider when designing a new tablet.

The Tablet Matrix considers the needs of various departments within your company:

Purchasing -- Total tooling cost - Value for your tooling dollar

Marketing -- A tablet which is appealing to the consumer
Production -- A tablet which is easy to compress, coats uniformly,

prints distinctly, and packages efficiently

Using the same formulation will you produce a variety of dosages?

YES   NO

At small milligram dosages, any benefit derived from producing an unique looking shape or tablet identification can be diminished due to a tablet small size.

Is marketing concerned with product distinction ?

YES   NO

Many patients take a number of prescribed pills, and need to distinguish one medication from another. Marketing is looking for product recognition and may want to patent or trademark a design. Either a tablet's shape or concavity can be altered to fulfill these needs.

Should the tablet appear to be easy to swallow?

YES   NO

A proportionally designed tablet should appear easy to swallow. If the tablet band is too thin, compression problems and friability may occur. If the tablet is too thick, it can lose it's aesthetic appeal, and may cause ejection problems in production.

Are there any formulation compressibility characteristics that may affect the tablet design?

Formulation characteristics is a critical issue and will affect the tablet's concavity design, height, and tool strength.

YES:

Sticky
Temperature sensitive
Humidity sensitive
Abrasive

NO:
Easy to compress

Do you know the compression force required to achieve the required tablet hardness?

Knowing this information will determine the tablet cup, height, design, and size. This will enable production to press at an optimum speed.

Less than 1 us/ton
Between 1 and 2 us/ton
Between 2 and 3 us/ton
More than 3 us/ton
Unknown

How will the tablet be consumed?

If the compression force is not known, then we need to know how the tablet will be consumed. Consumption is related to how hard the tablet possibly will be and it gives the designer a clue to the possible cup height ranges that should be used.

Chewable
Swallowed
Effervescent

Will the tablet be formed using more than one layer of formulation?

Often, higher compression forces are required to compact a layered tablet. Layering restricts the tablet cup height.

Two
More than two

Will the tablet have an inner core?

Full tablet within a tablet. There are design considerations such as: tablet size, cup height, and style.

YES   NO

Will the tablet be encapsulated?

The compressed tablet is placed inside a standard gel capsule.
YES   NO

Is consumer dexterity an issue?

Due to illness or age, some consumers may have difficulty picking a tablet up off a flat surface, or breaking the tablet into partial dosage. Computerized contouring can be an aid in designing to solve this problem.

YES   NO

Will the tablet be coated?

During the coating operation, a tablet must coat evenly, and engraved text must be legible. Tablets cannot twin, chip, or abrade.

YES   NO

Will the consumer need to fracture the tablet into a partial dosage?

A variety of Scores or Bisects are available to control the degree of functionality required.

YES   NO

How will any text or tablet identification appear on the tablet surface?

Engraved - Text appears to be grooved into the tablet surface.

Embossed - Text appears to be raised from the tablet surface.
Printed

If printed, what style of printing?

Radial - Text is printed around the tablet circumference
Linear - The most common method. The full text appears across the tablet surface. One must consider the tablet minor axis to gage the thickness ratio in order to maintain consistent orientation during the printing process.

Would you like to see a color photo-realistic print of your tablet before it's made?

We can create your tablet in our computer, color it, and send you a photo-realistic print.

YES   NO

Would you like to see a prototype of your new tablet before tooling is made?

We can provide you with an ELIZATAB . It is a full tablet made to the exact dimensions and color. YES   NO

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Thank you for taking the time to fill out the new design questionnaire. Please click on the submit button when you are ready to have someone fromThe Elizabeth Companies contact you.

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