Superior Durability
Engineered to withstand high compression forces and extend tooling life.
Premium Tablet Compression Tooling
Pharmaceutical Tooling
Engineered for precision, durability, and performance. Drawing on decades of experience to deliver the tightest tolerances in the industry for your critical pharmaceutical applications
MaterialsPremium Steels & Carbides
CoatingsAdvanced Solutions
DesignsMulti-Tip & Custom
The Standard for Precision
Elizabeth Companies has been a leader in compression tooling since 1954. Our pharmaceutical tooling is manufactured to the tightest tolerances, ensuring consistent tablet weight, thickness, and hardness control.
- Decades of Expertise: Manufacturing excellence since 1954.
- Premium Materials: Utilizing the finest PM steels, carbides, and ceramics.
- Advanced Coatings: Proprietary treatments for anti-stick and wear resistance.
- Global Support: Manufacturing and technical service centers worldwide.
Engineered for Performance
Integrating innovative designs to overcome your toughest tableting challenges.
Anti-Stick Solutions
Proven specialized coatings to resolve picking and sticking issues.
Multi-Tip Tooling
Significantly increase production output without increasing press speed.
Complex Geometry
Expert design for non-round, scored, and complex tablet shapes.
Materials & Coatings
We offer a wide range of premium steel grades and advanced coatings tailored to your specific formulation challenges.
Punch Material Options
Selecting the right material is critical for performance and longevity. Options include standard and premium grades.
- Standard S7: Shock-resisting tool steel.
- S7 ESR: Electro-slag remelted for higher purity.
- D2 & A2: High-carbon, high-chromium tool steels.
- 440C: Martensitic stainless steel.
- Premium Grades: DC53.
- Specialty: Carbide and ceramic inserts available.
Tooling Coating Options
Advanced coatings designed to reduce friction, prevent sticking, and increase wear resistance against abrasive formulations.
- Chromium Nitride (CrN): Excellent general-purpose anti-stick coating.
- Titanium Nitride (TiN): Gold-colored coating for wear resistance.
- Custom/Other: Proprietary multi-layer coatings available upon engineering review for specific challenges.
- Plain Chrome: Good general-purpose anti-sticking coating.
- DLC (Diamond-Like Coating): Wear resistance similar to TiN.
- IBED (Ion Beam Enhanced Deposition): Advanced coating that improves wear and corrosion resistance, with certain coatings adding lubricity to reduce sticking.
Tooling Options & Customization
Tailor your tooling specifications to optimize tablet quality and press performance.
Technical Specifications
We manufacture tooling to all major global standards, supporting a wide range of tablet sizes.
| Standard Type | Common Sizes Available | Typical Application |
|---|---|---|
| TSM Standard (US) | B, BB, D | High-speed rotary presses in North & South America. |
| EU Standard (Metric) | B, BB, D | High-speed rotary presses globally (Europe/Asia). |
| Specialty / Other | RTP, TDP, Core Rod, Multi-Tip | R&D, single-station presses, and specialized high-volume production. |
Shapes & Geometries
From standard rounds to complex custom shapes, we manufacture precisely what you need.
RoundCapsuleOvalSquare / Rect.TriangleHexagonCustom...
Tablet Face Profiles
Select the ideal profile for tablet coating, friability, and aesthetic requirements.
Standard ConcaveDeep ConcaveFlat Face PlainFlat Face BevelCompound CupModified BallShallow Concave
Facing a tough tableting challenge?
Contact our tooling experts to discuss material selection, coating options, or custom designs for your formulation.
Contact engineering
Pharmaceutical Tooling FAQs
What is pharmaceutical tooling?
Pharmaceutical tooling is the set of punches and dies used in tablet presses to form tablets. It controls tablet size, shape, and weight while supporting consistent dosage and quality in regulated manufacturing environments.
Why is tooling critical in pharmaceutical manufacturing?
Tooling directly affects tablet weight, hardness, and consistency. It plays a key role in meeting regulatory requirements, maintaining batch uniformity, and reducing defects during production.
How does pharmaceutical tooling ensure dosage accuracy?
Tooling helps maintain consistent tablet volume through precise die dimensions and punch alignment. While fill cams control how much material enters the die, well-made tooling ensures that volume is formed consistently during compression.
What problems can poor pharmaceutical tooling cause?
Poor tooling can lead to weight variation, sticking, capping, and inconsistent tablets. These issues can affect product quality and create compliance risks in regulated environments.
How do you choose the right pharmaceutical tooling?
Choose tooling based on tablet design, press compatibility, production volume, and formulation properties. The right tooling supports consistent output and helps meet quality and regulatory standards.
Our experience through the years, in numerous applications from pharmaceutical tooling to industrial tooling, has shown us that quality tablet compression tooling and tablet dies can't be produced without the use of quality raw materials, manufactured to strict specifications. For example, we exclusively use electric furnace-produced steel, vacuum-melted in 100,000 pound heat-lots to aerospace specifications for uniformity and cleanliness. All tablet dies and pharmaceutical tooling is formed from high-nickel, high-chrome shock steel that must meet Elizabeth's strict requirements before being considered.
Keeping abreast of today's latest equipment, techniques and processes is no easy task. Not only do we invest continuously in new technology; employees are constantly undergoing training and honing of their skills. We take genuine pride in the work we do and the equipment we use. Matching the finest machinists with the finest machinery makes for an unbeatable combination. And the Production R&D Department redesigns and modifies machinery to further improve and speed production.
To complete the loop, The Elizabeth Companies depends upon its meticulous in-process and final inspections to confirm the quality of our compression tooling. Inspectors utilize the latest in QC technology and processes including laser measuring equipment accurate to +/-.00001 inches and electronic height, OD and concentricity gauges. Conventional equipment such as micrometers, pin gauges, optical comparators, section microscopes, and contour trackers can also to be found in our QC department. Ultimately, all compression tooling shipped will meet or exceed the customers' specifications as well as our own very stringent standards.
Dies
Elizabeth produces the world's finest dies with the highest quality raw materials. A variety of high wear materials including D3, stainless 440C, DC-53 are available and recommended according to your tableting needs. This is what makes Elizabeth your global source for tableting solutions.
