Please tell us a bit about the company and why you are here at ACHEMA this week.
I Holland has been manufacturing compression tooling over 72 years, for any industries that make tablets from powder. We are one of the oldest companies making compression tooling in the world.
Are you showcasing a particular product or service?
This year we've got three products that we're showcasing on the stand. We have a new tool management system which we've been developing over the past couple of years. As we're seeing more and more regulation coming in around the world, including stricter audits, requirements from subcontractors and governments as well, we must be stricter on the care, maintenance and measurements of tooling.
We introduced a tool management system that manages your tool inventory but also gives you measurement capability, to make sure that your tooling is always in specification. That's the main product we have.
The other thing that we're developing, and we've used it at ACHEMA this time, is an e-learning program. Any new staff can work their way through the e-learning program, right from the basics of turbulent compression, through to the more complex problem solving, as well as care and maintenance.
The last thing we've got is a wear indicator layer. Interestingly enough, when you coat a tool for a reason of sticking or abrasion, a lot of the time a coating that you put on the tool is the same color as the steel underneath. So how do you know when that coating is starting to wear? Well, we've developed a wear indicator layer that goes under the coating. Therefore, once the coating starts to wear, that starts to show through and you can see it.
What do you think makes your products unique?
I Holland's strength is that we have a very active research and development department. We are constantly looking at innovation and process improvement. There are always new innovations coming onto the market and new processes, so we like to keep up and make sure that we're able to offer those to our customers to help them with their problems.
What kind of application areas do your products apply to?
To be honest, if you pressed harder into a tablet form, that's what we're there to help you to do. We provide pressed tooling to every industry, from pharmaceuticals through to nutraceuticals. We also cater to industrial applications such as dishwasher tablets, airbag pellets and even pyrotechnic fireworks.