PHARMA FOCUS: TABLETTING & ENCAPSULATION
A 40 year journey to building a South African legacy
Over the past four decades, Hersol Manufacturing Laboratories has grown from a one-man business to a leading South African manufacturer that employs approximately 500 people. The company celebrated its 40th anniversary in 2020. By Abby Vorster
H
ERSOL MANUFACTURING
always holding quality and service as our main
LABORATORIES (Hersol) has the ability
ingredients to success.”
to supply most types of products within
The new building has given Hersol the room it needed to expand existing operations while
As a result of this growth, Hersol has
increasing its capabilities in the research and
the complementary medicines (CAMs) and health
increased its production capacity in line with
development, production and packing of CAMs
supplements space. Based in Johannesburg,
customer demand. The company’s expansion
and health supplements.
South Africa, the company manufactures a wide
incorporated installing new high-tech equipment,
variety of dosage forms. These include single- and
establishing a fully equipped laboratory and most
STRONG CULTURE AND VALUES
double-layer tablets, coated and uncoated (sugar
recently, the purchase of buildings adjacent to
Hersol’s team is its biggest asset. While the
and film coating) tablets, time-release dosage
Hersol’s original site. It now owns two blocks
senior management has over 50 years’ combined
forms, effervescent tablets, capsules, powders,
within the Jeppestown suburb, which it has
experience in tabletting and R&D processes,
gels, ointments and lotions, syrups and liquids. All
transformed into world-class manufacturing and
every employee is highly skilled and valued for
products produced by Hersol are manufactured
warehousing sites using high-level construction.
their contribution to the company.
according to pharmaceutical standards and legislation as prescribed by the relevant governing authorities. These include the South African Health Products Regulatory Authority, SA Pharmacy Council and the FDA. In the early days, the company operated from a modest IT network consisting of four computers. Today, its operations are reliant on a robust 80-workstation network, with integrated software running all aspects of the business.
A ONE-STOP SHOP Growth and expansion have been key goals for Hersol, which the company has steadily achieved. In 40 years, the business has gone from producing products for a handful of customers to large-scale third-party manufacturing for multinational customers, export markets including those in Africa, and leading retail pharmacies. “We are a one-stop shop,” comments Hersol’s management team, “from NPD to market, and we do all pharmaceutical dosage forms (except steriles), in almost all types of available pharmaceutical packaging. Natural medicines also form part of our product range. We have become multifaceted in servicing our customers,
Hersol’s new high-speed, fully -automated encapsulation machine
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QUARTER 1 2021 // P&C AFRICA
