For tablet manufacturers, every additional processing step adds time, cost, and a potential point of variability. This is where direct-compressible (DC) granules come in. By moving more of the preparation upstream to a specialist supplier, manufacturers can simplify their own production and focus on what they do best.
What are DC granules?
Direct-compressible granules are pre-processed blends engineered to be compressed straight into tablets, without the need for additional wet granulation in-house. They are designed with the right flow, density, and compressibility characteristics so they perform predictably on a tablet press.
Direct compression versus wet granulation
Traditional wet granulation involves mixing, wetting, drying, and milling before compression — effective, but time- and energy-intensive. Direct compression skips much of this by using ready-to-press materials. The result is typically fewer processing steps, lower energy use, reduced equipment requirements, and faster throughput, which can be especially valuable for moisture-sensitive actives.
The advantage of customisation
Off-the-shelf blends don't always suit a specific formulation. Customised DC granules are tailored to your requirements — adjusting excipient composition, particle size, and flow properties to match your active ingredient and target tablet profile. This helps improve content uniformity, ensures consistent tablet weight and hardness, and reduces trial-and-error during scale-up.
Quality you can build on
Because these granules form the foundation of a finished dosage form, the quality safeguards behind them matter. A capable partner should offer consistent batch-to-batch quality, complete documentation (COA, MSDS, TDS), and manufacturing standards suited to regulated markets.
Choosing the right granulation partner
When selecting a supplier, consider their formulation expertise, their ability to customise rather than simply supply, their quality certifications, and their capacity to scale with your needs.
At SBF Pharma, we added a dedicated Granulation Department in 2023 to produce customised DC granules and custom-blended mixtures, building on more than two decades of raw-material manufacturing experience. Backed by ISO 9001:2015 and Halal certifications — and an upcoming WHO-GMP facility for tablet and capsule manufacturing — we help customers move "From Raw to Ready" with confidence.
If you have a custom granulation requirement, we'd love to discuss it. Reach out to our team to get started. Discover our customised DC granules range.