High-quality products, rapidly and reliably supplied, are an absolute necessity for the promotion of self-medication. Sato has strengthened the cooperation between its main production facility, the Hachioji Factory, and the high-tech facilities of its next-generation production center, the Kazusa Factory, as well as with its main international production facility in Taiwan, to better serve the varied needs of consumers through the most appropriate production system.

The introduction of new equipment marks a new step in the evolution of
Sato's main Hachioji Factory

First opened in 1961, the Hachioji Factory has been the center of Sato Pharmaceutical’s production from the days of Japan's postwar economic boom. Occupying a 25,000-square-meter site in the western suburbs of Tokyo, the factory can handle a wide range of pharmaceutical formulations in its new production wing, where the most advanced production facilities have been introduced. From 2007 to 2008, with the product lineup expanding and the facilities undergoing reconstruction and expansion, a number of new facilities were introduced to reduce labor and increase production speed. Within the new production wing is an additional production line for SATAB, the orally-dissolving tablet. This line is responsible for meeting the increasing demand for orally-dissolving tablets for motion-sickness, allergy, fever and many other conditions. The push-through packaging (PTP) line has a robotic high-speed pillow packaging system for the reliable, fast production of pillow-type products such as the Stona series. An additional coating machine has been added to the tablet production process, with automatic operations that help provide stable film tablet production. Also, in an ISO-certified factory, the machine helps reduce organic solvent usage from previous levels―an important contribution to reducing environmental impact.

In the ointment production building, the line producing the Pastaron series and other ethical pharmaceuticals has been enhanced with a new ointment machine and packaging machine. A signiant increase in production efciency has been seen since operations began in June 2008.

Kazusa Factory: application of IT makes this a fully-automatic,
high-tech production center

Located in a rolling green setting in Chiba Prefecture, across the bay from Tokyo, is the Kazusa Factory, a next-generation facility featuring the latest technologies and high-speed, labor-saving production capabilities. The use of IT technologies has made this almost entirely automatic, so the factory functions like an enormous robot. The drink production line, completed in October 2002, is the center of Yunker production. All manufacturing processes are automatically controlled by computer, with a production speed of 600 bottles per minute. To provide quick response to increasing demand for drink products sold in packs, a two-bottle pack/three-bottle pack high-speed overlap line providing twice the production speed of existing equipment was introduced in April 2007.

The new external medicine wing, which began operations in March 2008, is used primarily for the production of medical-use external treatments. Building on the previously-opened internal-use liquid medicine wing, the introduction of the most advanced equipment means a production capability of 15 million units of ointments and 8.5 million units of external medicines annually. The ointments include ethical pharmaceuticals such as Dalacin T Gel 1% and Texmeten Universal Cream, while external-use medicines include the OTC product Nazal Spray. The external medicine wing makes use of steroids, so the implementation of a production environment that is in keeping with the World Health Organization's Good Manufacturing Practice is now being considered. Sato is working to construct flexible production lines that can produce a variety of materials and packaging in a safe and clean manufacturing environment.