LFA Machines was started in 2009, initially focusing on small tablet presses. We took time to identify who our customers would be and how we could best serve them. As we learned about the market and the struggles our customers were facing, we decided that:
LFA Machines’ mission is to become synonymous with the tableting and encapsulation of supplements and confectionery.
While our tablet presses can be used in other industries such as compound pharmacies, chemical manufacturing and pharmaceuticals, we discovered that it was simply impossible for us to be experts in all of them. We have found that by honing our expertise in vitamins, minerals and herbal extracts, we are better able to support our customers who need us the most.
How is LFA Machines fulfilling its mission?
LFA Machines has developed three distinct websites to make it simpler for our customers to find the answers they need. LFA Tablet Presses, LFA Capsule Fillers and LFA Mixers have been deliberately kept separate and easy to navigate, so that rather than being faced with a plethora of irrelevant information, everything you want to know under these three broad headings is to be found in one specific location.
As we built these websites, we also developed our team. And as our team grew, we evolved a set of values to which we now all commit.
LFA Machines values are to Grow, Learn and Better Ourselves through being Supportive.
We have taken these values and applied them to our mission. In doing so we believe that we have become the industry leader in supporting supplement and confectionery manufacturing companies. Here is how each one of our values affects you as one of LFA Machines’ customers:
Grow
At LFA Machines we know that the best way to grow our business is to help you grow yours. It is our belief that if we can help our customers grow consistently, then they would reward us with repeat business. With this in mind, we asked our customers what the one challenge was that they were facing that stood in the way of their growth.
There is no-one out there to support me from the start to the finish of my project. I buy my machinery from one company, my tooling from another and my excipients from a third. What I really want is an out of the box solution. The right machine with the right tooling in it and a formulation that is going to work. – S Watson, USA
Product Range – LFA Machines started by only offering a small range of machinery. Over time we have grown the product range to include related tooling and excipients, becoming a single place to get everything you need for supplement and confectionery manufacturing.
Team – We have grown our team from the initial two founders in 2009. Every time we bring on a team member, we add skills and knowledge that you are able to access. This includes technical writers, R&D engineers, our food safety team and formulation specialists.
Locations – We have also grown the number of locations we are operating in. LFA Machines currently owns offices in the USA, UK and Taiwan. We know that for our customers to grow they need the best quality support as close to them as possible, which is why we have also built a network of expert distributors.
Despite all of the ways we have grown our business to help you grow yours, we are careful not to outgrow our capabilities. We make sure we stay focused on what we are good at, and this is why we have specialised in tableting and the encapsulation of supplements and confectionery.
Our growth has also allowed us to hold a broader range of machines, tooling and spare parts. That means customers can move from an early trial batch to a larger production line without losing the practical support that helped them get started.
We measure growth by the outcomes our customers achieve, not simply by the number of machines we supply. A successful installation is one that remains productive, reliable and appropriate for the business as its requirements change.
By staying close to the industries we serve, we can invest in the products and services that remove genuine production bottlenecks. That focus keeps our expansion useful to customers rather than growth for its own sake.
Learn
Looking back to when LFA Machines was first established in 2009, we now know how very little we knew then about the industry we were looking to support. Over the years we have learned, built up our experience and expertise in the sector. All of this learning has done two things for us that allow us to better serve you, our customer:
We Understand The Challenges You Are Facing
There was a time when LFA made its first tablet! We know how hard it is to formulate supplement and confectionery recipes. When we first set out, there were almost no resources available to help businesses learn these skills. As we have compiled our knowledge, we have decided not to keep it a secret, but to share it openly.
Videos – We have a full-time internal content creation team that creates “How To” videos for you. These cover everything from operating our machinery to understanding how bonds are formed in tablets and how to check whether your powder will flow.
Articles – We have published over 100 articles to help you understand the more technical aspects of tableting and supplement encapsulation.
Documentation – Our in-house team is constantly working on documentation to make sure it is as thorough and easy-to-use as possible. It is made available on our sites before you make the decision to work with us.
Website Tools – We have developed tools to make all aspects of tableting and encapsulation easier, including flowability calculators, mix calculators and ways to record the quality of finished products.
We Keep Learning
Despite how far we have come, we know that there is always more to learn. We are relentless learners. As we push our knowledge and deepen our expertise, we bring those benefits to you. We continue to improve our resources and the machines we sell.
We are able to take this passion for learning and apply it to the challenges that our customers are facing. Over the years, we have implemented a number of GMP standards as well as ISO 9001, ISO 22000, HACCP and The Orange Guide to help our customers understand how our products integrate with their systems.
Questions raised by customers are shared across our technical, sales and content teams. The answer to one difficult formulation or maintenance problem can then become a useful guide, video or improvement for many more people.
We learn by testing as well as listening. New tooling, materials and machine changes are assessed in realistic production conditions so that the advice we publish is grounded in practical experience.
This habit of documenting what we learn gives customers access to the same information wherever they are located and makes it easier for our international teams to provide consistent support.
Better Ourselves
At LFA Machines we know that if your business does well, then ours does too. Traditional machine sellers sell you a machine, and then it is up to you to manufacture tablets. By deciding to sell excipients and empty capsules as well, we are not only invested in getting you set up, but in making sure your machine runs smoothly.
Team – We feel that our team should be an extension of yours. Each team member has made a commitment to constantly better themselves, supported by investment from LFA Machines.
We have hundreds of hours of internal training videos so that each team member can access all of our cumulative knowledge. We also invest in external training courses, making each member of our team a stronger resource for you.
Machines – We are constantly working to better the machinery we sell. Our Formulations Team in the USA works with our R&D Engineering Team in Taiwan, giving us unique insight into how formulations actually perform in our machinery.
Excipients – Making a tablet, capsule or powder blend is a delicate dance between the machine, the tooling and the formulation. We work closely with suppliers to make sure the products we offer are safe and work uniquely well with our machines.
Ultimately the best way that we are able to better ourselves is by helping our customers take on the interesting challenges of bringing their products to market. If you are facing a challenge that happens to be one we have not seen before, all the better.
We review our processes after installations, support cases and product launches. Small improvements to documentation, packaging or training can have a meaningful effect when they are repeated across every customer experience.
Our engineering and formulation teams work together so that improvements are considered as part of a complete production system. Better machinery is most valuable when the tooling, powder and operating method have also been taken into account.
That approach encourages every member of the team to take ownership of quality. We want the experience of choosing, receiving and operating an LFA machine to become clearer and more dependable over time.
Supportive
LFA Machines prides itself on being a supportive environment. We fundamentally understand that our business is supporting you in your business. Our three other values of Growth, Learning and Bettering Ourselves all allow us to be the most supportive we can to your business.
We have found that one of the best ways to be supportive is to listen. We know that it is you who is facing the challenges and has the unique ideas, and we have so much to learn from you.
To overcome issues around access to information, we have made sure we are the most transparent machinery retailer that we know. We list our prices on our sites, saving you time and allowing you to calculate how much an investment will cost.
We currently offer technical support in English, German, Mandarin, Japanese and Spanish and are always looking to grow our team in a way that facilitates better communication with you.
We offer on-site training to any of our customers at our facilities. If you are not able to visit us in person, we are happy to provide technical support over the phone or through our manuals, tutorial videos and web tools.
We back all of this up with ongoing maintenance support. Our customers have made it clear that the best way we can support them is by having spare parts in stock and ready to ship. Even if your machine is out of warranty, we are still happy to help with fairly priced spare parts.
Support begins before a machine is ordered. By understanding the intended product, batch size and working environment, our team can help customers choose equipment that suits what they are actually trying to make.
After delivery, we remain available for commissioning, training, troubleshooting and maintenance. Our aim is to give operators the confidence and information they need to keep production moving safely.
Being supportive also means being honest about what our equipment can and cannot do. Clear recommendations build better long-term relationships and help customers make decisions with fewer surprises.
If you have any questions or would just like to talk to someone about how LFA Machines can best support your business, please get in contact.
