02 October 2025

Precision in Every Break: Advancing Tablet Hardness Testing

Why automated alignment technologies are transforming tablet hardness testing—ensuring accuracy, repeatability, compliance, and confidence in every batch.

Tablet hardness testing (breaking force) is a cornerstone of pharmaceutical quality control. A tablet’s strength not only protects it during packaging and transport but also directly affects how it dissolves and delivers therapeutic results. Accurate and repeatable testing is therefore non-negotiable.

Reliable quality starts with reliable alignment. Even minor misplacement can lead to inconsistent readings, wasted product, and compromised data. That’s why SOTAX developed innovative solutions designed to take the guesswork out of hardness testing:
 

• AutoAlign™ for precise positioning of convex tablets.
• SmartAlign™ for automated alignment of flat, hexagonal, cylindrical, or spherical shapes.
• SmartLift™ for consistent vertical placement and repeatability.

These patented technologies are incorporated into the various tablet hardness testers from SOTAX. Regardless of the configuration, whether semi-automatic or fully automatic, tablet manufacturers can enhance their efficiency, eliminate variability, and maintain compliance with USP <1217> and Ph.Eur. 2.9.8 standards.

Read the recently published Application Note, "Tablet Hardness Testing – Ensuring Accurate and Repeatable Measurements," to learn more about the challenges of tablet hardness testing and SOTAX's proven solutions.