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Strict regulations control the quality of ingredients and processes. Uckele's GMP compliant facility manufactures products using the latest technology and equipment to produce capsules, tablets, liquids, powders, soft gels, chewables, sublinguals, abd pastes.
Our Production Team delivers Uckele's customer confidence guarantee of ethical and responsible manufacturing procedures. To ensure Uckele's guarantee that your product is fresh, pure & potent, all products are manufactured using Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) and FDA compliant procedures.
Uckele manufactures only the highest quality, affordable supplements using the finest ingredients, providing full fact labels, a complete analysis, ingredient list, lot number and a Best-if-Used-By date. Your end product is the result of constant communication between Quality Control and Production, following consistent standards of excellence.
One of the Uckele Plant proprietary manufacturing processes protects trace minerals both physically and chemically as they are transported to the small intestine, where they are absorbed. The process involves spraying liquefied kelp onto minerals like Copper, Zinc and Manganese, forming a Polysaccharide Complex. This makes it more bioavailable because the Poly protects the nutrients from mineral interactions until it arrives at the small intestine, where it is released at the site of absorption.
Benefits of the Polysaccharide Complex are:
• Higher bioavailability and absorption
• Less interference from antagonistic nutrients/compounds such as Sulfates, Iron, Molybdenum, Fiber, etc.
• Potential for reduced basic feeding levels while maintaining optimum production
• Less breakdown of vitamins in feed and premixes
Uckele's Powder Process
David Bruce oversees production from start to finish, making the most of Uckele's experienced and skilled production team to ensure that our customers receive the quality product they require. He explains the powder production process, which constitutes the majority of Uckele supplements, "After the formulas are developed, quality in the manufacturing process continues to be the highest priority. There is constant communication between Quality Control and Production. We are always looking for ways to refine and improve the procedure."
1) After careful research & testing by Uckele's experienced Product Development Specialists, a master batch formula is delivered to the manufacturing plant for each and every formula. More than just a recipe, the batch sheet spells out:
• Ingredients
• Quantities
• When ingredients are added
• Blending times
• The final form the product will take, which can include tablets, capsules, powders, liquids, gels, etc.
• Primary packaging specs, such as container type and size
• Secondary packaging specs, ranging from container seals to shipping boxes, with many other possible components
• Label verification & lot numbers
Dave explains, "The next process is relatively complex, with all of the strict standards we require. The number of ingredients in a batch can become a greater factor than the size of the batch." This explains why:
2) Following the Master Formula, ingredients are weighed out before being added to the main batch for mixing. Each weight is cross-checked to ensure proper measurement. Equipment sanitation, facility cleanliness and climate control are just a few of the strict standards followed to ensure that product and ingredient integrity is maintained.
3) Once mixing is complete, the product is then directed to the appropriate processing equipment according to the batch size and output type. The end-product is counted or weighed out, bottled, labeled, and sealed, with a sample of each batch inspected before being released to the shipping area.
Dave concludes, "The team keeps an accurate log of each batch we run, that way, we can keep it consistent, and we can duplicate the process every time."
Uckele has acquired a new automatic bottling line, which allows our production team to fill bottles at speeds up to 30 bottles per minute. Dan Gragg, Product Development Technician, is pleased with the increase in efficiency, which increases productivity, "Recently a 1,000 bottle order was filled in 2 & ½ hours, compared to our previous process, which would have taken nearly 7 hours. We expect continuous, improved output as our manufacturing associates continue to perfect the process." Dan describes how the line works:
1) Empty, pre-labeled bottles are loaded onto the conveyer system
2) The first pass is under the desiccant inserter, which inserts one or multiple packs as needed. The packs absorb moisture and keep the product fresh.
3) The bottles follow the conveyer to a capsule counter with an electronic eye that determines the numbers of capsules placed in each bottle.
4) The conveyer takes the bottles to the cotton inserter, which protects the contents from damage.
5) The bottles are then transported to the automatic capping machine, which passes the bottles through side conveyers and places lids on the bottles under a series of wheels that torque the lids.
6) Then the bottles pass through the induction sealer to seal the safety foil, beneath the heat seal placement machine, and finally, through the heat tunnel to shrink the outside safety seal.
Quality Testing
To further ensure Uckele's guarantee that your product is fresh, pure & potent, our product development system has always provided testing for purity and quality. However, as part of our ongoing improvements, new instruments have been added to our in-house laboratory to further refine our strict product quality testing procedures.
"The in-house lab is for the purpose of Microbe Biology," explains Sheila Shortz, Plant Quality Assurance and Control Coordinator, "We test for possible contamination onsite for bacteria, yeast and mold, e. coli, and staph. This benefits our customers in two ways: it's more cost-effective than sending material out for tests, and even more important, if there ever is a question about an ingredient or product, we will know before it gets to a customer."
The procedure varies depending on the contaminant being tested for, with some requiring a 26-hour incubator waterbath, and all requiring meticulous measuring, weighing, labeling, and sterilizing of each product sample, then an incubation process. A computer hooked up to the incubator provides a graph of the scan results, which are then analyzed for quality and safety. "Each test is at least a two-day process," Sheila explains, "Reasons we test a product might be because it's a new product, or to eliminate concerns. Sheila assured that "all the microbes in the test vials are self-contained and 100% sterile," in other words, "The microbes aren't airborne or contagious."
As the lab develops, increasing the types and numbers of tests we can run, it is another value added to Uckele product standards, service and core values that keeps us on the leading edge of health and nutrition.
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