Global Reach Through Intelligent Manufacturing: Unlocking SIRIO’s Pritzwalk Industrial Park

Global Reach Through Intelligent Manufacturing

Explore SIRIO's global intelligent manufacturing facilities.

Across the long arc of human civilization, sudden sparks of inspiration have often sparked extraordinary innovation. One such moment came in the mid-19th century, when French pharmacists Mothes and Dublanc pioneered the invention of the softgel capsule. Driven by continuous innovation, softgel manufacturing has gained rapid traction and broad market adoption, solidifying its essential role in pharmaceutical packaging thanks to its distinct advantages. By the mid-20th century, softgel technology had significantly advanced in both form and function, with applications expanding well beyond pharmaceuticals into the rapidly growing supplement and cosmetics markets.

SIRIO entered the softgel manufacturing space in 1999, driven by the booming health supplement industry. Around the same time, in the small town of Pritzwalk northwest of Berlin, a pharmaceutical factory had entered the softgel space eight years earlier. Through ongoing advancements in manufacturing techniques and complex formulation development, it steadily evolved into one of Europe's leading softgel producers and was later rebranded as Ayanda. Ayanda officially became part of SIRIO in 2016, serving as its central manufacturing hub in Europe and offering a broad portfolio of softgel and nutritional health solutions to both regional and global markets.

Pioneers in Softgel Technology Applications

The Pritzwalk Industrial Park has been at the forefront of softgel technology and formulation innovation. Leveraging its capacity to store over 2800 high-quality ingredients, the park has developed more than 50 customized formulations and can manufacture softgels containing over ten distinct components. The facility houses three pharmaceutical production lines and eight dietary supplement lines. Its pharmaceutical-grade GMP certification enables advanced quality control processes, with particular emphasis on batch release, contamination prevention, and traceability, ensuring a higher standard of production and service for clients.

In 2019, following ten years of dedicated R&D, the Pritzwalk Industrial Park introduced an innovative formulation that uniquely combines probiotics and Omega-3 fish oil in a single softgel. Although the high temperatures and humidity of the production process posed challenges to probiotic viability, the park significantly improved survival rates by optimizing probiotic characteristics and employing gentle manufacturing techniques. As a result, uncoated probiotics can now stably coexist with oils and vitamins in a single softgel. This innovation enhances efficacy while reducing the dosage required to meet consumers' nutritional needs.

Comprehensive End-to-End Solution Capabilities

As SIRIO's European headquarters, the Pritzwalk Industrial Park provides end-to-end solutions spanning product development, manufacturing, quality testing, and marketing support to fully serve its clients. The park has recently launched a new automated packaging workshop equipped with state-of-the-art bottling and blister lines that meet Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) standards. This upgrade significantly enhances production capacity and reduces delivery lead times to as little as three weeks.

The high-speed bottling line delivers an annual customized output of up to 5 million bottles, accommodating a broad range of volume specifications from 75 mL to 400 mL. Meanwhile, the blister packaging line boasts a production capacity of up to 20 million units per year. The newly established packaging workshop is built to efficiently manage large-volume orders while offering the flexibility to meet the personalized packaging needs of private-label brands. This achievement strengthens the role of the Pritzwalk Industrial Park as a strategic hub for delivering comprehensive end-to-end solutions, ranging from formulation development to final product packaging, across Europe, while advancing SIRIO's broader global expansion and supply chain optimization strategy.

Sustainable manufacturing

SIRIO remains committed to enhancing factory sustainability by consistently integrating sustainable technologies across its global manufacturing network. In recent years, the Pritzwalk Industrial Park has consistently upgraded its production infrastructure, introducing advanced manufacturing and green technologies such as a new HVAC system, dedicated drying rooms, plant-based softgel production equipment, and a combined heat and power (CHP) facility. These enhancements have significantly improved both sustainability and manufacturing quality.

Equipped with state-of-the-art heat pumps, high-efficiency energy recovery systems, and solar panels, the new packaging line significantly reduces energy consumption and emissions while enhancing circular resource utilization. The park has also obtained EU Organic certification (Regulation (EU) 2018/848), Friend of the Sea (FOS), and Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) Chain of Custody certification. These accreditations underscore its rigorous quality standards and commitment to delivering premium products.

The Pritzwalk Industrial Park is more than just a key pillar of SIRIO's global strategy. Looking ahead, it will continue to champion the mission of “advancing nutritional science and enhancing health”, extending its reach across Europe through intelligent manufacturing, innovative R&D, and a rigorous quality management system. By delivering end-to-end nutritional health solutions to an increasingly diverse client base, the park is helping shape a more dynamic and sustainable future for the industry.