Design and Commissioning of a Nutraceuticals Manufacturing Plant in Indore, India

Sandeep Kachhwaha
Apr 9
2 min read

1.Challenge

An Indore-based e-commerce company, founded by a team of young and energetic management graduates, had built a successful nutraceuticals business selling on platforms like Amazon and Flipkart.

Their portfolio included over 250 SKUs, all sourced through third-party manufacturing.

With annual sales of approximately USD 6 million, they now aimed to bring production in-house to:

Gain control over quality, compliance, and timelines
Reduce long-term costs
Build a facility aligned with US GMP standards for future exports
Set up an integrated warehouse, packaging, and e-commerce dispatch center

Key challenges included:

Convincing first-time manufacturers to invest in a GMP-compliant plant
Designing a facility for multiple dosage forms and packaging formats
Educating owners on equipment, instruments, and compliance requirements
Recruiting and training technical and operational staff from scratch

2. Project Objectives

Design and commission a manufacturing facility compliant with FSSAI and US FDA guidelines
Enable in-house manufacturing of tablets, capsules, powders with packaging in bottles, sachets, and blisters
Create a well-organized warehouse and dispatch center to manage inventory and e-commerce packaging
Recruit and train a skilled workforce
Obtain statutory approvals to initiate commercial production

3. Our Approach

A. Facility Design & Space Optimization

Created URS (User Requirement Specification) and DQ (Design Qualification) documents
Calculated equipment capacity for each dosage form and aligned operations accordingly
Due to space constraints on the ground floor, a mezzanine level was designed to house QC labs and administrative offices

B. Equipment Selection & Installation

Guided procurement of Indian and imported manufacturing & packaging machines
Managed challenges related to installation and qualification of Chinese-sourced equipment
Ensured timely qualification of all systems and utilities

C. Manpower & Training

Recruited production, QA, and warehousing staff
Delivered detailed training on SOPs, GMP guidelines, and daily operational practices

4. Final Results

Facility construction and partitions completed in 6 months
Equipment installation, qualification, and utility setup completed by month 9
Received all statutory clearances within 12 months
Seamlessly transitioned 250+ SKUs to in-house production
Improved turnaround times, cost efficiency, and quality control
Fully compliant with FSSAI and aligned with future US GMP expectations

5. Key Learnings

Even compact projects demand deep technical planning and regulatory foresight
Effective coordination with HVAC, lighting, plumbing, and civil teams is essential for GMP compliance
Local FSSAI and FDA authorities were surprisingly cooperative, supporting faster approvals and local employment
The experience, though small in scale, broadened our expertise in nutraceutical regulations and operations
Most rewarding of all: the young client team was delighted with the quality, timeline, and readiness of the facility