North America's single source-supplier for solid dosage delivery systems and product packaging — that is what the new ACG North America is hoping to become.

Opening its doors in South Plainfield, New Jersey, in April, the company is a subsidiary of ACG Worldwide, one of the largest capsule manufacturers in the world. What makes the company unique, though, is that its services reach far beyond just capsules.

"We are the only company in the world that provides capsules, capsule-filling machines, barrier films, blister-packing machines and cartoning machines, as well as tablet presses and tooling," said S Brad Larson, vice president, ACG North America. "We basically provide manufacturing and packaging solutions from start to finish, and we do so for pharmaceutical, OTC and dietary-supplements applications."

This all-in-one approach is a real advantage to product developers, Larson said. "The breadth of our product line means that we can provide customers with integrated solutions from capsules or tablets right through packaging. We are able to offer customers technical support for every aspect of manufacturing and packaging."

The fact that ACG manufactures its own equipment is something most American companies don't realize, Larson said. "Most companies in our line of work distribute equipment made by other companies, but ACG manufactures its own machines, films and capsules," he said. Most manufacturing takes place in India where the company maintains state-of- the-art facilities, producing high-quality machines and capsules while still keeping the costs of its products competitive.

Technically, ACG is not new to the North American market. It has been marketing capsules under the Universal Capsules brand, and its capsule-filling, packaging and cartoning machines under the PAM USA brand. The two brands have combined under the ACG North America banner.

ACG North America is servicing US, Canadian and Mexican customers. In addition to its New Jersey headquarters, the company also has offices in Indiana, South Carolina and Utah in the US; Montreal in Canada; and Mexico City and Guadalajara, in Mexico. It also maintains climate-controlled warehouses to store capsules in Florida, New Jersey, New York, Utah, California, Montreal, Vancouver and Mexico City. Machine spare parts are stored in a separate warehouse in New Jersey.

To better serve North America, the company has added staff to its sales and technical-support teams. In effect, the company has increased its resources in North America four-fold this year.

A privately held company, ACG North America's new website can be found at www.acg-northamerica.com. ACG Worldwide was founded in India close to 50 years ago, and serves more than 2,500 customers in mor than 100 countries. It first started selling in the US in the late 1990s.