For many pharmaceutical and nutraceutical companies in Algeria, Tunisia and Libya, “many SKUs, small batches and unstable orders” have become the new normal. The same line may produce pediatric cough syrups, adult supplements and promotional packs for different channels in the same week.

Under these conditions, traditional cost calculations often break down. Depreciation, labor and waste are all diluted by frequent stops, cleaning and changeovers. Companies discover that even when raw material cost per bottle is modest, the total unit cost remains high—mainly because of poor changeover efficiency and unstable line speed.

This is why more North African plants are putting “quick-change capability” at the top of their selection criteria for syrup lines:

• From a mechanical perspective, they want one line that can cover sizes from small bottles up to 1 L and beyond, with bottle changes achieved mainly by swapping a few guides and adjusting heights, rather than a full reconfiguration.

• On the control side, they prefer systems where filling volume, speed and capping parameters for each product can be stored in recipes, so changeovers are driven by recipe selection instead of trial-and-error adjustments.

• For cleaning and product switching, the filling system should support efficient cleaning and draining to reduce cross-contamination risks and minimize downtime between products.

The focus here is not on pushing for the highest possible speed, but on keeping each batch stable from start to finish and minimizing non-productive time. Even if each SKU runs for a relatively short period, fast and reliable changeovers help keep overall line throughput and unit cost under control.

For the North African market, quick-change syrup lines are a natural fit for a landscape dominated by many brands, small batches and multiple sales channels. Plants can adjust their production schedules flexibly by season and customer, without being strangled by the hidden cost of constant changeovers.