Industrial sourcing · China to Europe

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Buyer guide · Pharma & supplements

Capsule counting machine from China

A capsule counter sees a shape cross a light beam, so an empty shell, a split capsule or two stuck softgels can all count as good, and a demo with clean hard capsules never shows it.

Ask about this machine ↗Where the numbers come from

Written and listings checked 30 September 2026. Every figure on this page names its source.

What you are actually comparing.

Two quotes, one machine name

What hides inside the price

Empty and light capsule detection

Most counters see size, not weight. An empty or half-filled shell looks the same to the beam. Ask what removes them, the counter, a camera or a sorter upstream, and put it in the quote.

Softgel handling

Softgels are soft, oily and stick to each other and to the channels. Ask for proof on softgels and whether the channels have a finish for them.

Channel plates per capsule size

Channel width must suit the capsule size, from the largest shell to the smallest. Count how many channel or funnel sets come with the machine and what one more costs.

Static and humidity

Gelatin and HPMC shells pick up static in dry rooms and cling to channel walls. Ask whether anti-static measures are included and at what room humidity the demo ran.

Contact parts and cleaning

Powder from leaking capsules builds up in the channels. Ask how channels come out for cleaning, and for certificates for every product-contact part.

Before you ask for a price.

Send these with the enquiry. Without them, any number a factory gives you is a guess dressed as a quotation.

Capsule type and size for every product: hard gelatin, HPMC or softgel, and the shell supplier.
A sample including your worst capsules: soft, dented or underfilled.
Count per bottle or pouch, and whether you fill bottles or bags.
Your room temperature and humidity, because shells behave differently in dry air.
Food supplement (Directive 2002/46/EC and Regulation (EC) 1935/2004 apply) or licensed medicine (EU GMP, EudraLex Volume 4).

Turn the claim into a demonstration.

Require this	A pass looks like
Mix a counted number of empty and split shells into your capsules and run at the speed you are buying.	Every added empty and split shell is removed, or its bottle rejected. Count what got through.
Run your softgels for 30 minutes without cleaning the channels.	No blocked channel, no paired softgels in hand-counted bottles.
Change to your smallest capsule size while you watch.	The change is finished with the supplied parts only, and the first bottles after it count right.

The documents that must arrive with it.

EU Declaration of Conformity for the exact model and serial, under 2006/42/EC until 19 January 2027 and Regulation (EU) 2023/1230 from 20 January 2027.
Material certificates for channels, hopper and funnels, with the grade of steel and any coating.
For licensed medicines makers: IQ/OQ protocols and a FAT record signed at the factory.

The one people forget. The channel parts list per capsule size, with drawings. Adding a size later, it is the only way to order parts that fit.

When this is the wrong machine.

Buy something else if

Named, not hedged

Your problem is empty or underweight capsules from the filler.

Fix it upstream with a capsule polishing machine that sorts empties, or a checkweigher. The counter is the wrong place to find them.

You count mostly tablets and only sometimes capsules.

A tablet counting machine specified for your tablets, with capsule channel sets added.

Where the numbers come from.

We name the kind of source, how many and when, and never the factory. Listed prices are asking prices, not landed cost. Where we do not hold a fact we say so: that is a GAP, not an estimate.

Listings · 8Eight marketplace listings for multi-lane capsule counters, checked September 2026, advertised asking prices from US$5,999 to US$21,438. Four desktop capsule counters listed US$1,650 to US$3,000. Asking prices, not landed cost.
Listings · 2Two manufacturer pages, checked September 2026: one 16-channel counter stated a maximum of 70 bottles a minute and accuracy above 99.8 percent; another 16-lane counter stated hard and soft capsules from size 000 to size 5.
Arithmetic0.2 percent of 1,000 = 2. 60 capsules x 100 bottles = 6,000 capsules; 0.2 percent of 6,000 = 12.
GAPGAP - no supplier quotations logged for this machine yet. Three to five quotations for one configuration would give a real price spread.

Related machines.

Tablet counting machine. Choose it when your product is mainly tablets, where fragments and dust matter more than empty shells.
Tablet bottle filling line. Choose it when you need the counter joined to capping, sealing and labelling as one system.

Every machine we source in this area is on the Pharma & supplements page. How a project runs, stage by stage, is on how it works, and what it costs is on pricing.

Straight answers

Questions buyers ask about this machine.

What is the best capsule counting machine from China?+

The one that passes the empty-shell and softgel tests on your product. Lane count and price come after that.

Chinese vs European capsule counting machine: is the gap large?+

For hard capsules in supplements, often small. For softgels, camera inspection and recorded counts for licensed medicines, price European and used European units against a new Chinese counter.

What does a counting accuracy of 99.8 percent mean for capsules?+

If it is per capsule, 2 miscounts in 1,000 capsules. At 60 capsules a bottle, that could be up to 12 bottles in 100 off by one. Ask for the figure per bottle on your product.

What does an EU importer check on a capsule counter?+

That the declaration matches the machine, that the technical file exists and can be produced, and that its own name and address are on the machine or documents.

Contact

Tell us what you need.

Send a machine, a quotation you want checked, or a question. We reply with what we would look at first.