Robert Pauli Scherer House

Scherer earned a degree in chemical engineering from the University of Michigan in 1930. After a brief period working in the pharmaceutical industry, he left his job to dedicate himself to perfecting the capsuling machine—a process that took three years.

He went on to found the Gelatin Products Company, which quickly attracted business from pharmaceutical manufacturers. In 1947, it was renamed the R.P. Scherer Corporation. Over his lifetime, Scherer was granted 52 patents. His original experimental machine was placed in the Smithsonian Institution in 1955 in recognition of its impact.

Architect: Unknown

Date of Construction: 1912

Designated a Michigan Historic Site: June 15, 1984 (Site No. P25239)

Photos Credit: Burton Historical Collection, Detroit Public Library

rotary die encapsulation machine

In the early 1930s, Robert Pauli Scherer revolutionized the pharmaceutical industry by inventing the rotary die encapsulation machine, which automated the production of soft gelatin capsules. Working in his basement at 67 E Kirby St in Detroit—now known as the Hellenic Museum of Michigan—Scherer developed a prototype around 1931 that significantly improved the efficiency, consistency, and scalability of capsule manufacturing.

This breakthrough led him to establish the Gelatin Products Company in 1933, later renamed the R. P. Scherer Corporation in 1947. The firm quickly grew to become the world’s largest supplier of softgel capsules, serving both pharmaceutical and nutritional markets.

One of Scherer’s earliest experimental machines, a critical step in the evolution of capsule production, is now preserved in the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History, recognizing its historical and technological significance in modern medicine.