Around 1890, Colonel Lilly turned over the day-to-day management of the business to his son, J. K., who ran the company for thirty-four years. Although the 1890s were a tumultuous decade economically, the company flourished and came out stronger than ever. In 1894 Lilly purchased a manufacturing plant to be used solely for creating capsules. The company also made several technological advances in the manufacturing process, including automating its capsule production. Over the next few years the company annually created tens of millions of capsules and pills.