WE LOVE THE ACCURACY OF THE ROBOTS AND ARE PARTICULARLY FOND OF THE SPEED AT WHICH THE VMAX OPERATES
Post Office, jewellery department etc, but, as I said, even as were viewing it, we were primarily focussed on where the robot and new dispensary would be going. The advantage of this approach meant that, since we knew we would be redesigning the pharmacy, we were already thinking of the best place for the robot, so this provided us with a starting point. If you can work right beside the robot, for example, the products fall out onto the bench beside you. This saves both time and the costs of conveyor belts.
‘Robots aren’t for everyone, of course. If you aren’t into IT, then they certainly aren’t for you, but we love them. All of our robots are from BD Rowa and, in fact, some of our pharmacies are on their second BD Rowa robot!
‘We purchased our first one in 2005 and we’re now on our tenth robot.
‘One of the main reasons we originally went for the BD Rowa model was because it loaded itself. Others do a similar job now, but once we had gone down the road of one robot, we opted
for the same model – the VMax - across all of the pharmacies.
‘We love the accuracy of the robots and are particularly fond of the speed at which the VMax operates. The Duplo double-picking head is also fantastic. The storage capacity is very impressive and enables us to be flexible in terms of how the space is used.
‘What is particularly useful is that the robots are available in long and low or short and high options. It’s also possible to combine the two. I think this is especially important because some pharmacies won’t have much length, while others won’t be particularly high and so the pharmacy will be looking for a model that doesn’t take up much floor space.
‘We actually put one of the robots in the basement of the shop and it comes up through the floor to a height of three and a half metres. This was simply because we didn’t have enough space on the shop floor, so this version was perfect for that particular shop.
‘In the last 18 months, we decided to buy robots that were bigger than what we actually required; in other words, versions that would hold more than we needed them to. That meant that when the pandemic hit and demand increased, the extra space allowed for fast-moving stock.
‘This facility also means that in a busy month we’re less likely to run out of stock. Having too much capacity saves us from having to double up and having to reorder and restock.
‘In Banff we also had to reinforce the floor. The robot is very sensitive to movements in the floor and so we had to reinforce it with concrete to accommodate the seven-metre-long robot. This one isn’t a Duplo, but we have installed the rails for a second picking head for future planning.
‘Again, the capacity is bigger than what is needed so, if we get busier in the future, then we can store a lot of stock if we choose to do so.
‘If you are into your IT, then you can utilise a robot along with PMR systems to really control your stock. With products like Aspirin, for example, the robots will always tell your computer how much stock you have and this allows the PMR to build an order accurately.
‘Having a robot can also have a positive impact on profitability. Where a product is going to go up in price, you can put six months’ stock in and the robot will tell the PMR so that it stops ordering. Where there isn’t a robot in place, this process has to be done manually.
‘With our BD Rowa robots I have to say that we have got to a place where we are happy with our stock control and, indeed, with our overall dispensing process in general.’
For more information contact: Karen McWilliam Territory Sales Manager BD Dispensing UK Ltd T: 07876861754 E:
karen.mcwilliam@
bd.com W:
www.bd.com/rowa
scottishpharmacist.com 29
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