The Migration to Automation

The Company: 

Church Pharmacy, with branches in Central London and Loughborough, are one of the largest suppliers of medical aesthetics and pharmaceutical products to healthcare professionals in the UK.  

Church Pharmacy prides itself on being an award-winning pharmaceutical supplier and customer service provider, right from the beginning of an order until delivery for a seamless experience. The main priority for the team is being able to offer unparalleled customer services.  

The Situation: 

As a customer service focused team, they are growing fast and the demands on staff and the incumbent storage infrastructure was becoming a potential problem.  Growth meant they started to think about moving to larger premises, which was not desirable as they had invested in and built a high-spec warehouse that was aesthetically designed to promote cleanliness and safety.    

To better understand the issue and what was needed, they appointed two of the technical team from UpSTEAM, Danny Chavda and Joseph Stephen who recognised that their manual systems and current processes were holding them back.  Innovation was required and the team started to research a solution. They needed a scalable solution that would use the storage space efficiently whilst improving accuracy at the pick process stage,  helping to enable the staff to dispense correctly picked products and reduce the time and effort taken on walking and searching. 

The wellbeing of their staff was very high up on Church Pharmacy’s wish list. The previous manual picking process took up a lot of space and staff were closely situated as well as taking up a lot of time, energy and focus on locating and identifying products. The solution also needed to allow for continued growth, as well as future-proofing the business. 

"Church Pharmacy was quickly growing, but also facing a plateau in the number of orders their systems and premises would allow them to process. We analysed and overhauled their systems for them to be able to process 10x more orders with half the man hours required.

We have a big vision for the way we work, it’s a growing market and we need to continue delivering the best possible service to our customers and the industry.  We are committed to setting a high standard in delivering a service but also one that ultimately creates excellence in our field." – Danny Chavda – Business Process and Innovations at UpSTEAM

The Solution: 

The whole team at Church Pharmacy and UpSTEAM came together to find the right solution and with Church Pharmacy’s clear vision it was recognised that although space was important, the focus also needed to be on accuracy and productivity, it was clear that a Kardex storage and retrieval system was the best approach for the business. 

In the past, the manual process meant that the picking team would walk around the warehouse to locate the stock for an order. This was then handed over to the dispensary department to make sure the items were correct prior to sending the order for packing.  With the Kardex solution the time spent picking has now reduced from approximately 24-man hours a day to 6 hours, a 75% increase in time and savings. 

Kardex recommended their LR-35 Vertical Buffer Module, (VBM) with the batch frame pick which turned out to be the best solution for their needs, combining accuracy, fast picking, security, and high-end aesthetics, suitable for their environment. The VBM delivers the exact product required to the picker, which answered their need for more ergonomic working conditions.  It also offered the ability to have more than one access point for replenishment and retrieval and a laser pointer to easily identify location of the pick. Kardex systems can store the bulk of their stock in a small footprint, which means they are able to stay in their current premises. This has enabled enough space for a 5x order volume growth prior to innovation.  

In the pharmaceutical industry, dispatching the incorrect medication can cause significant risks so, accuracy is the main driver and with the VBM, accuracy currently sits at 99.9%.  This has made a tremendous difference with an increase in confidence of the correct item being presented to the picker.  The dispensers are also able to check more orders as less resources are required for accuracy checking. 

"It’s amazing when we look at what we have achieved in a relatively short time.  We have increased their accuracy, and productivity. The staff are happier and more productive, and their customers can be assured of continued great service." - Joseph Stephen - Head Software Architect at UpSTEAM

The Hardware & Software: 

LR-35 (VBM) 

The LR-35 offers greater flexibility for individual order fulfilment. In Church Pharmacy’s solution a turntable, designed for fast order picking, sits at the front allowing the next presentation to be ready in advance. 

The modular design with its small, but secure footprint, allows for scalability, whilst being able to work alongside other software and hardware solutions, such as a frame pick. 

A single terminal used for batch picking presentations reduces the amount of walking and increases the size of the batches that can be picked using a frame. 

Frame 

Frame Pick was added to provide a high level of flexibility, especially when additional labour would usually be required during higher order volumes. Church Pharmacy’s Frame Pick solution allows a batch of 36 orders to be picked simultaneously and includes optical indicators that direct the picker to the exact location of the order for the product to be picked into and out of.  As the Frame sits 1.5m opposite the VBM terminal, where products are being presented, the walking distance between the presentation and order is dramatically decreased. 

Power Pick Global (PPG)

PPG Software navigates the orders through part of the fulfilment process. PPG also facilitates the batch picking which enables the Church Pharmacy staff to fulfil multiple orders at the same time. The storage rules allow for maximum volume to be utilised whilst also allowing to batch pick from static racking. Each material can also be customised by using features such as lot, expiry, serialisation and kit. 

The PPG software integrated with the flexible batching and fulfilment tool designed by UpSTEAM.uk helps to increase picking speeds and efficiency by another 35-40% which ensures all stocked items are delivered on-time for efficient picking whilst delivering a tailored solution based on their material process and fulfilment flow. 

The Installation: 

It took a matter of 6 weeks to have everything fully operational, including the software installation, but as with any installation there are always unforeseen teething issues that occur.  Kardex worked with Church Pharmacy to make sure the project was completed to their satisfaction. 

"We are 100% satisfied with the Kardex installation team.  They were responsive, and we have built a great relationship with them. Our confidence in Kardex grew even stronger with the help of their staff.’" Shabbir Bhojani – Director at Church Pharmacy 

The Benefits: 

An unforeseen benefit was in training.  Normally staff would take a minimum of one month to fully train. Now their staff are trained within a week.   

"Since the VBM was installed, our staff are more confident in their work and new starters are trained within a week. They no longer need to learn and remember so much regarding all the products. They just need to be able to count, pick and put." - Georgy Paul – Inventory Manager at Church Pharmacy 

Being able to stay in their high-spec warehouse has delivered many savings and they predict that an ROI will be experienced in less than 2 years. 

Kardex PPG software now manages their multiple pharmacies and warehouses including the racked and refrigerated stock.   

• Accuracy at 99.9% 
• Batching speeds increased by 35-40% 

• 70% picking speeds 
• Space saving increased by 300% 
• Staff training from 1-3 months reduce to 1-2 weeks 
• Opening doors to more opportunities 

Futures – a look ahead: 

Work processes in the warehouse and production area have now been optimised by using the Kardex VBM. Retrieval and picking times are cut and inventory accuracy has significantly improved. The VBM will deliver a secure long-term investment thanks to high flexibility, modularity and scalability.  

Church Pharmacy can now stay in their premises as they grow, take on more product lines to offer their customers greater choice whilst also improving their level of customer service. 

Added information: 

Church Pharmacy started from humble beginnings in Church Gate Mews in the University town of Loughborough. 

The company was founded by a Medical Doctor who ran a full-time aesthetics clinic and a pharmacist with 30 years of experience in running an independent chain of community pharmacies. 

They have grown into one of the foremost suppliers of pharmaceutical products to medical professionals within the UK. At present, they operate from their headquarters in Loughborough and a branch in Central London.