A partnership combing Kardex, Church pharmacy and UpSteam.uk has won the Healthcare & Pharmaceutical Supply Chain Excellence Awards 2022.
The awards are recognised around the world and renowned for the rigour of the judging process in demonstrating excellence in supply chain operations. The Jurors came together to recognise the best innovation and processes in the private healthcare and pharmaceutical supply chain. They had no hesitation in awarding first place to the team for their innovation in creating a first-class solution that included the Kardex Vertical Buffer Module (VBM). The awards ceremony was held at the Hilton Park Lane, London by the organisers Akabo Media.
Representatives from Kardex, Church Pharmacy and UpSteam.uk, were present at the ceremony to collect the award.
In the past, the manual process meant that the picking team would walk around the warehouse to locate stock for an order is then handed for checking to make sure the items were correct prior to packing/sending. The VBM delivers the required product directly to the picker. This meets the need for ergonomic working conditions whilst offering more than one access point for replenishment and retrieval. A laser pointer easily identifies the location of the pick. The combined VBM-Kardex Frame Pick System means that picking time is reduced from approximately 24-man hours a-day to 6 hours. A time saving of 75 %, enhanced by improved picking accuracy.
“We are really pleased to have won this award,” says Aaron Thornton, Sales Director UK/Ireland for Kardex. “Working closely in partnership with Church Pharmacy and Upsteam.uk, shows how working as a team we can create something special that will continue in the upcoming years as we continue our strong relationship”
In the pharmaceutical industry, accuracy is a must. The dispatch of incorrect medication can cause significant risk. The Kardex VBM accuracy currently sits at 99.9%, resulting in increased confidence that the correct items are presented for the final accuracy check. By eliminating manual picking, the VBM has significantly increased accuracy for Church Pharmacy.
The Kardex Power Pick System employs Smart software to navigate orders through its part of the fulfilment process facilitating batch picking which enables Church Pharmacy’s staff to simultaneously fulfil multiple orders with minimum presentations. The storage rules allow for maximum volume to be utilised while also allowing batch picking from static racking. Each material/item can also be customised by using features such as lot, expiry, serialisation, unit of measure and kit.
Installation = business as usual – It took only six weeks for the VBM system and software to be fully operational. There are always teething issues with any new installation, mitigated, in this case, by ensuring that the Kardex and UpSTEAM.uk teams worked closely together during the launch of each phase. The maintenance of business continuity and order processing was a priority. At all times Kardex worked closely with Church Pharmacy to ensure full customer satisfaction.
“We are 100% satisfied with the Kardex and UpSTEAM.uk teams. They were super responsive in all our queries and allowed us to scale-up faster than imagined. We have built a great relationship with them. Our confidence in them grew even stronger because of their after-sales support and we are now at a point of looking at the next fulfilment and inventory project with Kardex and UpSTEAM.uk”. Shabbir Bhojani, Director, Church Pharmacy.
Once the Kardex VPM system was in place, staff training times for goods-in and picking processes were cut from a month to less than a week. Church Pharmacy were also able to stay in its high-spec warehouse, which delivered significant savings. Church Pharmacy predicts an ROI in less than two years. The Kardex Power Pick System now manages Church Pharmacy’s multiple pharmacy branches and warehouses including its racked and refrigerated stock.
“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 their customers can be assured of continued great service.” Joseph Stephen, Head Software Architect, UpSTEAM.uk.
The future – Work processes in the warehouse and production area have now been optimised, picking times are cut and inventory accuracy has improved significantly. The VBM will deliver a secure long-term investment thanks to its high flexibility, modularity, and scalability with the capacity to grow 5× the current space requirements. Church Pharmacy are now able to provide a faster and more efficient service to more patients that require assistance.
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, the industry and to create excellency in our field. Danny Chavda,Systems and Innovations, UpSTEAM.uk
To learn more click here to view the video on youtube and here for the webinar where Danny explains how the award winning solution was achieved.
