Here, despite appearances, no patients are being transferred, but rather supplies for public and private hospitals. In Caltignaga, near Milan in the Italian Piedmont region, Dematic is reducing the storage space required for medical supplies at the hospital logistics provider Plurima by 75 percent.
Dematic reports that the new system increases employee efficiency in both goods relocation and order picking. At the same time, it improves order accuracy.
“Given the current challenges in the market, we suspected that an AutoStore system could be the best solution for our requirements,” explains Fabio Grossi Gondi, Managing Director of Plurima.
Photos: Dematic
To improve drug outsourcing and inventory management, Plurima commissioned Dematic to automate its distribution center. From Caltignaga, Plurima supplies hospitals and other medical facilities in the province of Novara.
“Thanks to the features of our software and the Put2Light system with battery-powered carts and wireless technology,” explains Rosario Filomena, Sales Manager for Dematic in Italy, “we were able to further improve our order picking processes.” The modular, automated goods-to-person system was installed in an existing facility approximately six meters high and with a footprint of 400 square meters. With a shelf height of 3700 mm, the system offers a storage capacity of 10,000 bins. The system provides a total storage volume of up to 758 cubic meters and achieves a storage capacity of 1.9 cubic meters per square meter. The 13 R5 robots, their chargers, and three revolving doors ensure the efficient picking and relocation of goods.
According to Grossi Gondi, Plurima is already benefiting from the advantages of the newly installed solution: The company has not only been able to reduce its warehouse space by around 75 percent, but also lower personnel costs for order processing to a third of the previous level. In addition, employee safety has also improved significantly.
