Improve efficiency and ensure supply! Enotek Group helps improve the quality and efficiency of the pharmaceutical distribution industry

At the end of 2022, with the release of " Article 20 " and " 10 new measures " issued by The State Council, the epidemic prevention and control in China has entered a new stage. The "new 10" clearly stipulates that "the public shall not be restricted from purchasing over-the-counter medicines such as fever reduction, cough relief, antiviral and cold treatment online and offline". At the same time, as of January 8, 2023, China has lifted the prevention and control measures against the novel coronavirus infection and fully opened its doors to entry. Drugs recommended for treating mild COVID-19, such as ibuprofen and paracetamol, have become popular overnight.

In addition to the shortage of cold medicine in pharmacies, large population, large demand base and limited supply at the supply end due to previous restrictions on the sale of cold medicine, public nervousness has also exacerbated the phenomenon of difficulty in buying medicine, with first-tier cities such as Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou all experiencing varying degrees of drug panic. Recently, as the first wave of infection peaked and ended, the national and local governments introduced a series of policies, such as regulation, purchase restriction and dismantling sales, the phenomenon of difficult to obtain a medicine is improving day by day.

In addition to the cooling of public sentiment and the expansion of production by pharmaceutical companies, pharmaceutical distribution companies and logistics companies are running at full speed. Pharmaceutical distribution companies are in the middle of the industrial chain, connecting manufacturers above and hospitals and pharmacies below. Different from general logistics companies, pharmaceutical distribution companies are not only responsible for logistics, but also for warehousing, information matching, drug allocation and other functions.

So how does a modern pharmaceutical distribution logistics work?

How does smart logistics help the pharmaceutical industry quickly deliver drugs to the terminal?

The company mainly has several business segments, including biological products, traditional Chinese medicine, and pharmaceutical，they need to deliver them to major hospitals, clinics and pharmacies in the province. With the development of business and the increasingly growth of orders, the enterprise expects that the annual sales will reach 2 billion. In order to cope with the future business development, the enterprise decided to establish a new warehouse covering an area of 2,975 square meters to deal with the expected 14,000 orders per day. Through the investigation and scheme communication of several suppliers, Enotek Group was finally selected to design the logistics solution for its new warehouse.

INDUSTRY PAIN POINTS

1.     No error for orders.

a.      Order needs the most accurate picking and safest transportation.

b.     Order batch and validity period are traceable.

c.      Strictly comply with Good Supply Practice (GSP) is required.

2.     Stress on Order Quantity

a.      Growing retail orders.

b.     Selection pressure faced by highly seasonal drugs.

c.      Retail and wholesale orders at the same destination need to be optimized and reorganized.

d.     The requirements for timeliness of delivery are getting higher and higher, often requiring delivery on the same day or the next day.

3.     Stress on Warehouse Management

a.      Goods need to be accurately located at any time.

b.     A large number of goods information need to be managed (usually with more than 10000 SKUs).

c.      High dismantling rate, sometimes achieve above 70%.

d.     The construction cost of civil engineering is generally high. Because of special requirements such as heat preservation and shade control, the construction cost of civil engineering is generally more than twice that of ordinary normal temperature warehouses, and in some cases, it is about 2.5 times that of ordinary normal temperature warehouses.

System equipment covers:

Enotek Group provides users with a full link logistics solution from intelligent hardware to intelligent brain, to achieve automatic process.

1.     ASRS storage system including 5 stacking cranes with a height of 22 meters, a total of 10,080 pallet positions.

2.     A "goods-to-person" picking system including 30 AMRs, with a total of 21,120 cargo spaces.

3.     A put wall system with 198 electronic tags.

4.     1 set of WMS warehouse management system and 1 set of WCS warehouse control system.

Project content:

The operation process of the project can be divided into four modules: Warehouse Entry -- Dismantling and Replenishment -- Picking and Packaging -- Sorting and Out of Storage.

1.Warehouse Entry

After the goods are checked and accepted, they are palletized in the vertical warehouse. After the palletized goods have passed the quality inspection, they are taken and placed on the storage conveyor by the forklift, and then transferred to the storage platform by the conveyor, and picked up by the stacker to complete the storage according to the principle of equal distribution.

The vertical warehouse has 5 single-deep stackers and 10,080 pallet positions, and the overall put in and delivery from storage flow can reach up to 175 pallets per hour.

2.Dismantling and Replenishment

The sorting area of the distribution center is located on the first floor of the warehouse, and the ASRS warehouse is used for replenishment. After the pallets from the second floor of the vertical warehouse are picked up and unstacked by the forklift, the full container of goods will be put onto the box conveyor line, transported to the dismantling area on the first floor by the screw conveyor. AMR will send the corresponding mobile shelf to the replenishment platform, and the operator will scan the barcode of the goods through the RF terminal to replenish or store the goods according to the displayed information.

The dismantling area consists of 30 AMRs, 704 sets of mobile shelves and 11 replenishment platforms, with a total of 21,120 cargo compartments. The replenishment efficiency can reach 200sku per day.

3.Picking and Packaging

When the WMS sends the picking order information to the AMR, the AMR will send the corresponding mobile shelf to the picking workstation. The picker scans the barcode of the empty turnover box through the RF terminal to bind the order information, and picks according to the out of storage order information on the bulletin board, and then review and pack.

The picking area consists of 18 groups of shelves, 198 electronic labels and 9 picking workstations. The picking efficiency of the AMR "goods to people" picking area can reach 1,800 order lines per hour.

4.Sorting and Out of Storage

The packed order is sent to the code reading and identification place by the conveyor. According to the barcode information of the carton, the order is combined and sorted at the sorting port. The order is manually stacked on the designated tray according to the train number and loading sequence. The sorting efficiency of this process can reach 2,500 cases per hour.

So far, the order has completed its entire logistics process in the distribution center, and then it will be loaded and shipped.

Project achievements

No.1 Improve efficiency and liberate labor

Highly intelligent operations from receiving goods to order delivery, greatly reducing the pressure of manual work, compared with traditional warehouses, it achieves highly automated and greatly saving staffing with a total of more than 20 operators, and increasing the efficiency of warehouse entry and exit by 2-3 times.

No.2 Density increase, save space

Achieve the high-density storage of goods, ensure the maximum utilization of warehouse space, and increase the storage capacity of the warehouse by 4-5 times compared with the original warehouse.

No.3 Digital empowerment, real-time monitoring

The entire warehouse operation process can be monitored in real time through the WMS software. The perfect information management system alleviates the warehouse management pressure of goods, reduces errors caused by human factors, and meets the relevant management requirements of first in, first out by batch number for drug circulation.