Breaking new ground: Douglas Pharmaceuticals installs AI robotic warehouse system

…I’d recommend it for anyone who's experiencing capacity or throughput constraints or simply needs to find a way to improve their efficiency to remain competitive

Douglas Pharmaceuticals has installed a new AI robotic system, the first of its kind in New Zealand, to maximise storage at its west Auckland warehouse.

Founded in 1967, the company had outgrown its warehouse capacity, Douglas Pharmaceuticals Warehouse operations manager Ryan Gibbs explains.

“We were at above capacity for storage…we had a lot of pallets stored off-site and that was creating a lot of inefficiencies in our operation.”

Douglas considered a number of options including outsourcing some of their storage or expanding current storage, Mr Gibbs says.

“Those options would have helped from a storage-capacity perspective, but they actually would have added cost to our operation and really not provided us any efficiency benefit.”

The company opted for an automated system from Kardex, a Swiss intralogistics solutions company which provides storage and retrieval systems.

The system is an AI and robotic-powered automated goods to person (GTP) warehouse storage and fulfilment system, Mr Gibbs says.

This comprises more than 6000 storage bins, in a high-density grid, with 13 robots to carry and deliver products to ports where they are picked and packed to customers’ orders.

In a media release issued last week, Douglas Pharmaceuticals says the new system meant the company was able to “reimagine its warehouse space to achieve 30 per cent more storage while using ten per cent of the building’s footprint…” which has “…delivered four times faster picking rates and boasts 99.99 per cent accuracy”.

One of the appeals of the Autostore system is, unlike a number of other systems the company looked at, it doesn’t have a single point of failure, Mr Gibbs says.

“…This means if there is one problem in one part of our system, the rest of the system continues to operate.”

The new system build came in “on time and on budget”, and has been operational for nearly six months, he says. Kardex completed the year-long instalment and integration of its $3.8 million AutoStore system in November last year.

“It’s gone absolutely perfectly from our perspective,” Mr Gibbs says. “In terms of running the system, it's been trouble-free for us. It’s been extremely reliable, and it was also very easy for our operators to learn the system.”

Mr Gibbs says he’d recommend the move from pallets to robots and computers to other pharmaceutical companies.

“Sometimes when you’re breaking new ground, it can be a little intimidating, but ultimately you just need to embrace the technology and find the applications that are going to work for your business.

“…I’d recommend it for anyone who's experiencing capacity or throughput constraints or simply needs to find a way to improve their efficiency to remain competitive.”

Douglas and Kardex hosted 70 people at an event at the end of March to showcase the Autostore in action.

“I am so proud of the work done by our team and Kardex’s to meet and achieve our goals and ensure we are ready for an exciting future, expanding our consumer goods operation,” Douglas Pharmaceuticals managing director Jeff Douglas says.

“This investment is future-proofing storage and fulfilment, reducing waste, and freeing up our warehouse team to focus on other work.”