Voice systems for pharmaceutical warehousing

The European drug manufacturing market is mature and experiences steady growth year on year. There are over 3,000 companies developing and distributing drugs across the European region, representing one of the world’s largest and most complex supply chains.

The UK is one of the world’s leading pharmaceutical producers. It is home to GlaxoSmithKline and AstraZenica, two of the largest drug development companies. Germany is reported to be the largest exporter of drugs in Europe and the third largest pharmaceuticals distributor in the world. Across the border into France many multinationals have established manufacturing plants, which now account for seven per cent of global pharmaceutical development. In Italy, drug production is growing steadily, with distribution to pharmacies accounting for nearly 83% of sales. (Source: Espicom Business Intelligence).

In numbers, this equates to more than 3,000 manufacturers, producing over 50,000 products for 130,000 retail outlets every year (Source: Visiongain). Due to the highly competitive nature of the market, wholesale distributors tend to operate on lower profit margins than in other elements of the sector and therefore are under huge pressures to cut the cost of productivity in their warehouses and distribution centres (DC).

Voice-Directed Work®
Voice is fast emerging as the rising star within pharmaceutical warehouse operations, particularly within order picking. Operatives wear a compact, lightweight mobile computer that clips onto a belt. The device is connected to the host warehouse management system (WMS), either directly or via middleware, using an industry standard Radio Frequency link.

Cahill May Robert in Ireland and Sanofi in France and Belgium are just two pharmaceutical distributors in Europe who are benefiting from productivity increases of over 20% and reported picking accuracy of up to 99.9% since installing Voice in their DC.

Voice systems utilise speech recognition and speech synthesis technology to verbalise commands from the WMS and feed them to operatives through a headset as they move freely around the warehouse. The result is two-way, real time conversation between operatives and the WMS.

In addition to the cost and efficiency savings that result from improved flexibility, accuracy, productivity and inventory management, the integration of Voice ensures greater compliance with stringent industry regulations, many of which change as borders are crossed.

Flexibility
Perhaps the most welcome benefit of Voice within the pharmaceutical warehouse is its ability to introduce flexibility into the sometimes complex picking process. Most DCs deal with thousands of different drugs, each requiring careful handling to avoid contamination or damage to time-release coatings.

To add yet more complexity to the picking process, the best way to select a high volume product can vary dramatically from a more niche drug. This means applying a single methodology, such as pick-to-light or RF scan picking, could result in over-investment and poor ROI.

Voice is far more adaptable and can be better adapted to the current need. It allows the warehouse manager to better manage the work force to ensure labour is distributed to where the work is rather than having some pickers under considerable pressure whilst others are twiddling their thumbs.

A major benefit of migrating from RF scan picking to Voice is the flexibility it offers. It reduces the weight of the trolley, removes a screen that can block the pickers view and eliminates the need to charge batteries on the trolleys. The result is a faster, easier picking task and reduced costs and management.

Accuracy
Order accuracy is vital; this is where Voice comes into its own. Most pharmacies have limited storage facilities and many drugs have active ingredients that need to be kept in controlled environments. Using Voice, pickers have to verify each pick before moving onto the next, introducing almost 100% accuracy.

A paper-based picking system has no checks whatsoever and can neither guarantee the correct product is picked or the right quantity. RF scanning addresses both of these problems to a certain extent, but there still remains scope for errors. It is the hands and eyes free process enabled by Voice where the efficiencies are realised with typical pick accuracies of 99.9%. The end customer benefit is a controlled supply of drugs to meet patient demand and reduced administration.

Productivity
Needless to say, accuracy plays an important part in improving productivity in the warehouse, with staff employed in their usual daily roles instead of responding to delivery errors. However, the wearable design of Voice systems is probably the greatest single contributor to increased productivity in the warehouse.

While users hands are free to pick and load products without stopping to put down and pick up lists or handheld devices at each location, the result is a smoother, faster pace of picking.

As previously mentioned, organisations already deploying Voice are reporting productivity gains in excess of 20% over paper methods, and far higher productivity gains over handheld terminals; figures that could make all the difference in the competitive world of pharmaceutical distribution.

Inventory management
The pharmaceutical sector is not unlike its grocery retail counterpart in calling for more visibility of products as they travel through the supply chain. When dangerous or regulated drugs such as narcotics are flowing through the system the ability to monitor the flow of inventory through every stage of its journey from manufacture to retail is critical. With a capability for delivering up-to-the-minute stats on pick status at all times, Voice offers the ideal solution when visibility and product tracking is required.

Moving forward, RFID with its track and trace capability, is already receiving a great deal of interest. Voice is ideally placed to enable operations to benefit from RFID technology as it evolves. The combination of Voice for information transfer between the WMS, operatives and RFID for the transfer of information between a tag and a computer is likely to be a very powerful force.

Until this day arrives however, Voice will go some way to achieving this objective by refining the wholesaler’s ability to provide an accurate pick status within the warehouse at all times. A Voice system that is configured to provide real-time updates to the WMS will ensure back office staff are equipped to answer queries from suppliers about the exact status of a delivery, even down to the name of the picker or the location of a particular product on a specific pallet if necessary!

Replenishments can also be triggered to happen at exactly the right time, rather than at “roughly” the right time. It is these types of improvements in information exchange that typically lead to increased labour efficiency, dramatic time savings (less time is needed to check, recheck, verify and re-verify orders), and better asset utilisation, all of which are conducive to reduced costs which, in turn are reflected in the product pricing.

Temperature controlled environments
Ever flexible, Voice excels in temperature controlled environments. The nature of many drugs is such that they need to be maintained at a specific temperature for stability. Temperature control where pharmaceutical products are concerned is crucial to GMP regulation compliance, which is in place to protect the consumer by providing guarantees that medication is not only manufactured correctly, but stored and handled correctly too.

Many data capture devices don’t operate well in refrigeration units. Low temperatures can affect LED screens and heavy gloves are not conducive to data input or writing. By relaying information via Voice users can maintain a regular pick rate within these challenging environments. Voice systems can also be programmed to provide product specific handling instructions, against insuring GMP compliance.

Conclusion
There is little doubt that Voice will play a major roll in the evolution of pharmaceutical distribution. It has already made a significant impact in the retail sector and increasingly pharmaceutical brands are realising that its two core business benefits; increased productivity and improved accuracy; can’t be ignored – nor can the positive impact these benefits have on bottom line.

Where better to capitalise on these benefits than within a fast moving, heavily regulated industry like pharmaceutical? Regardless of whether Voice is deployed to achieve near-perfect accuracy or to reduce labour costs through productivity gains, the role of Voice in boosting warehouse efficiency is sure to be widespread and dramatic.