Flexibility for traceability and for a high level of service is required
A major challenge here is to find suitable intralogistics systems that can also be used to cover issues such as legal requirements, for example for prescription drugs (Rx), adequate packaging, and the preparation and processing of ready-picked orders. Critical here are the requirements, in part stemming from legal regulations, with regard to traceability / batch and serial number handling, etc., which are also becoming increasingly stringent and require functional logistics software.
Last but not least, “Click & Collect” is gaining in importance, which requires a high degree of adherence to deadlines. Also, online pharmacies are growing rapidly. They need to provide a high level of service, meet same-day/next-day delivery commitments, and be able to handle peaks. The latter also applies to cosmetics suppliers, who depend on highly flexible intralogistics, as future order volumes are difficult to estimate.
A huge challenge is found in classic peak sales days such as on Black Friday, Valentine’s Day, Mother’s Day, Women’s Day, etc., which need to be handled through the warehouse without causing delivery delays. Furthermore, the prerequisites must be created to handle sensitive products gently and to be able to integrate value-added services, such as the addition of gift packaging and greeting cards.
Meeting the requirements with special solutions for the pharmaceutical and cosmetics industry
As a first step, SSI SCHAEFER supports pharmaceutical and cosmetics companies as they prepare to enter the market by offering modules such as manual racking systems.
With continued success and increasing order volume, you can easily switch to Pick by Light systems that visually guide pickers, as well as batch processes where multiple orders are processed in parallel. This helps reduce walking distances and saves time. The defect rate also falls.
You can achieve even higher performance values by using automated guided vehicles (AGVs), which operate individually or as part of a fleet, or small sorter solutions.
As business volume increases and market share grows, your system simply grows with it: for example, by combining a manual or semi-automatic solution with the SSI SCHAEFER A-Frame, which automatically picks up to 40,000 products per hour, whether cylindrical or cuboid.
For additional automation steps and higher performance, the use of shuttle solutions, robots and/or the SSI Carrier in combination with the high-performance logistics software WAMAS® can be useful.
The step-by-step expansion has the advantage of avoiding oversizing during the initial phase, making investments in the operational foundation of your e-commerce and/or multichannel strategy more manageable, or allowing them to be calculated step-by-step. This way, you can tackle the next optimization steps and stay ahead of any surprises.
