November 2020 • PharmaTimes Magazine • 18

// THOUGHT LEADERSHIP //

The world is more integrated than ever before and customers are demanding greater visibility of their purchases and supply chains. For the pharma industry, the first step is creating a stable supply chain to reduce the disruption that can lead to shortages. It is also about creating processes that allow medicines once manufactured to be dispatched efficiently.

At Didcot, where we have the UK’s largest pharma manufacturer owned storage facility, we have transformed the way we pick, package and dispatch medicines. Traditionally, the picker would have walked miles around the warehouse selecting products and checking them against the order. The wholesaler on the other end would need to double-check that the order is correct and then pass onto the pharmacist who would need to do the same.

Our automated system selects the products from an automated tote system and brings them to the picker where they can be packed in confidence knowing that the order is going to be right first time. This not only takes that burden off the pharmacist, but also ensures they will receive their order faster.

This is just the beginning and we have big aspirations for the future:

1. We used the creation of our Didcot storage facility as an opportunity to work closer with, and learn from, our distribution partner DHL, who are experts in global distribution of packaging, incorporating many of their strategies into our operations.
2. We are ready to learn from other non-pharma industries and embrace new technologies, not to decrease our employee headcount, but instead to create a more skilled workforce.
3. At our Didcot site, we are piloting a pharmacy incubator initiative which allows innovative start-ups to find exciting new ways to deliver medicines.