BY DAVID MALONEY, CHIEF EDITOR
AUTOMATION REPORT
specialreport
To assure that the right medications get to
patients right away, Toho Pharmaceutical
built a distribution center that is so highly
automated most of the products processed
there are never touched by human hands.
SOME PRODUCTS REQUIRE A HIGHER LEVEL OF
distribution prowess than others. Take pharmaceuticals,
for example. Total accuracy is crucial; even the slightest
mistake—shipping the wrong dosage of a medication to a
customer, for instance—could prove life threatening. And
because a patient’s health may depend on getting the proper
medications in a timely manner, quick order fulfillment
and delivery are equally critical.
With so much at stake, many pharmaceutical wholesalers
are turning to automation to assure the accuracy and speed
upon which their customers depend. One such company
is Toho Holdings Co. Ltd., a leading player in Japan’s
pharmaceutical industry. In its quest for perfection, Tokyo-based Toho has taken DC automation to a whole new level,
building a highly automated facility that features unique
combinations of equipment and technology and requires
little human involvement.
MINIMIZING MANUAL HANDLING
Toho’s pharmaceutical wholesaling subsidiary, Toho
Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd., operates six distribution centers
for handling prescription drugs and another two facilities
for over-the-counter medications. Its more than 106,000
customers throughout Japan include pharmacies, hospitals,
and clinics.
In December 2013, Toho opened TBC Saitama, a highly
automated logistics center in the city of Kuki in Saitama
Prefecture, to distribute prescription drugs to customers
in East Central Japan. The automation is so extensive that
the 130 warehouse workers employed at the facility never
touch about 70 percent of the products processed there.
This is due in large part to several automated storage and
retrieval systems (AS/RSs) and a small army of robotic
pickers. Tying all of the automated systems together are
five kilometers (three miles) of conveyors. The conveyors
themselves are painted different colors to help identify
the functions of each conveyor line within a very complex
system. For example, purple conveyors transport inbound
totes. Green conveyors carry totes with picked items to the
shipping area, while empty totes are transported on yellow
conveyors.
Overall, automation has reduced the number of manual
A healthy
dose of
automation
