Issue 10 • 2010
news Community edition
What Can ARX Do For You? Save you TIME and MONEY ARX can offer both partial and total automation to save you time and money.
In this issue: Case Studies 02
We currently offer a wide range of pharmacy automation which enables every pharmacy to benefit and ultimately, reduce your costs and increase your profit margins.
Our customers reveal the benefits of automation.
To find out more about the differences between forms of automation and the main benefits that each of these could give to you and your business, please have a read through this edition of ARX News.
Design Award 03 Vmax setting itself apart from the crowd.
News Roundup 03 ARX lead the way. Rowa Vmax Channel (vending) systems usually use gravity to dispense packs and are capable of dropping large quantities of stock upon demand. They are a very fast and efficient way of dispensing packs and can automate 75% of your daily picking. The channel systems are a simple concept, designed for pharmacies where the key requirement is pack delivery speed for a limited range of stock. Robotic systems use a picking head to dispense packs to various drop points and have the ability to deliver multiple packs at a time if required. They also allow space efficient storage and are capable of holding 99%+ of your daily dispensing stock. Robotic systems can easily handle part packs, tubs, bottles and ever changing ranges of parallel imports and generics that current buying patterns dictate. Robotic systems can also cater for automatic loading, automatic labelling,
Rowa Topspeed refrigerated items, controlled drugs and remote dispensing. Having installed both types of systems in the UK and Ireland, we have been able to look in great detail at the business case for each system. While the Channel systems are cheaper than their Robotic counterparts, the return on investment (ROI) is much longer. Channel systems do have limitations, such as manual loading and a restricted range of benefits compared to a Robotic system. A pharmacy dispensing 6,000 - 7,000 items per month could expect a ROI for a robotic system in under 3 years whereas with the Channel System it is much longer. To find out more about which system is best suited to your requirements, please contact ARX to arrange a visit from one of our experienced pharmacy consultants. Our consultants will recommend the best system for your needs, and support this with a business case.
Who’s Who at ARX 04 Meet the newest member of our Irish team.
Exhibition schedule 04 Where you can meet the ARX team over the coming year.
Did you know?... The new Vmax can dispense up to 2,400 packs per hour! The sophisticated programming of this new robotic system also allows you to stock up to 1,200 new packs per hour. The new Vmax really can help to push your business into the future.
ARX Ltd • Tel: +44(0)1727 790446 • Fax: +44(0)1727 893361 • Email: sales@arx.ie • Web: www.arx.ie 01
Live Stock Control with Helix Qicscript.net We catch up with Mike Walsh, owner and Head Pharmacist of Walsh’s Pharmacy in Fermoy, County Cork, to see what impact automation has had on his business. The pharmacy installed their Select Robot in May 2009 - the first installation using the Helix Qicscript.net software interface with live stock functionality. The primary goal for Mike was to dispense drugs safely, accurately and efficiently to his customers. Mike said, “Each day the robot automatically separates and checks all drug orders that come into the pharmacy. It first scans the barcode and measures the pack dimensions before storing on the shelf. This cuts down on errors and patient safety is its main priority.” Mike went on to say that, “The robot checks the expiry date of the packs and will not dispense a pack that is out of date. The robot ensures that there is always activity in the dispensary and the work process never stops.” Once the prescription is handed to a staff member it enters the dispensing process immediately, even if a staff member or pharmacist is counselling a patient or dealing with a query on the phone.
The improved work flow means staff are no longer doing the mundane daily tasks of putting drugs away or picking them from the shelves, making the dispensary a lot calmer and more organised. Everyone has more time to spend with customers, counselling them on their medication or advising them on the most appropriate medication for a particular condition.
Interest in Mike’s robot installation throughout the local community was very high. There have been many visitors to his pharmacy and many new customers. Mike also received over 100 entries in his robot naming competition, with ‘Spencer Dispenser’ the winning name.
Mike stated, “Compared to 12 months ago, the whole dispensing process is more organised and structured. As the robot puts the drugs away itself in the morning it simply will not pick the wrong drug or strength from the shelf. Secondly, the speed of dispensing is far faster than the manual process as the robot is always working on the prescription. Thirdly, the drug is always in date.” The training from ARX runs over seven days, getting staff up to speed with the robot functions. “After staff are comfortable with its use, they would never go back to the old inefficient way,” said Mike. “I would encourage anybody w h o would like to see the robot in operation to call anytime, during or after working hours, to get a full tour of our dispensing process. ”
Mike Walsh and Spencer Dispenser ‘Photo courtesy Avondhu Press’
Efficient Dispensing with Greater Control McKeagney’s Chemist in North Street, Lurgan, County Armagh have been using their Select robot for over a year now. We chat to Pharmacy Manager, Sean Hamill to get his views on how the robot has improved life for them. Sean hoped that once he received his robot, his staff would be able to dispense faster, more efficiently and more safely. Has the ARX robot lived up to these expectations? “We are now very efficient in our dispensing process and from a Pharmacy Managers point of view, the stock rotation has been fantastic enabling me to get a tighter control on the stock within the shop, reducing our costs considerably,”
commented Sean. “We are able to provide a faster service to our customers and the dispensing process is much safer as the robot coupled with 2D barcodes on prescriptions eradicates picking errors. We no longer type or pick the wrong drug name, especially in cases where the drug name and box is similar,” said Sean. The impact of the robot in McKeagney’s Chemist was so great that they were able to move to monthly deliveries of stock almost straight away. The robot combined with McLernon’s software tells them exactly what they need to order each month. The robot quickly identifies unused and short dated stock, so that it can be managed appropriately.
ARX News • Edited by Luke Lowles-Hourigan and Stephanie Dyke 02
When asked what advice he would give to those considering a pharmacy robot, Sean said, “Your set up and planning is very important and you need to get it right from the start. Once that is done, the benefits of the robot are unbelievable!”
Bringing dispensing to the patient
Design Award for Vmax Kelberg, Germany, 10.05.2010 – The thrilling and innovative design of the Vmax by Rowa Automatisierungssysteme GmbH has succeeded in one of the most well respected design competitions in the world. In the red dot award, product design 2010, the Rowa Vmax was awarded the "red dot" quality award for high design quality by a panel of top judges. The awards ceremony and party took place on 5 July 2010 with more than 1,000 guests at the Essen Opera house (Aalto Theatre). The Rowa Vmax is an automated storage and dispensing system for pharmacies which can store packs of medications in an extremely compact space and dispense them quickly. Rowa is the European market leader in the sector having sold over 3,000 machines. "With the Vmax we have created a clear symbol of innovation and design," says Rolf Wagner, Managing Director and founder of Rowa. "We are extremely pleased to have been recognised with this important
award. It means that for 'non-engineers' too, the technological advance which is integrated somewhat in the background has now also been recognised from a visual standpoint." "All of the products winning a red dot design award had to convince an international panel of experts. These products set themselves apart from the crowd with their excellent design and innovative applications which meant that they were able to prove their quality in one of the hardest design competitions in the world," says design expert Professor Dr. Peter Zec, founder of the red dot design award. The first few Vmax robots have already been installed in Ireland, with five installations at present. Should you wish to view this outstanding system in action, please contact a member of our sales team or visit us at any of the exhibitions listed on page 4 of this newsletter.
News roundup: ARX lead the way in Ireland ARX Ltd are the No.1 supplier of Pharmacy Robots in Ireland with over 35 robots installed to date. This includes three of the new Vmax models in the last month. With Irish based Sales and Service teams, ARX customers continue to benefit from the exceptional levels of advice and support that we endeavour to offer, ensuring all customers maximise the potential of their robot.
Visit Monaghan Gerry Lynch of Dolan’s Pharmacy in Monaghan recently installed a Select robot and Prolog. Whilst enjoying the usual Time, Space and Control benefits of the Select robot, Gerry has been able to free up more of his time so that he can consult with his customers while the robot dispenses the prescription in the background. Gerry has invited anyone who would be keen to view his Robot, to call into his pharmacy in Monaghan town for a chat.
The major pharmacy software suppliers are on board! ARX are pleased to announce that all three major pharmacy software suppliers in Ireland have developed interfaces between their pharmacy software and the ARX robots. McLernon’s, Helix Health and Ocuco have spent numerous hours of development time tweaking their programming to ensure all our customers get the main benefits from their robots. The most recent advances include automatic checking of deliveries, live stock functionality, generic grouping and phased dispensing.
ARX in numbers There are almost 3,000 ROWA systems across Europe of which over 350 are in the UK and Ireland. ARX are delighted to have a market share of approximately 80%.
Rowa Vmax
ARX Ltd • Tel: +44(0)1727 790446 • Fax: +44(0)1727 893361 • Email: sales@arx.ie • Web: www.arx.ie
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Who's who at ARX: Andy Moran Sales Executive - Ireland
NEC - Birmingham
Exhibition schedule Andy Moran Andy Moran is our new Community Sales Executive for the Republic of Ireland. Andy comes from the West of Ireland and is a resident in Ballaghaderreen located on the Roscommon/Mayo border. Since 2003 he has proudly played Gaelic football for the Mayo Senior Football Team and hopes to continue this for some years to come. Andy comes to ARX after gaining diverse experience in a number of sales and customer service roles. He has a Masters in Marketing and a degree in Business & Recreation and enjoys the challenge of sales on a day to day basis. The health of the Irish public is a key concern of his and any product that can potentially improve people’s health is of great interest. Andy is delighted to be selling products that eliminate human error in the dispensing process, and which enable pharmacists to spend more time with patients. He is particularly looking forward to communicating and developing ARX’s benefits across the Pharmacy community over the coming years.
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ARX will be present at a variety of exhibitions across Europe over the next few months. This is your opportunity to take a closer look at some of the latest equipment and to talk about your requirements with our experienced staff. 7th - 10th October 2010
Expopharm, International Congress Center, Munich 10th - 11th October 2010
The Pharmacy Show, NEC Birmingham
ARX International
Call us now to discuss how ARX automation can help you: ARX Automating Pharmacies Ltd 72 Connell Street, Limerick, County Limerick
Tel: +44(0)1727 790446 Fax: +44(0)1727 893361 Email: sales@arx.ie Web: www.arx.ie
Belgium - Luxemburg Avenue Henri Jaspar 99 1060 BRUXELLES France ARX SAS La Petite Periche Route de Navrans 72200 BAZOUGES-SUR-LE-LOIR Spain C/ Camino de Casabermeja, 118, bajo 29014 MALAGA Switzerland 5, Route de Chêne case postale 6298 case postale 6298 CH-1211 GENEVE 6
ARX Ltd • Tel: +44(0)1727 790446 • Fax: +44(0)1727 893361 • Email: sales@arx.ie • Web: www.arx.ie