IconNews 1 2018 EN

HEAR IT FROM US AT NEWICON

NEWICON OY

1

2018

CUSTOMER MAGAZINE

FINNISH HEALTH TECHNOLOGY TO BE USED IN THOUSANDS OF CHINESE HOSPITALS

CUSTOMER NEWS

At an ICU, there is no time to waste – a smart medicine cabinet makes medicine distribution more reliable

TIPS FROM AN EXPERT

The medicines verification system roots out falsified medications

2018

1/ 2018 CUSTOMER MAGAZINE | NEWICON OY

6 4 6

TURNING POINTS FOR THE NEW ICON Editorial

FINNISH HEALTH TECHNOLOGY TO BE USED IN THOUSANDS OF CHINESE HOSPITALS Hear it from us at NewIcon

8

AT AN ICU, THERE IS NO TIME TO WASTE – A SMART MEDICINE CABINET MAKES MEDICINE DISTRIBUTION MORE RELIABLE Customer news

14

FRAMEWORK AGREEMENT PUTS PATIENT SAFETY FIRST Hear it from us at NewIcon

14

8

“It feels great that the product has achieved a good market position in Finland and also gained international recognition.”

22 | Mechanical engineering team leader

22

Anssi Vekkeli

18 16

HOSPITAL PHARMACIES BECOMING INCREASINGLY AUTOMATED Visiting editor

17 18

THE PROCESSING OF ROUND CONTAINERS New features for Iso-Fixu

THE MEDICINES VERIFICATION SYSTEM ROOTS OUT FALSIFIED MEDICATIONS Tips from an expert

22

ISO-FIXU OFFERS ENDLESS CUSTOMISATION POSSIBILITIES Hear it from us at NewIcon

ICON NEWS Publisher NewIcon Oy Changes of address & subscriptions info@newicon.fi Editorial staff Jori-Matti Savolainen, NewIcon Oy Jooli markkinointi & viestintä Oy Design & layout Kotisaari Graphic Management Oy Printed in Grano Oy

NewIcon Oy is a health technology company that has delivered automation solutions for medical services in more than a hundred pharmacies and hospital medical services in Finland, Denmark, Russia, Israel, Iran and China. NewIcon is Finland’s market leader in medicine storage automation for pharmacies. The company’s subsidiaries are located in Denmark and Great Britain, and it has distributors in more than ten countries.

EDITORIAL

Turning points for the new icon In early 2018, we reached a turning point in the decade-long history of our company. Our investments in internationalisation finally paid off as our export sales exceeded that of our domestic sales.

OSSI PARVIAINEN The author is the CEO of NewIcon Oy

We made our first export deal in Russia in 2012, together with the CEO of Erja OOO, Evgeny Katkov. In issue 1/2017 of our magazine, we told you the unique story of how our partnership started when Evgeny inspired by our medicine storage robot. An equally interesting story is the one where the Chinese market leader in medical service automation, Shanghai General Healthy Information Technology Co. Ltd. (SGHT), found us at an event where I was presenting our company to international investors.

After this crucial moment, SGHT ordered ten cytostatic compounding robots from us. We started the negotiations for a deal worth millions of euros and also decided to start a joint venture to market and sell our automation devices to hospitals in Mainland China, Taiwan and Hong Kong. The greatest outcome was that, thanks to this new partnership, the investment company Highlight Capital invested 4.5 million euros in NewIcon.

We are glad to have found a partner whose local knowledge helps us expand to a new market – and one of the world’s largest, at that. While we have many great partners, making our way to other market has been surprisingly difficult. The global economic turmoil has slowed down the sales in Russia, while in areas like the Middle East, governmental bureaucracy has delayed reforms in pharmacies and hospitals.

For a growth company, it is important to be highly reactive and focus on getting results. As we update our strategy for China, we will also evaluate and decide on which other markets we should focus our resources. Finland and the locations of our subsidiaries, Great Britain and Denmark, as well as the rest of the Nordic area, will naturally continue to be our key markets where we want to continuously meet and exceed the customers’ expectations.

We have collected a timeline of our historical turning points on these pages. Some of our readers will probably recognise themselves or their organisations from these events. The milestones include the first deliveries of our products and the crowdfunding project that brought us nearly 300 new Finnish shareholders.

I must say we have had quite a journey together. And the journey goes on, with new turning points waiting in the future.

4

“FOR A GROWTH COMPANY, IT IS IMPORTANT TO BE HIGHLY REACTIVE AND FOCUS ON GETTING RESULTS.”

2018 • Investment of 4.5 million euros from Highlight Health Investment Limited • Joint venture in China with Shanghai General Healthy Information Technology Co. Ltd. and Lui (Richard) Yang 2017 • Subsidiaries in Denmark and Great Britain • Danish market entered • The Key Flag Symbol for Finnish work • Public issue through crowdfunding yields 4.4 million euros

2018

2016 • Chinese and Iranian markets entered • A loan of 8 million euros from the European Investment Bank; 5 million euros still waiting to be withdrawn • The world’s largest medicine storage robot installed in Helsinki University Hospital pharmacy

2017

2015 • Israeli market entered • 1. IV ICON medicine robot delivered to a hospital pharmacy • 1. eMED ICON smart medicine cabinet delivered to a hospital

2016

2015

2014 • A capital investment worth 2.3 million euros from Finnish Industry Investment Ltd and Mutual Pension Insurance Company Etera • Market leader’s position in Finland

2014

2013 2012

2008 2007

2013 • The company’s name changes from Newico to NewIcon. The name signifies a high-tech company that is at the forefront of development.

• ISO 9001 certification 2012 • Mega-Fixu medicine storage robot delivered to a hospital pharmacy • Russian market entered 2008 • 1. Iso-Fixu medicine storage robot delivered to a pharmacy 2007 • Ossi Parviainen founds Newico Oy

5

TEXT: MERVI LEINONEN

Finnish health technology to be used in thousands of Chinese hospitals A Chinese investment company, Highlight Health Investment Limited, invests 4.5 million euros in the Finnish health technology company NewIcon. Chinese investments in Finnish technology have increased significantly in the last few years, and the total Chinese investments in EU member states have multiplied tenfold.

Highlight Health Investment Limited is an investment fund controlled by Highlight Capital, an investment company specialising in health technology. The connection to Finland was formed when a health technology company funded by Highlight, Shanghai General Healthy Information Technology Co. Ltd. (SGHT), offered to collaborate with NewIcon.

Like NewIcon, the Chinese company was growing rapidly and was looking for a reliable partner with growing potential to ensure its position as a market leader in China.

The Chinese company was impressed by the Finnish company’s knowledge of software and robots, as well as their innovative medical service automation devices.

“They say NewIcon is like a gem hidden here in the north. For an SME like us, they’re the best possible partner with whom we can start seeking business with the thousands of hospitals in China,” Ossi Parviainen, the CEO of NewIcon, says.

JOINT VENTURE AND FRAMEWORK AGREEMENT In addition to the investment by Highlight Capital, the negotiations with SGHT have resulted in starting a joint

6

CASE: CHINA • •

•

A Chinese investment of 4.5 million euros A joint venture to market and sell medical automation devices in Mainland China, Taiwan and Hong Kong A 20-million-euro framework agreement on medicine storage robots

PARTNERS: • Shanghai General Healthy Information Technology Co. Ltd. China’s leading medical automation supplier with a turnover of approximately 50 million euros • Highlight Capital A Chinese investment company specialising in health technology

venture. NewIcon owns 25% of the joint venture. The third owner is Lui (Richard) Yang, with whom NewIcon has already worked when Diyuan Enterprise Ltd. was a distributor for NewIcon.

The joint venture will begin the marketing and sales of NewIcon’s automation devices in Mainland China, Taiwan, and Hong Kong. The sales are expected to start rapidly, as SGHT alone has been supplying its own automation devices to more than 500 hospitals during the last few years.

“We have been laying the foundations for this partnership carefully. For us, it’s important that our partner has a functional sales network and that they are fully familiar with their home market,” Parviainen says.

The joint venture operating in China is committed to purchasing dozens of robots for compounding ready-touse cytotoxics medications from NewIcon in the next five years. For NewIcon, this will mean a turnover of nearly 20 million euros.

“In early 2018, before starting the joint venture, we signed a trade agreement with SGHT concerning ten medicine robots, three of which have already been delivered to China. We are currently negotiating for orders for our other products, as well,” Parviainen says.

FUNDING FOR GROWTH AND INTERNATIONALISATION For NewIcon, the new capital investment continues the long-term trend of funding the company’s growth and internationalisation. For example, NewIcon used crowdfunding to collect 4.4 million euros from private investors in 2017. NewIcon’s growth potential also convinced the European Investment Bank, which granted the company a loan of 8 million euros in 2016.

“Most of the loan is still waiting to be utilized,” Parviainen says.

With the Chinese investment, NewIcon can develop more innovative automation solutions for the international market. The solutions make hospital medical services more efficient and improve patient safety.

“We don’t plan on putting all our eggs in one basket in the future, either; instead, we will continue to also sell our products in the other markets we have chosen. In recent years, we have invested heavily in the resources, product development, productisation, and delivery network of our company, meaning we are ready for a rapid increase in demand,” Parviainen says.

7

TEXT: IINA TIIHONEN PHOTOS: ALIAS CREATIVE

CUSTOMER NEWS

At an ICU, there is no time to waste – a smart medicine cabinet makes medicine distribution more reliable Working as a nurse in an intensive care unit is hectic and demanding. The work requires rapid reactions and acute medication – and you cannot afford any mistakes. When there is no time to waste, the eMED ICON smart medicine cabinets make medicine distribution more reliable: finding the correct medication is quick and secure. In Kuopio University Hospital (KUH), the new technology has made the nurses’ routines more efficient, which gives them more time to focus on patients.

8

9

Niko Tasala, nurse

Has worked in Kuopio University Hospital since 2012 Hobbies Football and snowboarding Motto “Life is a part of football” What would you cook for your loved ones?

If you ask my wife, my speciality is sausage sauce and mashed potatoes

Nurse Niko Tasala has worked at the KUH intensive care unit for six years. The work is rewarding, as you can see the results directly in the patient’s condition.

“We do this work for the patients, above all. The treatment consists of continuously monitoring the basic vital functions and supporting them with special equipment and medications. At first, I was a bit concerned about the smart medicine cabinets and learning a new system, since we need to be able to get the medications to the patients quickly. But it turned out that you can get the medications from the smart medicine cabinet as quickly or even faster than from the old cabinets,” Tasala says.

All smart medicine cabinets have an emergency opening system with which the doors can be opened even when there is a technical issue. In addition, the cabinets at the ICU are equipped with emergency medicine bags that contain small ready-to-use doses for cases where there is not a second to spare.

10

A total of 278,000 medication labels are printed from KUH smart medicine cabinets in a year. In the past, the personnel wrote the information on the labels manually.

Nurse Niko Tasala logs into the eMED ICON smart medicine cabinet with his personal key card and PIN code.

The staff can look for medications by name or active ingredient.

278,000 MEDICINE LABELS IN A YEAR You take medications from a smart medicine cabinet by logging on the device with a personal key card and PIN code. Once the doors have opened, you can take the medication directly from the cabinet or search for it by name or active ingredient. When medication is taken from the cabinet, this will be logged with a barcode reader, which will allow users to see which medications have been taken, how much has been taken and who took them. In the future, the logs will also include information about the patient receiving the medication once the system is integrated into the patient data systems.

“The most important advantage of a smart medicine cabinet is that it increases patients’ safety, since the cabinet’s verification system reduces the risk of incorrect medication. In addition, confusions are easy to clear since the system logs every time medications are taken. There have been news about medication thefts, so the smart

11

The eMED ICON smart medicine cabinet system makes hospital medical services more efficient

The system allows users to monitor information such as medication volumes, conditions and expiring medications automatically and in real time. As medical services become clearer, the personnel’s working hours become more efficient and human errors in medicine distribution are reduced. All system events are registered, and event reports can be looked at retrospectively.

medicine cabinet also makes things safer for the nursing personnel,� Tasala ponders.

In addition to safety, a smart medicine cabinet saves time, as syringes, for example, can be equipped with adhesives printed directly from the system, stating the name and active ingredients of the medication, the name of the nurse and the time and date. A total of 278,000 medication labels are printed from KUH smart medicine cabinets in a year. In the past, the personnel wrote the information on the labels manually.

ALL MEDICATIONS ARE ALWAYS AVAILABLE Before adopting the smart medicine cabinets, the records of available medications in the unit were unclear and nurses had to spend time looking for missing

12

KUOPIO UNIVERSITY HOSPITAL Kuopio University Hospital (KUH) is one of the five university hospitals in Finland. KUH is responsible for high-level specialised medical care for almost a million people in Eastern and Central Finland.

Annual figures for KUH: • 4,700 employees • 92,000 patients • 450,000 outpatients • 2,400 births • 20,000 operations The eMED ICON smart medicine cabinet: • The first installed in 2015 • A total of 65 in use

medications. These days, the hospital pharmacy service personnel takes care of replenishing the medicine cabinets, and the smart medicine cabinet system always has up-to-date information on the quantity and location of each medication. Thanks to the pass-through functions of the cabinets, the medical service personnel can replenish the cabinets from the outside of the room, even during a treatment operation.

“Sometimes, it would take a long time to retrieve medications, particularly on the weekends when the hospital medical service was closed and the medications had been replenished before the weekend. In the past, we had to call the other wards at random and ask for a medication we were missing. Now we can use the system to see if another ward has the medication we need.

I think it’s a great advantage to have all medications immediately available,” Tasala says.

In many hospitals, the smart medicine cabinets are installed first in the ICUs where the work is hectic and technology is already used extensively.

“ICUs use a lot of medications, which is why smart medicine cabinets are used often and users quickly gain experience with them. Most medications are given intravenously, so the work is easy when the syringes and needles are integrated into the cabinet and are easily available. Nowadays, if I’m working in a room without a smart medicine cabinet, the work feels old-fashioned and difficult. Nobody wants to give up the smart cabinets,” Tasala states.

13

HEAR IT FROM US AT NEWICON

TEXT: VIRPI KIRVES-TORVINEN PHOTOS: ISTEKKI OY JA NEWICON OY

Framework agreement puts patient safety first In November, NewIcon and Istekki Oy made a six-year framework agreement on eMED ICON smart medicine cabinets. The agreement has had an excellent start.

In March, Istekki delivered five eMED ICON smart medicine cabinets to the Pirkanmaa Hospital District. Now local health care centres are also able to get these cabinets. Istekki’s Development Manager, Harri Kumpulainen, is excited about the opportunities enabled by the agreement.

“With joint solutions, we get operational advantages and volume savings. After making the framework agreement, we were able to agree on the practical steps of the project,” Kumpulainen says.

It was easy for Istekki, an ICT service provider, to include the eMED ICON smart medicine cabinet into the framework agreement. Istekki was already familiar with many NewIcon employees. Istekki was also closely involved in the installation of 40 smart medicine cabinets to the Kaari Hospital of Kuopio University Hospital in 2015.

“The digitalisation of medical services has been an extensive process for hospitals, and they have invested heavily in technological developments in the last few years. The advantages and experience we have gained from Kuopio University Hospital are very helpful to others.”

Istekki’s customer-owners (seven hospital districts, four cities, eleven municipalities and one joint municipal authority) wished that smart medicine cabinets would be safe and easy to use and that the staff would receive guidance on using the cabinets.

“It’s been great to see how different hospital districts start discussing matters with one another.”

THE REGIONAL GOVERNMENT REFORM CREATES NEW OPPORTUNITIES After the framework agreement was made, Istekki started receiving new inquiries, and they have also started discussions with municipalities.

“The decisions have been left to wait for the discussions about the regional government reform, which is currently pending. The effects of the current

14

Harri Kumpulainen Development Manager Company Istekki Oy is an expert organisation in information, health and wellbeing technology Motto ”You learn something new every day” Contact information: istekki.fi

situation are visible almost everywhere in basic health care, as the municipalities will most likely lose their authority in the reform.”

Kumpulainen is also waiting on the Finnish parliament’s decisions on the health and social services reform. He believes that the regional government reform will enable unified decisions also for the health care centres. Istekki makes the cost calculations.

The eMED ICON smart medicine cabinet and Istekki’s services adapt to the customer’s needs.

“When the reform takes up some of your working hours, you need to consider where you can find additional resources to support you.”

The smart medicine cabinets make the logistics and monitoring of medicine volumes easier and reduce the risk of the staff misusing medications.

“The enclosed medicine circulation brings various components together, controls the whole entity and handles support services.”

Kumpulainen says that Istekki always puts patient safety first. A service with a monthly fee has proven to be a flexible solution.

“We still go through different pricing models with our customers to find the most suitable one. The pricing can be agreed on separately,” Kumpulainen states.

REVISING INTERACTIONS Istekki aims for reproducibility in all of its operations.

Kumpulainen believes that the redundancies in the medical service systems of different hospital districts need to be corrected. The districts operate slightly differently, even if the basic principles are the same.

“We try to encourage our customer-owners to use bidding competitions as much as possible.”

Customers may find automation devices overly complicated. This is why Kumpulainen thinks that the communications should be made clearer for customers, starting from the moment the device is installed.

“We have also learned that we need to study the customer’s operations to make our work easier in practice.”

There are few people working in the interface between technology and health care. This should be taken into consideration when planning future education paths.

Kumpulainen sees opportunities for future collaboration also in the laboratory and imaging operations. Thanks to automatisation, multi-professional collaboration will also make progress.

“The medical services in home care will advance rapidly in the future. Our goal is to use technology to anticipate things. It is important to provide the home care staff with the data to find the root causes for a patient’s symptoms.”

Kumpulainen estimates that a framework agreement between two operators, similar to the current agreement, may also work in other countries.

“However, someone needs to be in control of the big picture to ensure that everything goes smoothly.”

15

VISITING EDITOR

Hospital pharmacies becoming increasingly automated TOIVO NAARANLAHTI Back in 2009, the theme of the second day of the Hospital Pharmacy Days Recently retired Chief of Pharmacy, held in Kuopio was “Technical applications as promoters of medication safety.”

Kuopio University Hospital This was one of the first events where industry experts came together to Four decades of experience in discuss how new technologies could improve medical service processes at Hospital Pharmacy hospitals. Now, nearly ten years later, many hospital pharmacies are in the process of automating heavy and high-risk operations by redefining how manual work is conducted. Combined with the lean approach, automation is a good means for comprehensive process planning.

Looking beyond automation, the next step in Finland is to come up with ideas for new services that benefit customers. This is now possible thanks to freed up resources and the increasing digitalisation of operations. One example of a new hospital pharmacy service concept is closed loop medication management. This will become possible once the integration of information systems has advanced to the point that enables the real-time utilisation of patient, treatment and medicine information. This type of management of the entire medical service process will significantly improve patient safety, though there is still much to do before it becomes widespread.

The next decade is fast approaching and we have no crystal “WE CAN BE SURE THAT THE ball to accurately predict what it will bring. However, the UTILISATION OF ROBOTICS future is also shaped by the solutions, decisions and actions that we develop, make and take today. Medical services are AND DIGITALISATION part of the new health and social services system, which is IN HEALTH CARE WILL why hospital pharmacy operations cannot hope to escape the impacts of the upcoming changes. In any case, we can be sure CONTINUE TO INCREASE.” that the utilisation of robotics and digitalisation in health care will continue to increase. This development requires new way of thinking, as well as training.

The implementation of information systems and new technological applications has often been driven by technological development, an approach that has often led to dissatisfaction. To avoid this, building automated and digitalised services should be based first and foremost on collaboration and the needs of customers. This approach will require seamless dialogue between information technologies and management, software and hardware suppliers and customers. This is the way to establish a creative and innovative partnership that benefits everyone – including the patient!

16

NEW FEATURES FOR ISO-FIXU

Managing round containers NewIcon’s R&D is constantly paying attention to the customers’ needs. There are now seven new features available for the Iso-Fixu medicine storage robot.

The most-awaited feature is surely the processing of round containers, which pharmacists have requested in our shared development seminars. Some new features, like multi-package collection, are already available in have also been modelled after the Mega-Fixu medicine storage robots used by hospital medical services.

New Iso-Fixu features • The processing of round containers • Multi-product channel (MTK) • Multi-package collection (MPK) • Additional order display (LT ICON) • Cooling system (AC ICON) • UPS system (UPS)

Contact us and we’ll tell you more about the new features! sales@newicon.fi +358 10 3221 800

17

TIPS FROM AN EXPERT

TEXT: MERVI LEINONEN

The medicines verification system roots out falsified medications

“You can be sure that your medication is safe” Even one falsified medical product is one too many, says Maija Gohlke-Kokkonen, the General Director of the Finnish Medicines Verification Organisation, FiMVO. An EU-wide medicines verification system is a way to fight against organised crime which is increasingly often involved even in the legal medicine distribution system.

Company Finnish Medicines Verification Organisation, FiMVO. The organisation is owned by Pharma Industry Finland, Orion Corporation, the Finnish Generic Pharmaceutical Association, the Suppliers of Parallel Imported Medicines in Finland, the Association of Finnish Pharmacies and the Association of Pharmaceutical Distributors.

In Europe, falsified medications appear in approximately one per cent of all medicine packages within the legal medicine distribution system every year. There have been such cases in Finland, as well. In developing countries, up to a third of the medications received from a pharmacy or health care centre is falsified. Falsified medications are a worldwide problem, which is why other markets, such as the USA and Russia, are also developing their own verification systems.

“However, a medicines verification system can’t stop the falsified medication business operating outside the legal distribution chain. I truly hope and believe that this reform will wake people up and get them to avoid purchasing medications from sources other than pharmacies and legal online pharmacies. A falsified drug is a serious health hazard,” says Gohlke-Kokkonen.

Motto I’d rather regret the things I have done than the things I haven’t!

VERIFYING THE FUNCTIONALITY OF THE SYSTEM

Contact information www.laakevarmennus.fi

FiMVO is responsible for building and managing the medicines verification system in Finland. The medicines verification system consists of a central European database where medicine manufacturers enter the

Maija Gohlke-Kokkonen General Manager

18

Archive photo. Pharmacist Laura Sazonov loads medicine packages on the conveyor of the Mega-Fixu medicine storage robot at HUS Pharmacy. Photo: Sami Heiskanen.

identification information for each medicine package they bring to the market. The information entered into this central database flows to the national databases used by the local actors in the medicine distribution chain: wholesale distributors, pharmacies and hospital medical services.

“The systems used by EU countries are very similar and can communicate with each other. However, their preparedness levels vary. The systems in the Nordic countries and Central Europe are very advanced, but there are countries whose systems won’t be ready by the deadline of 9 February 2019,” says Gohlke-Kokkonen.

In Finland, both the medicine manufacturers and the pharmacies’ system providers have already tested the system. Wholesalers and hospital medical services will also participate in the testing phase to ensure the functionality of the system in all parts of the medicine distribution chain. The medicine distribution chain in Finland alone processes 7,000 different products and 70 million packages every year.

“We’ll start increasing the number of users in a controlled manner during the summer, and our goal is to have 95 per cent of wholesalers, pharmacies and hospital medical services linked to the medicines verification

system by November. We want to ensure the system’s functionality well before the deadline set in legislation,” Gohlke-Kokkonen states.

INSTRUCTIONS FOR PROBLEMATIC SITUATIONS Connecting pharmacies to the medicines verification system requires collaboration with the pharmacies’ system and automation providers. For example, NewIcon sees to the software and hardware updates of their automation devices to ensure the connection between the pharmacy system and the medicines verification system.

“Our common goal is to keep delivering medicine packages to patients and pharmacies’ customers without delays or interferences,” says Gohlke-Kokkonen.

FiMVO and the actors of the medicine distribution chain are working on instructions that will provide pharmacies and other actors with practical solutions for possible problems. Medicines verification will be a new stage in the pharmacy workflow, which requires some learning.

“We will go over the process of medicines verification in advance. We’ll create clear instructions for situations

19

Pharmanceutical Manufacturer

PROC

EUROPE

The structure of the medi

Wholesaler Pharmacy

r

ale

les

ho

W

Europea

acy

arm

Ph

ys lS N

at

io

W

r

ale

les

ho

na

Pharmacy

te

m

1

Wholesaler

acy

arm

N

at

io

na

lS

ys

te

m

n

Ph

INFO Parallel Distributor mandatory verification + data upload

New safety markings on medicine packages •

will protect patients from falsified medications that may consist of incorrect, ineffective or even hazardous medicinal substances or ingredients

•

involves the entire medicine distribution chain from manufacturers to wholesalers and pharmacies.

Manufacturer data upload + voluntary verification Region periodic cross-region update Pharmacy mandatory verification

New safety markings on medicine packages Wholesaler voluntary verification

20

•

2D-matrix identification code

•

Anti-tampering mechanism

The original picture is on the website of the Finnish Medicines Verification Organisation at https://www.laakevarmennus.fi/ laakevarmennusjarjestelma.

Parallel Distributor

CESS

EAN HUB

icines verification system

Wholesaler Pharmacy

an Hub lB

na

io

at

N

Wholesaler

m

te

ys

tS

rin

ep

lu

Pharmacy

1 m

te

ys

tS

rin

ep

lu

lB

na

io

at

N n

where the system alerts the user about a falsified medication or when there’s a technical issue, for example.

The practical work and customer service will be easier and faster when all parties are already familiar with the process,” Gohlke-Kokkonen says, explaining the purpose of the instructions.

According to Gohlke-Kokkonen, a medicine storage robot will make the new work stages easier for pharmacies. The information on the identification code of a medicine package, such as the product’s expiry date and batch number, will be recorded on the medicine storage robot, which will make it easier to manage the storage and recall products in case of a problem.

100% SAFE Connecting to the medicines verification system requires great effort from pharmaceutical companies, who will need to deliver medicine packages labelled with an identification code that verifies the product’s

authenticity. The reform will require investments on production line devices that add the codes on the packages and transfer the information on the code to the medicines verification system. At the same time, an antitampering mechanism, such as an adhesive seal, needs to be added on the packages.

“The costs per company will be significant. I feel that some companies will completely stop manufacturing some of their products. Even we don’t know how many companies will hold sales permits next year.

However, the investments are small compared to the benefits that can be gained from them. Medication safety will improve, meaning that the legal medicine distribution chain will provide people with medications that are 100% safe.

“The medicines verification system will also impact the reputation of pharmaceutical companies and strengthen people’s trust in the entire distribution chain.

In the future, you can be sure that your medication is safe,” Gohlke-Kokkonen states.

21

NEWICONILAISET KERTOVAT

TEXT: VIRPI KIRVES-TORVINEN PORTRAIT PHOTOS: TEROTEMEDIA, TERO TAKALO-ESKOLA

Iso-Fixu offers endless customisation possibilities Anssi Vekkeli, NewIcon’s mechanical engineering team leader, has worked in the engineering team for the IsoFixu medicine storage robot since 2008. The best part of the job is finding technical solutions, solving problems and improving the competitive strength of the devices.

“It feels great that the product has achieved a good market position in Finland and also gained international recognition. We can use the work done on product development in practice. We’re actually working on a renewal project right now,” Vekkeli says, delighted.

At first, the device’s development progressed by leaps and bounds. The team listened to the customers carefully and developed the device according to the customers’ needs.The functions and form were changed “quite radically,” according to Vekkeli. The necessary measurements, options and connections also became clearer. After the significant changes made in the beginning, the functions have mostly stayed the same.

“The big updates included changing the robots and linear guide axels into the ones we’re currently using. In the last few years, we’ve made some small, less visible changes to improve the functions and the processibility of the parts.”

DELIVERIES FROM ONE FLOOR TO ANOTHER Vekkeli, who previously worked at Innocomp Automaatio, thinks the demands of pharmacies and hospitals are stricter than in other industries when it comes to the appearance and the noise levels of the devices.

The designers’ know-how of matters such as pharmacy processes, the processing of medicine packages and the location of devices has improved, which

22

a

b

Anssi Vekkeli, mechanical engineering team leader Has been working at NewIcon since 2007 Motto It’s better to plan it all at once

c

d

has made the design and production of devices easier.

Vekkeli has noticed that it is now easier to anticipate problems, and he has even had some “eureka moments.”

“One of those was the idea about the current shelf structure with its dividers and the robot’s vacuum gripper. Another significant realisation we had at the beginning was the insulation of the frame sounds so that the sounds from the device’s functions are not conducted to the frame of the building.”

NewIcon is ready to go very far with customising the standard models. Delivering packages from another floor of the building to the device and onwards with various conveyor and package lift solutions is a good example of this, Vekkeli states. The systems are also available in many different sizes. The team has even designed fourmetre-tall storage units for a shopping centre pharmacy.

“That way, floor space can be used more efficiently,” says Vekkeli.

Did you know?

Pharmacists’ choices

• As many as 90 Iso-Fixu storage robots have been delivered to pharmacies in Finland, Russia and Israel.

• The Iso-Fixu storage robots are customised according the customer’s needs.

• For example, pharmacists can choose how rapidly and easily medicine packages are feeded entered into storage and how they are delivered to pharmacists.

70 % Automatic input module (photo a) 30 % Channel input module (photo b) 57 % Medicine package delivery point on the side of Iso-Fixu (photo c) 43 % Conveyers from Iso-Fixu to the counter (photo d)

23

NEWICON OY

SUBSIDIARIES

Viestikatu 1-3 70600 Kuopio, Finland Tel. +358 10 322 1800 sales@newicon.fi www.newicon.fi

GREAT BRITAIN NewIcon group UK Ltd DENMARK NewIcon Group ApS

You can also find us on Facebook and LinkedIn 24

ORGANISATION CERTIFIED BY

ISO 9001