Sinopharm Group Heilongjiang Co., Ltd. is a subsidiary of Sinopharm Group Co., Ltd. (listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, stock code 01099.HK), the largest drug distribution enterprise under China National Pharmaceutical Group Corporation. The company is engaged in channel distribution, sales and wholesale, and has obtained the new version of GSP certification and ISO9001 quality management system certification. With nearly 9,000 kinds of regular products and annual sales of more than RMB 1 billion, it is a large-scale drug wholesaler in Heilongjiang Province and an enterprise for national strategic reserve of drugs in Heilongjiang Province.
In 2017, Zhongding Integration cooperated with Sinopharm Heilongjiang to build an intelligent pharmaceutical logistics system that integrates warehousing, transportation, picking and distribution. In this article, some key subsystems will be introduced: intelligent three-dimensional warehouse, “goods to person” picking, software management system, etc.
Intelligent Three-dimensional Warehouse
Based on the specific functions proposed by Sinopharm Heilongjian, the complete intelligent pharmaceutical logistics system is reasonably divided into two main functional areas. It is planned to set up the inbound and outbound area of intelligent three-dimensional warehouse on the first floor, including whole pallet inbound, temporary storage for inspection and outbound operations (including automated sorting system). The outbound temporary storage area is designed on the second floor, including the pallet online picking and full case outbound and the “goods to person” disassembly and picking system of the intelligent three-dimensional warehouse.
The intelligent three-dimensional warehouse is about 22 meters high, and is equipped with a total of 5 sets of stacker cranes by Zhongding Integration and 7,540 storage locations. Drug inbound, replenishment, outbound and other operations can be performed in the warehouse. The inbound operation capacity of the 2 inbound ports is up to 80 pallets/hour (peak: 180 pallets/hour).
“Goods to Person” Picking System
In the complete set of “goods to person” picking solution tailored for Sinopharm Heilongjiang by Zhongding Integration, with the intelligent mobile unit AGV as the core, and the user-friendly touch display as the operating window, the intelligent scheduling system with functions of machine learning, deep learning and data mining may be applied efficiently by on-site operators to complete the whole warehousing process in the robot storage area.
As an important picking method adopted in current pharmaceutical logistics, “goods to person” picking system of Zhongding Integration can satisfy the following requirements:
High Efficiency
Outbound picking up to 200 times/ hour, replenishment efficiency up to 300-500 pieces/hour/workstation, and inventory counting efficiency up to 600-800 pieces/hour/workstation.
High Precision
In line with the requirements for high picking precision in pharmaceutical logistics, the entire “goods to person” picking system is capable of achieving a precision rate higher than 99.95%.
People-oriented
The system may reduce the working stroke of logistics personnel. The operation platform fully considers the comfort of human body and reflects the “people-oriented” logistics design.
A total of 15 Kiva robots, 308 sets of cargo racks, 5 multi-functional workstations, and 10 sets of charging piles are designed for the entire “goods to person” picking system.
Racks are transported to the workstation by the robots. Working personnel pick up the corresponding drugs based on the prompts on the screen and the electronic labels. After picking, the order boxes will be conveyed to the packaging review table through the smooth slide, and staff of subsequent process will check and pack the drugs.
After packing, to complete outbound, the goods are sent to the automated sorting area on the first floor through the box conveyor line and screw lift. After the completion of review and packaging, empty turnover boxes are returned to the workstation through the smooth slide for recycling.
RCS Software Management System
The “goods to person” picking system carries out unified scheduling and planning with the RCS software management system. The client issues instructions to the robot system through the WMS system, connects to the SHS WES interface. The system may assist in the parsing of clients’ WMS instructions, ensure that the parsing results are consistent with the client’s system requirement and issue the instructions to the RCS system to execute handling tasks.
In addition to Sinopharm Heilongjiang, it is worth noting that Zhongding Integration has also established close cooperation relationship with other subsidiaries of Sinopharm Group such as Sinopharm Changzhou, Sinopharm Shandong, and Sinopharm Xiamen etc. For years, Zhongding Integration and Sinopharm Group have grown together and established profound strategic partnership.
As a leader in the field of intelligent pharmaceutical logistics, based on the efficient and safe logistics requirements of pharmaceutical enterprises, Zhongding Integration independently developed complete set of intelligent pharmaceutical logistics system solutions applicable to acceptance, storage, sorting, distribution and other operations in the pharmaceutical supply chain, and effectively improved the order processing capacity and efficiency. Zhongding Integration hopes that pharmaceutical companies will eventually gain stronger market competitiveness and more profits while enjoying high-quality logistics experience!
