The official unveiling of New Zealand’s first AutoStore system took place on April 10th at Douglas Pharmaceuticals’ headquarters in Henderson, West Auckland, attracting a crowd of industry leaders, politicians and journalists. The AutoStore system – powered by intralogistics specialist Kardex – comprises over 6,000 storage bins and 13 robots and provides the extra inventory storage needed for Douglas to achieve its ambitious expansion goals.
Visitors experienced a new era in warehousing in New Zealand, as they were welcomed by Douglas to see for themselves the transformative power of robotic cube storage to warehouse operations. The event included a tour of the warehouse and a live demonstration of the AutoStore in action, insights and behind the scenes stories from the project team, and a presentation by Douglas leaders. Guests heard how Kardex worked closely with Douglas to tailor the AutoStore solution to meet Douglas’s current and future needs. Both companies describe the project as a true collaboration, praising the team for the success of the project, which came in on time and on budget.
Douglas looks for an efficient, high-density, future-proof solution
Douglas, New Zealand’s largest privately-owned pharmaceutical companies and the country’s leading supplier by volume into the growing pharmacy channel, approached Kardex having researched ways of expanding its manual warehouse operations. It was outgrowing existing storage operations at its West Auckland warehouse for domestic orders to retail, wholesale, and direct-to-consumer (DTC) customers and needed to meet its bold growth targets.
Options explored included moving to a larger space off-site and increasing the footprint of the existing building. However, these came with drawbacks, including having to reconfigure the road network or move operations off Douglas’s campus in Henderson, Auckland. Douglas wanted a solution that didn’t just scale up its existing manual operation and associated challenges, but also future-proofed its warehouse operations by increasing density, efficiency, accuracy and throughput.
AutoStore powered by Kardex meets and exceeds Douglas’s requirements
The AutoStore automated storage and retrieval system (ASRS), empowered by Kardex technology, is the world’s fastest goods-to-person (GTP) system per square metre. It comprises bins stored in a high-density grid, with robots working tirelessly to carry and deliver products to ports where they are picked and packed to customers’ orders.
Working with Kardex, Douglas reimagined its warehouse space to achieve 30% more storage using only 10% of the building’s footprint. The AutoStore system was installed following intensive planning and modelling to ensure a smooth transition. It required no expensive physical changes to the warehouse or its power capacity, as 10 AutoStore robots consume as much energy as one vacuum cleaner. The primary adjustment was grinding the floor for the AutoStore Grid and the system was built alongside Douglas’s existing warehousing operation to minimise disruption.
New ports and robots can easily be added in the future, with the system equipped with round-the-clock capabilities and expected to meet demand for the next five years in its current form. The Kardex empowering AutoStore solution has increased picking rates by four times and delivers 99.9% accuracy. Robots handle product movement and Douglas employees pick items at ergonomic stations to reduce strain and enhance safety.
Jeff Douglas, Managing Director of Douglas Pharmaceuticals, says, “The event has been a real celebration of innovation and collaboration, marking a milestone for Douglas and for New Zealand, with attendees able to witness world-class automation up close for themselves. I am so proud of the work done by our team and Kardex’s to meet and achieve our goals and ensure we are ready for an exciting future, expanding our consumer goods operation. This investment is future-proofing storage and fulfilment, reducing waste, and improving work for our warehouse team.”
Grant Smith, Head of Business Development ANZ for Kardex, adds, “This has been an afternoon of innovation, automation, and great conversations. AutoStore powered by Kardex is redefining warehouse operations across the globe – and now it’s arrived in Aotearoa. This is the future of fulfilment and we are impressed by the way in which Douglas and the whole team have embraced the technology and made it such a key part of their business. More New Zealand companies of all sizes are already exploring the possibilities of scalable AutoStore solutions from Kardex and our team is ready to work with them every step of the way.”
For companies interested in learning more about how robotic cube storage, Kardex recently launched its StoreX calculator. The tool provides decision makers with a customised, data-rich analysis of how AutoStore powered by Kardex can optimise their operations and generates a comprehensive performance report based on the user’s facility, aggregated from key warehouse metrics. More details are available here: https://info.kardex.com/asset/calculator/autostore-configurator-roi-calculator/as/amer/b
