Maintenance outsourced

The Co-operative Pharmacy has a team of KNAPP engineers on-site at its new, £16m national distribution centre in Stoke-on-Trent.

The purpose-built 17,000m2 distribution centre was opened in October 2009 to supply the pharmacy chain's 800 branches nationwide with the fastest-moving prescription medicines and OTC (over the counter) products. All the internal logistics systems at the site were supplied by KNAPP, acting as general contractor and systems integrator. The highly automated handling solution features a miniload AS/RS, an A-frame autopicker, 3700m of conveyor systems and robotic palletising, all controlled by KNAPP's 'KLASS-X' control system.

By outsourcing the maintenance and repair of its automated handling systems, The Co-operative Pharmacy is benefiting from priority support at a fixed cost, with the peace of mind that all statutory and legislative requirements are being met by fully trained technicians.

The resident service team uses KNAPP's web-based E-Support system to order spare parts required for the facility.

With engineers at the Meir Park site and customer support staff in KNAPP's Austrian headquarters using the same system, communication is reported to be excellent and errors have been virtually eradicated.