logifact® WMS in Neuca’s new automated warehouse

• Neuca’s new central warehouse in Toruń has launched  logifact® software WMS.

• WMS meets high standards of excellence and reliability in its handling of large-volume shipping, while also providing custom care tailored to the specific needs of the pharmaceutical industry

• WMS complies with the rigorous requirements associated with marketing medications, as confirmed by the successful system validation process.

Neuca Group – description

Neuca is a Polish company with a history spanning 25 years and active in numerous areas of the local healthcare market. It is also a reputable, and the largest, distributor of pharmaceuticals, holding a 30 percent share in the pharmaceutical wholesale market.

Neuca Group’s core business is as a wholesaler and distributor of medications to pharmacies throughout Poland. Its wide-ranging network of warehouses forms a logistical chain that supplies both retail outlets and individual customers with the required medicinal products. Today, Neuca is a supplier to 80 percent of pharmacies country-wide.

The company operates a chain of five automated warehouses in Katowice, Ołtarzewo, Gadki, Wrocław and Toruń, receiving products from manufacturers and selling them on to the next link in the supply chain (10 local warehouses).

As there is growing demand in logistics management for high-capacity processes that can handle increasingly large cargo flows, we have decided to equip our operations with the full range of state-of-the-art automatic technology (order picking machines and automated warehouses).

 

logifact® WMS systems in Neuca Group

Logistics management

logifact® WMS system operates all warehouses across Neuca Group, both the automated central warehouses and the regional warehouses where storage processes are handled manually.  

In addition to its primary function of supplying pharmacies and outpatient clinics, the system can also deliver to regional warehouses.

logifact® WMS system takes charge of all warehouse operations, including staff management and all automated processes.
In addition to handling logistics processes in distribution warehouses, the system oversees all warehouse work specific to pharmaceutical wholesalers, e.g. handling of medications, psychotropics, products covered by the counterfeit directive, returns processing, specialised reporting, etc.

logifact® WMS system meets high standards of performance and reliability in its handling of large-volume cargo as it caters for the specific needs of the pharmaceutical industry involving 200,000 stock issues per day in a single warehouse in two principal time slots.

Validation

As well as overseeing complex warehouse processes and high-volume flows of merchandise, logifact® WMS needs to successfully address the rigorous requirements associated with trading medications under the Good Distribution Practice standards, pharmaceutical legislation and Neuca’s quality control regulations.

The process of successful validation of  logifact® WMS is proof positive that these requirements are in fact met.

The system validation process continues as the system evolves. With validation work carried on over several years, Neuca has managed to gain experience and put in place appropriate methods and tools to ensure the smooth continuous development of logifact® WMS system in line with the pharmaceutical industry’s requirements.

 

Integration with external systems

 

For complex and high-performance distribution networks with highly automated warehouses, such as Neuca’s, it is essential that the WMS is highly integrated with other affiliated management systems.

It was therefore necessary to integrate the WMS with the superior ERP management system (SAP), TMS (Transport Management System) as well as with WCS-grade (Warehouse Control System) system for automation equipment control, such as mini-load (OSR), picking machines for fast-moving products, sorters, inspection stations, label printing stations, repacking machines, etc.

In order to ensure that automation equipment is operated efficiently to achieve a high level of performance across the board, it is vital for all IT systems to be synergised.

The degree of WCS/WMS interoperability depends on how management tasks are shared between these systems. Therefore, in order to successfully integrate these systems, we need an extensive knowledge of logistics processes combined with vast practical experience of custom implementations.

As a result, a dedicated team of experienced logisticians and programmers was designated to work with Neuca specialists as well as with the teams of warehouse automation suppliers to better synchronise the various systems.

 

Steady cooperation between Logifact-Systems and Neuca Group

 

Logifact-Systems has been working with Neuca for more than a dozen years, providing the pharmaceutical market leader with expert support in the maintenance and development of its WMS warehouse system.

Due to the nature of the cooperation, a dedicated team of specialists has been designated and equipped with a set of procedures to take care of day-to-day maintenance work and ensure continuous development of  logifact® WMS system

The latest step in the companies’ collaborative effort was to implement  logifact® WMS system in another of Neuca Group’s automated central warehouses in Toruń.

With close to 14,150 square metres floor area, the facility is the group’s second largest of its kind and among the most modern within the industry. By fitting out the warehouse with the latest technology and the professional logifact® WMS warehouse management system, its capacity may reach a maximum of 675,000 medication packages each day. This means that 1,800 packages can be shipped from each square metre per day. The warehouse features some high-speed dispensing machines for handling approximately 70% of the product lines. The centre also has highly efficient conveyors, transporting up to 2,800 containers in an hour. Thanks to the technologies used, orders are shipped to pharmacies in less than 24 hours, with record delivery times of under 1.5 hours.

This success has been possible thanks to the ongoing cooperation between Logifact-Systems and Neuca specialists, the professional logifact® WMS system tailored to the pharmaceutical industry, the extensive logistics competence of the dedicated Logifact-Systems team and the practical experience of integrations with warehouse automation control systems for the fast-changing modern facilities of Neuca Group.