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D I S S E C T I N G B U S I N E S S
“ the lab , we try to answer two questions : How can technology improve our service to our customers , and , at the same time , how can we use technology to improve the day-to-day lives of our employees ?” said Derek Naylor , Director of Supply Chain Optimisation and Technology . “ The lab opens onto the warehouse floor , so we have the entire space as our playground , and that lets us explore the true potential of innovations to answer both questions .”
Nearly 130 employees work in this Ohio Valley DC – one of 40 warehouses in Cardinal Health ’ s US medical products distribution and replenishment network . Team members receive training to properly pick , pack and ship products – such as surgical kits , tubing for enteral feeding and anaesthesia kits – that move in and out of the facility . They deftly navigate long aisles and are periodically supported by autonomous mobile robots ( AMRs ) rolled out in 2022 for enhanced productivity in the pick-and-pack process . Those who work in the Innovation Lab play an important role in helping test the efficacy of new technologies .
Scott Cummins , Director of Application Development and Maintenance on the Medical Products IT Team , said : “ The Innovation Lab serves as an end-to-end incubator , giving us the opportunity to test new technologies that may support our goal of building greater resiliency and efficiency .” New scanning tools , collaborative mobile robots , drones , next-generation software updates and more are evaluated here , often with employees on the warehouse floor . “ We learn how innovations can work within our processes and products . We test to make sure they ’ re compatible with our workflows and with existing technologies , and we work out any bugs prior to broad-scale deployment ,” Cummins said .
Though there are countless new products emerging in the robotics and automation industries , the Innovation Lab team focuses their testing on those that most directly support efficiency in operations , as part of the company ’ s warehouse modernisation strategy . The strategy aims to integrate new technologies that will deliver flexible , scalable solutions that enhance operations across the company ’ s entire medical products distribution network . New solutions must have the capacity to help the DCs meet tight delivery windows , advance product quality , and most importantly , improve the customer experience , Naylor explained .
Cummins added : “ We are building increased resiliency into our operations through this lab , and that makes us a better partner to our healthcare customers .”
He explained that numerous technology solutions sometimes do not move forward from the lab into full deployment . Some automated pallet trucks , security robots , floor scrubbers and other solutions have been turned away after lab testing identified sluggish technology , inefficiencies or functional flaws . A robot designed to take over the task of moving large carts of cardboard to a compacter was one such example . “ We tested several of these robots over a few months , and found they performed inconsistently , and they were awkward to manoeuvre through the warehouse aisles . We ultimately decided that they were more of a hazard than a help .”
Enhancing operations throughout the distribution network
An important element in the overall warehouse modernisation strategy is ensuring that the current warehouse management system ( WMS ) is future-ready by integrating with a Multi-Agent Orchestration ( MAO ) platform , Naylor explained . The MAO is software that orchestrates all day-to-day operations involved with products in the DC , from the time those products arrive to when they leave , headed for customers .
“ We ’ re working to develop and deliver a solution that is flexible and scalable , with
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