Maintenance outsourced
April 1st 2010 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. More articles from KNAPP UK Ltd: | 
