Welcia Pharmacy Co., Ltd., in collaboration with wholesaler PALTAC Corporation and its procurement manufacturer, logistics company Senko Co., Ltd., and Hitachi, Ltd., has introduced an information sharing platform and automated receiving equipment at the logistics center to improve delivery efficiency and reduce energy consumption throughout Welcia Pharmacy’s supply chain. After a demonstration experiment from December 2024 to January 2025, full-scale operation began at the “Welcia Nishi-Kanto RDC” in February.
Specifically, advance delivery notification information from each manufacturer (confirmed arrival quantity, packing style, delivery vehicle, etc.) collected and standardized on the logistics and commercial distribution data platform will be linked on the “Delivery Information Sharing Platform” across the entire supply chain from ordering to the manufacturer to delivery to the store. By connecting the Platform to the logistics center, it is possible to reduce the dwell time of trucks at the berth and improve the efficiency of inspection work. In addition, a mobile collaborative robot will be introduced for receiving work at the logistics center to automate depalletizing and palletizing . Through these efforts, it is aimed to improve the efficiency of delivery work and reduce the monthly energy consumption of “Welcia Nishi Kanto RDC” delivery vehicles by approximately 7% compared to before the system was introduced. This is the first time in Japan that a logistics center of a drug store will utilize the logistics and commercial distribution data platform.
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This initiative has been adopted by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry and the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism as part of the “2024 Project to Promote Utilizing New Technologies to Improve Supply Chain-wide Transport Efficiency and Non-Fossil Energy Conversion”. In the future, Welcia Pharmacy plans to establish this framework to handle deliveries from more manufacturers and to apply it to all Welcia Pharmacy locations. Furthermore, the company plans to call on other drug stores and wholesale businesses to participate, with the aim of spreading and expanding the initiative throughout the drug store industry.
SOURCE: Senko
