We were the first pharmacy in Wales to have a robot in our main pharmacy in 2009. We decided to invest in another robot as we had a competitor’s robot for over 13 years and it was becoming obsolete. Also, we planned to carry out a re-fit of the pharmacy so we took the opportunity to identify an automation solution that suited our current needs. We already knew what functions were important to us and what we needed the robot to do to help our dispensing process.

We had not heard of Avonnex or Pharmathek until attending the Pharmacy Show in 2021 and were impressed with the personalized service offered to us. We later visited the Pharmathek manufacturing site in Verona to see how the Sintesi robot is made and that confirmed our decision, having seen their team’s ability to design a bespoke product to suit our premises, their impressive production process and the undoubted quality of the product. You are not just investing your faith in a machine but also in the whole team supporting the robot – this will be a long-term relationship for us. Together with our existing shopfitter and Avonnex, a tailor-made Sintesi robot was designed to fit with our functional requirements and into the pharmacy, together with a simplified conveyer system, still able to deliver medicines to all necessary locations within the pharmacy, but with much improved functionality.

The installation process was seamless with the old robot removed and the new Sintesi installed with limited disruption to the pharmacy. We were able to continue trading throughout.

We instantly saw numerous differences with the Sintesi that we hadn’t had before. One of the best things is not having to stop working if any issues arise with the positioning of a box on the shelves. With most alternative robots, you have to stop and resolve the issue before you can continue dispensing; with the Sintesi, it just makes a note of the issue but allows you to carry on until you have time to look at the box in question at a more convenient time. Pharmacy Automation

The split pack module developed by Pharmathek, especially for the UK market, has enabled us to manage part packs that previously regularly got left on the shelf. This means that we do minimize the volume of splits and virtually all losses on those splits from their expiry. We also don’t have to worry about dispensing expired medications as the robot won’t dispense a box if it is beyond its expiry date. The Sintesi loads and dispenses boxes primarily using the QR code so dispenses those with the shortest date first, so we have a considerably reduced loss from any out-of-date medicines.

The dashboard is a vast improvement on what we had before, provides much more information, can be altered to reflect our needs and is so much easier to understand. The team took no time at all to get used to using it.

The change from our previous robot to the Sintesi has been remarkable. One example is whilst both robots have occupied a significant amount of space, the Sintesi has maximized efficiency within the same footprint. Our Sintesi still accommodates a typical 9,000