A case study of pharmacy company Uniphar, which built a new distribution site in Dublin at Citywest Business campus, and had installed an IP-based video system.
Formed in 1994 by a merger of Allied Pharmaceutical Distributors and the United Pharmacists Co-op, Dublin, Ireland-based Uniphar Group is focused on the healthcare and pharmacy sectors, distributing products to community pharmacies, hospital pharmacies and veterinary surgeries across Ireland. The company has a workforce of more than 500, and operates wholesale depots in Dublin, Cork, Limerick and Sligo.
As in the pharmaceutical industry generally, Uniphar has a duty of care to ensure the integrity and supply of its product. Uniphar felt that a review of its security strategy and hardware was due, and brought in Dublin-based Pioneer Security.
To improve internal controls and security, the company wanted to more security measures at its 65m euros, 180,000 square foot warehouse in west Dublin. The temperature-controlled warehousing and office was built to meet pharmaceutical industry specific. Besides 52,000 square feet of office space, there is room for 10,000 pallets, 350 more cold storage pallets and the country’s first ASRS (automated storage and retrieval system) catering for over 120,000 storage crates, in alarmed cold rooms.
The new warehouse features a frame system for replenishing the fastest-moving stock by selecting it, dropping it onto a conveyor belt and dispatching it to the correct transport unit. The warehouse also deploys ‘pick by light’ technology that identifies items for stock pickers, who then can pick and drop those items into the correct shipper. Another concern was the ability to fully track the process through which orders are created, picked and packed to further refine the logistics systems and comply with the necessary regulations and certifications as required within the pharmaceutical industry.
Clients choosing to work with Uniphar often come to the new facility to see how the distribution works and whether the company is providing proper security and quality control. Drugs, for instance, may require placement in refrigerated boxes to keep the temperature controlled during shipping. Hence Uniphar wanted to present an efficient system.
Wayne McGarry, Group Operations Manager Citywest, said: “Uniphar has made significant investments into state of the art distribution and logistics technology that would allow our operations the ultimate in quality and efficiency. We needed to ensure that we were getting those same qualities from our new IP CCTV system.”
Under its old system, Uniphar deployed nearly 100 analogue cameras, but the addition of more temperature-controlled warehouse space allowed the company to upgrade to an IP-based system.
The Solution
With the installation by Pioneer Security, Uniphar more than doubled the number of cameras at its site. About 250 cameras include Illustra IP mini domes, Illustra PTZ 625 domes, Illustra 610 bullets, Illustra 610 IR domes and Illustra 825 fisheye cameras. Pioneer fitted the victor video management system from American Dynamics, a brand of Tyco Security Products. Using the victor unified client, the group operations and facilities managers at Uniphar can view, manage, and control recorded video from VideoEdge, and Video Edge Hybrid network recorders using Raid 5. The system was installed on a separate LAN so it doesn’t compete with bandwidth from other systems, nor is the information compromised.
Managers can now monitor via CCTV the entire ordering process. The surveillance system records the complete process in the warehouse from the time an order is taken from the chemist and entered into the system, through the movement of the empty transport unit through automated or manual item picking, to the final invoicing of the completed order.
Eamon Reilly, Integrated Solutions Manager of Pioneer Security, said: “The Uniphar team required a surveillance system that could provide a comprehensive picture of their operations and easily demonstrate the integrity of the order fulfillment process. The victor platform provides that ability to view and manage all of their video in one place.”
Visitors can also see what is happening throughout the order picking process via 31 viewing monitors that are mounted at the warehouse entrance and through the site. Using victor, those monitoring the system can share video between day and night shifts as well as monitor activity from multiple PCs. The system can accommodate further expansion whether by addition of cameras, monitors or recorders.
