The newly introduced RX Unit Pick Workcell is a fully automated robotic pharmacy order fulfillment system capable of handling thousands of different kinds of prepackaged medicine with 100% verification for mail-order delivery direct to customers or to central fill locations.
Developed jointly by the Motoman Robotics Division of Yaskawa America, Inc. (Yaskawa Motoman), R/X Automation Solutions (RXAS) and Universal Robotics, the RX Unit Pick Workcell recognizes each item, verifies the unique National Drug Code (NDC) and prepares it for automatic patient labeling. Its compact design enables it to be integrated into existing order fulfillment processes either as a standalone solution or added to other RXAS automation equipment.
Key design criteria included 100% verification of all drugs and the flexibility to recognize thousands of items at high throughput rates. The final result blended RXAS’s expertise in pharmaceuticals with a high-speed Motoman® MH12 robot and Universal’s Neocortex® artificial intelligence with 3D vision, resulting in a flexible, automated drug-handling solution.
The pharmaceutical industry is faced with reducing both delivery costs and response time, often while facing a shortage of skilled laborers, while prescription drug fulfillment volume continues to increase. The RX Unit Workcell addresses these needs, providing a compact footprint for small pharmaceutical RX fulfillment operations and a modular design for large facilities.
Since the workcell easily fits in existing floor layouts, it could revolutionize how the 1.3 billion pre-packaged annual prescriptions are delivered in the U.S. This represents 30% of the total 4.3B medical prescriptions dispensed in the U.S. in 2015.
Designed for high-volume mail order and central fill pharmacy applications, accuracy and throughput are increased over current fulfillment methods, with a payback in one year, even for small-volume pharmaceutical operations.”
The RX Unit Pick Workcell utilizes Neocortex, Universal’s machine learning-based 3D vision, to recognize and identify thousands of different kinds of medicine packaged in bottles, tubes of ointment, small cartons or odd-shaped plastic containers. The workcell reads each unique NDC, orients the item, and identifies a safe labeling zone for adhering a patient label.
See the RX Unit Pick Workcell handle 850 prescriptions/hr with 100% verification.
