A pharmacy in the province of Catamarca, northwestern Argentina, implemented since last year in the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, a robotics system to improve efficiency in customer service.
This pharmacy located in Catamarca, added to its staff a robot that has reduced to zero the number of COVID-19 infections among the pharmacy staff since its implementation. The robot's main tasks are to scan products, check expiration dates and customize stocks.
The robot is 2.83 meters tall and, according to Florencia Sosa, director of the company that runs the pharmacy, the robot was planned before the pandemic. "On a trip to Europe I saw it in a pharmacy in Munich, I analyzed the model and with the remodeling of one of my pharmacies, I decided to bring it to Argentina, but not without going through the bureaucracy that that implies, import barriers, tax obstacles, etc. We sent it to a design pharmacy, they added some side panels to make it work as we needed in our chain and just with the arrival of the pandemic we put it into operation".
The robot ensures that there is minimal contact between personnel in the pharmacy and reduces customer waiting times by speeding up the medication search process.
"The adoption of the robot just in the period we brought it to Argentina, achieved the objective of reducing the risk of contagion between employees and customers," explained Sosa.
Sosa explained that in addition to the benefits it brought to the pharmacy's productivity, the robot was a key element in reducing the spread of COVID-19 not only within the pharmacy, but also in the community of Catamarca: "And the truth is that a medicine passes through many hands and pharmacies receive many potentially ill people. With the robot, this unnecessary manipulation was avoided and COVID positives were reduced to zero", he concluded.
