Material handling maintains an important role in the healthcare and pharmaceutical industries, where precision, efficiency, and compliance with regulatory standards are critical. Pharmaceutical warehouse standards differ from industrial standards due to the high stakes of delivering accurate products to healthcare facilities. They often require specialized equipment and handling procedures to prevent contamination. Strict FDA guidelines must be followed to ensure product safety and quality. By being aware of these challenges, adopting best practices, choosing the right solutions, and staying updated on industry trends, healthcare, and pharmaceutical companies can improve their material handling operations to guarantee the safe and timely delivery of products, while meeting regulatory requirements and remaining competitive in the market.
When selecting equipment for your facility, there are important factors to consider. Depending on the needs of your facility, you must first, prioritize equipment with hygienic design, automation, and the ability to integrate with IT systems for seamless data exchange, tracking, and reporting while ensuring compliance with regulations for the safe handling of sensitive products. Customized equipment, such as cleanroom-compatible pallets and containers, should be designed and implemented with cleanability and sanitization in mind to prevent contamination and ensure compliance. Additionally, consider implementing automation to streamline your processes. The integration of stretch wrapping, conveyance, high-density storage, or automated guided vehicles (AGVs) and autonomous mobile robots (AMRs) for gentle handling of sensitive products to minimize error and improve productivity. You may also want to include high-capacity storage systems with precise temperature and humidity control, in addition to warehouse management, labeling, and tracking systems for detailed and up-to-date inventory management and to ensure accurate deliveries. It may also be advantageous to designate fully separated systems for handling pharmaceutical materials prone to contamination and ensuring the safety of your employees within the operation.
Atlantic Installation specializes in providing end-to-end comprehensive design and installation services, focusing on automated or manual systems. We can help upgrade safety protocols for your facility and implement and streamline automation with conveyance of any size. Additionally, we can assist with implementing robust inventory management systems and flexible order processing to meet changing customer demands. Contact us to design a solution for your distribution center.
