Impacts of Automation on the Performance of Hospital Warehouses. An Italian Application

Healthcare logistics involves significant complexity due to the high cost of goods purchased and stored, as well as the uncertainty of demand linked to the variability of patients’ needs. Thus, effective inventory management could bring relevant benefits in terms of cost and quality of the service delivered. In such a context, automation is one of the most promising ways to improve warehouse processes. In this paper, the quantitative effects of implementing an automated storage system in a hospital warehouse are assessed. To this end, a dashboard of key performance indicators related to several dimensions is identified and measured. The results demonstrate that significant benefits have been obtained in terms of both quality and operational efficiency. In addition, the automated warehouse system has allowed relevant time savings for pharmacists who can be assigned to higher-value activities. Future research will assess the cost savings from efficiency gains achieved through warehouse automation.