CASE STUDY

MCKESSON

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The Perfect Prescription

ROI Achieved Faster Than Expected!

When you think about hospitals, the emergency ward is the mission critical point.

But when you think about being a pharmaceutical company the distribution center is

the most critical point. McKesson, the world’s largest pharmaceutical wholesaler, was

concerned about the growing population being served out of their facility in Florida.

The perfect prescription was the design of the new Lakeland facility. The need to ship

rapidly, accurately and economically may be a conflict but the goal was accomplished

and the facility is exceeding expectations.

Florida’s population is growing at a critical rate and many of the residents are senior

citizens who take an average of seven medications per day. McKesson ships prescription

medicines, over-the-counter drugs and health and beauty aids for hospitals, drug stores

and retail chains throughout all of Florida. The system needed to be designed with

maximum throughput but yet with flexibility of growth for the growing population.

The facility design is unique and not just a run of the mill design. Besides having the

normal full case, piece picking and full pallet requirements, this McKesson facility also

had drugs that needed to be refrigerated, security drugs that needed to be in a locked

cage and secure items required by the FDA to be in a vault. When order picking is

complete all the pieces of an order in all the different pick areas need to come together.

This was accomplished with an Intelligrated® conveyor system. The orders are then

combined at the shipping dock where the labels are scanned and merged.

The McKesson facility is operating six days a week because most of their customers

do not store much inventory and use this new Lakeland facility as their warehouse

storage system. With over 45,000 stock keeping units stored in this 225,000 square foot

distribution center, McKesson is operating with a lean staff. “It was important that the

design flowed in a way to get maximum throughput but still give the employees great

productivity enhancements,” said Craig Stewart, of FCP Integrated Systems, the system

integrator for McKesson and an Intelligrated® partner.

McKesson installed Intelligrated’s® new MDR conveyor. Because this is smart conveyor

and only runs when needed instead of continuously, the added benefit is a reduction

of power. This reduction of power, along with other benefits already expected, allowed

McKesson to receive a six month return on investment.

The system is designed to activate individual conveyor zones only when a product is

present. At other times, the rollers shut off, which substantially reduces electrical needs

and decreases noise levels.

Benefits achieved• The McKesson facility ships orders at rapid speed.

• The facility is super energy efficient.

• ROI was obtained in less than 12 months.

IntelliSort®

MDR Belted Incline

Industry Pharmacuticals

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Intelligrated® Motor Driven Roller

When an order is received in the new McKesson

state-of-the-art facility the message is sent to the order

picker via a wireless terminal. Picking occurs at several

different places in the warehouse. Messages are sent

to the order pickers in a two level pick module where

over-the-counter and health and beauty aids are

Components Of The System

picked. McKesson uses a pick and pass order picking

methodology with conveyor transporting totes from

zone to zone.

There are verification stations that digitally record the

contents of each outgoing carton and then they are

put on a sliding shoe sorter which has been designed

to conserve energy and lower noise levels within a

distribution center. The orders are then sorted to one

of ten shipping docks. The replenishment of the carton

flow rack was designed by FCP to include a conveyor so

that the product is delivered to the stocker reducing

walk time and touch times. The stocker has a specially

designed step ladder that arches over the conveyor to

reach the top of the rack to replenish.

This system is using MDR conveyor which saved

McKesson the cost of 147 drive motors. The MDR

conveyor is easy to repair in addition to being the most

energy efficient conveyor in the industry. The decrease

in AC units is estimated between 30-70% depending

on volumes. When the facility is at full capacity and

speed, this is a huge savings for McKesson.

Intelligrated’s distributor, FCP Integrated Systems

(www.fcpis.com), worked with McKesson to design a

system that would enhance their throughput and give

them flexibility and the ability to respond quickly.

“The McKesson team was very concerned about

customer satisfaction, speed, accuracy and throughput,

which were all must requirements. Intelligrated®

worked with us to help design a solution that will

serve McKesson well into the future,” said Craig

Stewart, President, FCP.

Partners In Success

“The sorter is so

quiet that I can

stand next to

it and still have

a cell phone

conversation.”

Doug Pace

General Manager

McKesson,

Lakeland

2004 Modern Materials

Handling Productivity

Award Winner –

Warehousing

• Systems Integration

• Sortation Systems

• Conveyor Systems

• Palletizing Solutions

• Software & Controls

• Order Fulfillment Systems

• 24x7 Technical Support

• Design & Build

Intelligrated Products and Services

Intelligrated Service & Support

The in-house Customer Service and Support (CSS) program

offered by Intelligrated backs all of our products. Services

available include:

• IN-24x7® technical support hotline

• Spare parts logistics

• Field service

• Equipment and system audits

• Upgrades and modifications

• Full service and maintenance contracts

• Preventive maintenance

• Customer training

CSS is available 24x7 to provide all of the services needed

to keep your equipment running at peak efficiency.

Whether it’s on-site support or troubleshooting via

our hotline, Intelligrated has the most comprehensive

customer support program in the industry.

Service and Parts Hotline

Phone + 1 877.315.3400

www.ontimeparts.com

CSMcK01 12.09 © 2009 Intelligrated. All rights reserved.

7901 Innovation Way, Mason, Ohio 45040 + 1 866.936.7300

info@intelligrated.com www.intelligrated.com

For more information, contact:

Headquarters in Mason, Ohio

About Intelligrated

Intelligrated is a leading American-owned, single-point

provider of automated material handling solutions with

operations in the U.S., Canada and Mexico. Headquartered

in Cincinnati, Intelligrated designs, manufactures and

installs complete material handling automation solutions,

including IntelliSort® line sortation systems, Crisplant®

tilt-tray and cross-belt sortation systems, conveyor systems,

Alvey® palletizers and robotics, Real Time Solutions®

order fulfillment systems, warehouse control software

and advanced machine controls—all supported by 24x7

Customer Service and Support.

Serving the warehousing, distribution, consumer product

manufacturing, postal and parcel markets, Intelligrated

collaborates closely with its clients to develop productivity

solutions and responds to their needs throughout the life

of their material handling systems.