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Unichem Manly owner Tania Adams says the robot will improve customer service. As many as 208 different types of pills can be packed into Robbie.
He may not have arms and legs or a swiveling head, but Robbie the robot is still more than capable of doing his share of the pill dispensing work at the Unichem pharmacy in Manly Village.
All his moving parts are on the inside, and they pack a punch – capable of dispensing 50 to 60 sachets of pills per minute.
Robbie, weighing in at more than 300kg, was installed at the pharmacy on April 20. Unichem Manly owner Tania Adams says this type of automatic tablet dispensing and packaging system is the way of the future.
At a cost of around $100,000, it’s a big investment for the pharmacy. Unichem Manly is the 60th pharmacy in NZ to have the system and Tania says only one other local chemist has one.
She says it will make things a lot easier for patients who take pills regularly via packs. “I heard that it takes some people an hour every week to sort out their pills,” she says. Each sachet that Robbie produces contains medication for a particular date and dose time. “The sachets’ easy tear-packaging makes it simple to access the contents at home, particularly for those with arthritis in their hands,” Tania says.
Pharmacists will still double check that the contents of every packet are correct but Tania says that the whole dispensing process will be a lot quicker, leaving pharmacists more time to speak with customers.
She says the next step pharmacists are looking at is a robot called Spencer – an in-home pill dispensing system that alerts people when medication is due, and if it’s not taken, texts their chosen health professional to let them know a dose has been missed.
