Serving the community

Wincanton Logistics has a partnership with GlaxoSmithKline to deliver otc drugs quickly and efficiently. Graham Lampard visited its site in Gloucestershire to see how the system works

Do you ever wonder how your local pharmacist obtains the packet of Panadol you desperately need after the previous night's excesses? The chances are that the product reached the shelves via a national distribution centre (ndc).

When GlaxoSmithKline's consumer division decided to bring the outsourcing of its nutritional and healthcare division, which sells otc drugs such as Panadol, into an ndc, it chose to work with Wincanton Logistics, and to build a warehouse on a brownfield site at Brockworth, near Gloucester.

'There were two discrete networks prior to this distribution centre,' said Gerry Bonnar, general manager of Wincanton's GSK ndc. 'But because GSK was selling from both sides of the network to the same retailers, such as Tesco and Boots, it wanted to rationalise the system.'

The original distribution network involved a number of locations and one contractor delivering from the individual sites to other discrete sites. This was considered to be inefficient. 'The company also wanted to move on technology-wise, to encompass all the changes that the major retailers were making.'

Customers are now able to shop 24hrs a day, hence there is a need to restock shelves immediately a product runs out. This has led companies such as GSK to develop systems to allow it to distribute goods not only when they are needed, but also to do it in a cost effective way.

The Wincanton site will dispatch more than 1,500 orders per week – and an order can be anything from a full load of 26 pallets of goods to a major retailer, down to one case of Panadol to a pharmacy in Dingwall. 'The individual pharmacy is as important to GSK as the major retailer,' Bonnar stressed.

A major advantage of the distribution centre is that it reduces the number of trips that are needed. 'The big stores have their own fleets of trucks, which run full to the stores, then rather than returning empty, the lorries can call in here, pick up a load to go to their distribution centre which takes a trip off the road, helps the environment – and reduces costs.'

The otc distribution is MCA compliant, which means that there is full batch traceability, and the Home Office also sends in inspectors to ensure that the drugs are being controlled. 'With just-in-time, we have to ensure that we have a robust refusals and uplift programme. This allows us to know where the batches are, that we have in stock what we should have, and if a batch or part-batch, has been refused by a customer, we know where it is, and can return it to the ndc,' Bonnar said.

The Brockworth site has mechanical handling equipment that enables Wincanton to store the goods in a high bay containing 47,000 pallet locations, of which some 16,000 are healthcare and otc products. There are also 15 cranes in 18 aisles, and 2,500 adjustable pallet racks. Around 350 loads depart the site each week, and customer orders average 1,300 per week to 5,000 outlets, although GSK has 15,000 'live' outlets that it will supply.

Wincanton has 37 motive units and 80 trailers; the units are operational within the contract for 3-5 years and cost up to £70,000, while the trailers have a life of up to 15 years and cost around £20,000. One way to optimise the fleet utilisation would be to make the journeys computerised.

Bonnar explained: 'In the future we could have a direct link to the customer, and we'd scan the lorry out using a barcode on the back.' With the goods in the vehicle having been scanned, the information is sent to the customer, who knows which lorry to expect, when it is due to arrive and what is on board. When it arrives at the centre, the lorry would be scanned in, and the transaction completed. This should shorten turnaround times, and reduce paperwork.

Wincanton has developed a regional network, which utilises existing vehicles operating in a geographical area. 'As we have customers in the far south west and to the north of Inverness, we can't possibly meet all their needs from here. And there is no point in sending a lorry somewhere half-full seven days a week, when you can send it full three days a week. We transfer the stock in full trunker loads to the relevant contractors, who in turn transfer the assembled orders to the vehicles which deliver on pre-set routes.'