Aster Pharmacy Installs the Largest Ever AutoStore Solution in the UAE

Aster Pharmacy, part of Aster DM Healthcare, has been an important contributor to the healthcare and pharmaceutical industry for over 37 years. With a network serving the UAE, Saudi Arabia, and the broader Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region, Aster experienced huge growth furthered by expansion into e-commerce. However, this growth placed strain on their 1,208 m² (13,000 ft²) distribution center in Dubai.

The largely manually-operated Dubai facility was pushed to its limits, processing about 50 million units annually. To uphold their commitment to excellent customer service and support their growth strategy, Aster’s leadership recognized the urgent need for a scalable automation solution. They found the answer in AutoStore’s high-density storage and robotic retrieval technology, empowered by Dematic.

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The Challenge: Overcoming Capacity Constraints

Aster’s existing distribution center shipped 300,000 orders every week to a network of pharmacies, hospitals, and clinics. The reliance on manual picking and walking was no longer sustainable, leading to capacity constraints, high labor demands, and fulfillment inefficiencies that directly threatened service levels. The existing mezzanine structure could not be expanded vertically, and finding a new, larger location was not a desirable option.

Aster needed a system that could improve pick rates, enhance storage density without expanding their footprint, reduce reliance on manual labor, and provide the agility to handle future e-commerce growth, projected to reach 20,000 orders per day within three years.

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The Solution: Automated Storage, Picking, and Retrieval

After a rigorous evaluation of multiple automation providers, Aster selected the AutoStore system as the best solution. The cube-based AutoStore system was the ideal fit for their site and space constraints.

The solution is a Grid structure containing 17,250 Bins that together store millions of pharmaceutical items, constructed over the existing mezzanine to maximize the use of vertical space. Moving across this Grid, a fleet of 33 R5 Robots efficiently retrieve Bins and deliver them to 12 Workstations (8 CarouselPorts and 4 ConveyorPorts), where operators are guided by pick-to-light technology for rapid, error-free order fulfillment. The system’s ability to store multiple SKUs within a single Bin further enhances storage density and picking efficiency.

The implementation was completed on schedule with minimal disruption to ongoing operations.

Key Benefits: Increased Picking Volumes, Faster Fulfillment, and Dense Storage

The AutoStore implementation allowed Aster to make improvements on several fronts:

• Fulfillment speed: The system processes over 3,000 order lines per hour, a dramatic increase from manual methods, ensuring timely deliveries to customers.
• Optimized labor and accuracy: Around 70% of all order volumes are now picked directly through the AutoStore system. This has significantly reduced walking time and manual labor, reallocating staff to more important tasks and achieving near-perfect accuracy.
• Storage density: AutoStore’s cubic storage design allows Aster to store a much larger volume of inventory within the same footprint, eliminating the need for a costly facility expansion.
• Scalability: Additional Robots, Bins, and Ports can be integrated as volume increases, making it ideal for Aster’s goal of 20,000 daily e-commerce orders.

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AutoStore is Part of Aster’s Growth Strategy

The AutoStore system has become a significant part of Aster Pharmacy’s supply chain and a cornerstone of its long-term growth strategy. It has successfully set the company up for future growth and provided the efficiency and storage capacity needed to meet its goals.

As the largest AutoStore installation in the UAE, it allows Aster to confidently pursue its expansion across the GCC, ensuring it can continue to deliver life-changing healthcare solutions to millions of people with speed and reliability.

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Project Specifications

• Implementation type: Brownfield
• Robots: 33 R5 Robots
• Workstations (Ports): 8 CarouselPorts; 4 ConveyorPorts
• Bins: 17,250 Bins
• Integration partner: Dematic

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