Pharmaceutical Industry: Interesting Facts About Material Handling and Storage

Pharmaceuticals have seen an increase in consumption worldwide, and we don’t just have the global COVID-19 pandemic as the reason for it. This is true both in terms of expenditure as well as the number of drugs, mainly due to the increased number and prevalence of chronic diseases which mostly affect the aging population.

Let’s not forget the popularity of health trends in recent years too, a trend that has resulted in a huge interest in dietary supplements to improve well-being. This, in turn, has led to the increased need for pharmaceutical storage and specialised material handling equipment from a medical supply store. To be able to get the adequate bits and pieces of such equipment, it’s necessary to address the following aspects that are crucial for the pharmaceutical companies and the industry as a whole.

Safety of the Products

One of the main issues pharmacies are faced with is product safety. Considering how medications and supplements are perishable goods and made up of ingredients easily susceptible to change, damage is guaranteed when they’re not stored in the right conditions (e.g. minding temperature, light, and contaminants).

In some cases, this could make them useless for treating the aches, diseases and illnesses, not giving the required results and effects, and in other cases, they could even turn harmful for the patients. Having all this in mind, it’s crucial to focus on both storage and handling medical equipment. There are various types of trolleys, pallet jacks, carts with various decks, and forks you can pick from when it comes to taking care of both the storing and handling of medical products.

Those made of mesh and stainless steel constructions are great for cleanliness and preventing cross-contamination, as they offer nice view and organisation of the items, whereas trolleys and carts with separate decks are perfect for neatly carrying them around.

And when it comes to safe and secure transport in bigger warehouses and facilities that also have many racking and shelving units, you can count on forklift trucks and platforms. As you’ll come to understand, there are so many options to choose from, and you can narrow them down by taking the materials you’re dealing with into account. Trust me, it would make shopping a great deal easier for you, especially if you also consider how sensitive the materials are, mind their size, shape, and weight, in addition to paying attention to the environment itself where you’re handling them, how much space you have to work with, as well as the trajectory it would take to move the materials. Moreover, hygiene is another important feature to focus on, and so is the frequency of moving them from one place to another.

Cleanliness

Again, cleanliness is key in such an environment since pharmaceutical products are susceptible to degradation, which also has a bad impact on the reduction of the bulk material you have stored. Besides carefully choosing the storage and handling products, it’s just as important to be mindful of the hygiene-related medical supplies.

This process includes using trolleys specialised for collecting waste, carrying sanitising equipment, and using separate storage bins for the different types of waste (e.g. liquid, solid or semi-solid, hazardous or not). Don’t forget using specialised cleaning detergents and products like flammable liquids sanitiser, which are perfect for those pharmaceutical goods that are more delicate and dangerous, containing ingredients such as acetone and ethanol.

Hand sanitiser use has become crucial as of late as well, particularly in times of pandemics. As it’s turned into a mandatory ingredient for cleanliness, it wouldn’t hurt to get hand sanitiser stations for your workplace to make it easily accessible to employees.

Productivity and Efficiency

Now these two are essential components for any business, but considering the specific environment of the pharmacies, they require different solutions than other workplaces. There are various types of products you can find at the medical supply store that are specifically made to help out with both, as long as you choose wisely.

When there’s a lack of efficiency and productivity in a pharmacy, besides the increased risks of spillage and accidents that lead to employee and customer risks of injuries, there’s also the risk of unhappy customers, reduced profit and demands, as well as product loss. This can easily be prevented with suitable load transfer systems, such as compact-ride on electric solutions that can take care of all the physical work and prevent ergonomic-related injuries of the employees.

Another key for prevention is organising the inventory in the best place possible, a move that would improve the layout and at the same time it would cut down transport, loading and unloading times. Besides the significant reduction in labour and reducing the risks of exposure to physical or biological contaminants, there’d be better use of the space, and an altogether cleaner and safer environment.