Alpro Pharmacy invests RM15 million on AI logistic system

Alpro Pharmacy, Malaysia’s largest prescription pharmacy chain, announced an investment of RM15 million to introduce an intelligent logistics system, expected to triple logistics efficiency of its inventory management. The memorandum of understanding (MoU) between Alpro Pharmacy and HIKROBOT, an international provider of machine vision and mobile robot products and solutions, will make Alpro the first in Malaysia to leverage AI logistics in the  pharmaceuticals industry. 

Ph. Low Swee Siong, the CEO of Alpro Pharmacy, said: “We are delighted to cooperate with HIKROBOT to pioneer the utility of AI systems and intelligent logistics in the country. Through their technology and expertise, we hope to set the benchmark and standard that will accelerate Malaysia’s pharmaceutical industry into a digitalised and tech-oriented future.”

Low added that this collaboration will also provide faster, safer and more efficient provision of it’s services to Alpro’s customers.

“We plan to introduce HIKROBOT’s intelligent mobile robots in the third quarter of 2023 and apply them to our central warehouse. 

Our commitment and investment in this system aligns with our customer-oriented value which is  prioritising medication safety and the wellbeing of our customer.” Low added. 

With the adoption of this cutting-edge intelligent logistics system, Alpro Pharmacy can better manage its medication inventory and logistic systems. Medicine inventory management is a crucial component for medicine distributors such as Alpro in the pharmaceutical industry, as the quality and safety of  medicine directly affects the consumers.

Improving the pharmaceutical logistics industry

The introduction of HIKROBOT’s intelligent logistics system will provide automated operations and precise management of medicine inventory, thereby reducing human error, particularly for medicine which require attentive care, such as cold chain medicine. 

The intelligent logistics system is expected to help Alpro Pharmacy’s professionals save time and  energy, allowing them the capacity to further improve service quality and professional competence to provide better services to customers.  

This is also the first engineering project implemented by HIKROBOT in Malaysia. Mr. Jia Yonghua, CEO of HIKROBOT, said: “We are honoured to cooperate with Malaysia’s largest prescription pharmacy chain to introduce industry-leading intelligent mobile robots and elevate Malaysia’s medication inventory management system to a new level.” 

Mr. Tay Wee Huat, Managing Director of Intelligence Traceability Sdn. Bhd, also the HIKROBOT  integrator in Malaysia also said: “We appreciate the trust that Alpro Pharmacy has placed in HIKROBOT and Intelligent Traceability. In addition to providing intelligent logistics systems, we will also work closely with Alpro Pharmacy to digitise and trace the pharmaceutical industry chain. Alpro Pharmacy will also become a benchmark for the digitization and intelligence of the pharmaceutical industry.” 

Both parties will work together to ensure success and explore new opportunities for cooperation to  promote the development of the pharmaceutical logistics industry.