TerryWhite Chemmart® Doubleview
Can you share some insight as to how long you have been a pharmacist and what led you to where you are today at TerryWhite Chemmart® (TWC) Doubleview?
I qualified as a pharmacist in 2003 and initially spent my time working across a number of different pharmacies in Perth and Margaret River. After 18 months, I moved to the United Kingdom and spent time managing a community pharmacy in Surrey before working as a locum in London and South East England. I then secured a job in a private hospital in London and stayed for a further 2 years before returning to Perth and working at a public hospital for 2 years.
In 2010 the opportunity came up to purchase a small independent pharmacy in Doubleview in partnership with my wife Meghan and 2 of my previous employers in Margaret River, John and Rebecca. Within months we had rebranded as Chemmart® and within a year we completed a full shop refit.
Doubleview is an inner-city coastal suburb that has a fantastic community feel. We identified with our team that we wanted to be the preferred local community pharmacy for our area and saw customer service and professional services as the best way to achieve this. In 2011we added a second pharmacist at all times and over the years this has grown and now we regularly have between 4 and 5 pharmacists on duty at a time. Our point of difference is the availability of a pharmacist to both provide professional advice but also be available to answer questions and dispense prescriptions quickly.
We remained in this partnership until 2022, when John retired. Krede then joined Rebecca, Meghan and myself in our partnership at this time, as we wanted to maintain working partners in the store at most times. During the same period, we had the opportunity to purchase the neighbouring newsagent and as we were beginning to outgrow our space we decided to expand our shop size- this additional space gave us the ability to start with a clean slate. We introduced compounding, added an additional consultation room and completely changed the layout of the store. This also gave as an ability to look at the efficiencies available that we could incorporate into the pharmacy.
TerryWhite Chemmart® is one of the largest banner groups in Australia, can you share some advantages of being part of such a successful group?
We joined TerryWhite Chemmart® within months of purchasing the pharmacy in 2010 and have remained with TerryWhite Chemmart® through this time. The biggest advantage I see as being part of TWC is the health services support and the marketing of these health services to our patients. I have no doubt we would not be administering as many vaccinations without the bookings systems TWC has in place and the marketing they provide. We are also able to offer services such as vaccinations more efficiently due to integrations between software and the support systems TWC has in place.
TerryWhite Chemmart® has invested heavily in recent years in systems which drive front of store growth and pharmacy profitability. One of these investments is the myTWC app which offers an all-round solution for customers making it easy for them to shop online but also book health services. Another is investment in systems to ensure member partner stores are able to purchase goods at best net into store pricing and take advantage of better buying terms with little to no effort.
What made you decide to automate your pharmacy and what factors contributed towards your decision?
As part of the store refit and expansion we looked at workflow and how the pharmacy was operating day to day in the space we had available. Despite having 4-5 pharmacists on at a time there was never enough time to complete all tasks we wanted. As the business has grown over the last 14 years, we have often looked to increase the number of pharmacists working to take advantage of services such as vaccinations and MedsChecks. But what we have seen is a lot of wasted time in administrative tasks being completed by pharmacists such as putting stock away. We looked to automation as a way to reduce the time our pharmacists were spending on tasks that did not directly involve patients. BD Rowa™ offered the most practical all-round solution to increase efficiencies in this area.
Can you elaborate on why you chose BD Rowa™ Technologies?
It was our state manager in WA from TWC who introduced me to the WA state sales manager from BD Rowa™ as their preferred partner for automation in member pharmacies. From what I understand around 70 TWC pharmacies across Australia have chosen BD Rowa™ for their pharmacies. At this time, I had thought there was one option in terms of automation with BD Rowa™ Technologies but was surprised to learn about all the possible variations available to customise to each pharmacies needs. We also had the opportunity to visit another store and see the machine in action. With this type of investment, I wanted to ensure we opted for a company which offered a solution suited to our store and was experienced in the Australian market.
Can you describe the design and installation journey?
Our refit was significant with a structural wall being removed and large beam installed as well as both shops being completely gutted. The design and installation of our BD Rowa™ Vmax however was seamless. Our territory manager explained the different machines available and options for each one as well as the benefits of each. The dispensary design was conducted between us, BD Rowa™ Technologies and the TWC design team to ensure we came up with the best solution for our store. When the time came for the robot installation, this process was done quickly and with minimal disruption to daily operations in our store. We were then trained on the machine and have not looked back since.
Which BD Rowa™ Robot did you install, and can you share some benefits?
We decided to install the BD Rowa™ Vmax with BD Rowa™ iProLog as it gave us the ability to customise the size to best maximise the space available. Our store has a very high ceiling, so it gave us the ability to increase storage space significantly. The internal BD Rowa™ ProLog that is available with the BD Rowa™ Vmax was important to us, as it gave us the ability to add shelving directly behind the machine which otherwise may have been dead space.
The addition of the BD Rowa™ iProLog was a very worthwhile investment as we save hours every day in marking off orders and putting stock away. We simply tip stock into the BD Rowa™ iProLog and it is reconciled against invoices in our point-of-sale with minimal time and effort. The robot conducts weekly stock takes and alerts us to any potential issues in the machines which are always easy to fix. We are also very easily able to complete an audit of stock levels in our point-of-sale vs stock levels in the machine and can rectify this in the space of 10 minutes when completed semi frequently. So, I feel our stock control and accuracy of stock takes has improved dramatically.
As we opted for the larger machine with ample storage space, we have also been able to store most OTC medicines in the machine which has freed up space in our storeroom making this space more functional. All this allows us to ensure we have the stock we need available and the space to store it which ultimately leads to better service for our customers and generates improved customer loyalty. The customer response to introducing automation in the pharmacy has been extremely positive.
We have installed an electronic signage screen which shows customers what is happening inside the machine. Customers notice the quick dispensing time and often notice the stock appears out of nowhere. This generates discussions about the machine and gives us an opportunity to show them how it works and explain how it helps our pharmacists to be available for them.
What advice would you provide other pharmacy owners who are yet to consider automation?
I would recommend you contact BD Rowa™ Technologies and have a chat about what they can offer your store to improve efficiencies. They have an internal workflow designer that can assist with plans and your new workflow designs. We have been in the new store more than 8 months now, but customers are still excited to see the technology we have invested in, and it has created a real talking point in store. Since partnering with BD Rowa™ Technologies, I can now see potential for further growth in our pharmacy beyond what would have been possible without automation.
Find out more: To learn more about BD Rowa™ Technology, you can visit the website: bd.com/rowa Becton Dickinson Pty Ltd. Australia. Toll free: 1800 MY ROWA (697692)
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