In pharmaceutical warehouse projects, the most difficult decision is often made before any equipment is selected.
It is not about whether a company should use automation.
The real question is how different products should move through the warehouse.
A pharmaceutical factory may have raw materials waiting for production, finished products ready for distribution, and medical supplies requiring fast response. Although these products belong to the same industry, their storage requirements can be completely different.
During the planning of pharmaceutical AS/RS projects, we often find that the same warehouse cannot be managed with a single storage method.
This is exactly what happened in two projects: Beiyao and Zhongheng Medical.
The two warehouses serve different purposes, so their automation designs followed different directions.
Beiyao: Matching Storage Technology with Different Pharmaceutical Materials
The first discussion during the Beiyao project was not about how many storage locations could be created.
The more practical question was:
Could one storage system handle all pharmaceutical materials efficiently?
The answer was no.
The warehouse needed to manage different types of pharmaceutical materials. Some materials moved in larger quantities and were suitable for pallet handling. Others had more SKUs and required more flexible access.
If all products were stored using pallet automation, smaller and frequently accessed items would require unnecessary handling steps.
If all products were stored using tote automation, larger-volume materials would increase operating costs.
Therefore, the warehouse was planned according to material characteristics.
Different storage methods were combined instead of forcing all products into one system.
The final warehouse provided more than 24,400 storage locations, with space utilization reaching approximately 95%.
The system also achieved a throughput of 450 totes per hour and maintained inventory data accuracy of 99.99% through lifecycle traceability management.
Compared with the previous traditional warehouse operation model, the overall operation efficiency increased by around 80%.
However, the most valuable change was not only the additional storage capacity.
In pharmaceutical operations, knowing the location of inventory is not enough.
The warehouse also needs to know:
Which batch is stored?
When was it received?
Where has it moved?
Can the information be checked when required?
Through the connection between warehouse operation and inventory data, product information could be tracked throughout the storage process.
For pharmaceutical companies, this capability is closely related to quality management and compliance requirements.
Zhongheng Medical: Building a High-Throughput Warehouse for Medical Supply Response
The Zhongheng Medical project had a different background.
The warehouse was designed for medical supply management, where storage capacity and response speed were both important.
Compared with pharmaceutical manufacturing materials, medical supplies often require faster organization and dispatch, especially when inventory demand changes.
The project was planned as a high-bay automated warehouse.
The warehouse reached a height of 19.287 meters and included 28,792 effective storage locations.
The equipment configuration included:
- 18 stacker cranes;
- 8 shuttle systems;
- 2 AGVs.
The reason for using multiple types of equipment was related to the warehouse workflow.
Large quantities of palletized materials needed stable storage and retrieval.
At the same time, materials also needed to move between different operating areas efficiently.
Therefore, the system was divided according to different tasks.
Stacker cranes handled high-volume storage operations.
Shuttle systems supported internal movement in storage areas.
AGVs connected different warehouse zones.
The final system achieved throughput of up to 700 pallets per hour.
The warehouse also introduced FIFO inventory management and separated personnel routes from material routes.
This design was important because medical supply warehouses need not only storage capacity, but also organized operation during daily distribution and emergency situations.
The project later became a national-level emergency medical supplies reserve base, where inventory availability and response capability were critical.
What These Two Projects Tell Us About Pharmaceutical AS/RS Planning
Although both projects belong to the medical industry, their warehouse designs were different.
The reason is simple: the products and operating requirements were different.
Jilin Beiyao focused more on managing different pharmaceutical materials with different storage characteristics.
The key was finding the balance between pallet storage and smaller-item handling.
Zhongheng Medical focused more on large-scale medical supply management.
The priority was coordinating storage, retrieval, and transportation activities.
These projects show that pharmaceutical warehouse automation should begin with understanding the operation:
- What materials are stored?
- How often are they accessed?
- How are batches managed?
- What information needs to be recorded?
- How much capacity may be required in the future?
Equipment selection comes after these questions are answered.
Beyond Equipment: Why Data Management Matters
A pharmaceutical warehouse is not only a physical storage area.
Behind every storage movement is product information.
Batch numbers, expiry dates, storage locations, and movement records all need to be managed accurately.
This is why WMS and WCS become important parts of pharmaceutical AS/RS projects.
WMS manages inventory information and warehouse rules.
WCS coordinates the execution of physical equipment.
Together, they connect business requirements with warehouse operations.
Without accurate data management, even advanced automation equipment cannot fully support pharmaceutical traceability requirements.
Final Thoughts
The experience from Beiyao and Zhongheng Medical shows that pharmaceutical warehouse automation is not about selecting the most complicated system.
A practical AS/RS design starts from the products, the workflow, and the management requirements.
Some warehouses need flexible tote storage.
Some require high-density pallet automation.
Some need multiple technologies working together.
The right solution is the one that fits the actual operation and supports long-term warehouse management.
