Dematic has recently completed the final steps in installing and commissioning a compact automation solution featuring an AutoStore system for Spanish 3PL Grupo Servicio Móvil. The new solution manages the storage of medical supplies for one of Madrid’s largest hospitals.

“This recent collaboration reflects a continued confidence in us after more than 10 years of a fruitful partnership,” states Pablo Garcia, a senior director at Dematic and the country manager for Spain. “By selecting Dematic for this new installation, Grupo Servicio Móvil recognised our ability to provide advanced solutions for their specific needs.”

Indeed, the project represents an ongoing collaboration between the two companies dating back to 2012 when Grupo Servicio Móvil became the first company in Spain to install a Dematic Multishuttle® system at its Negreira site to serve healthcare customers in the region.

The family-run company with headquarters in northwestern Spain has been a leading third-party logistics supplier to the healthcare market in Spain for more than 30 years and has expanded its operations into national governmental sectors and historic archives. Grupo Servicio Móvil has built its reputation on providing high quality standards in the services they deliver and in the service agreements they negotiate. They rely on providing minimum lead times to meet the requirements of the markets served by their customers. 

"We continuously strive to improve operational efficiency, precision and most importantly, adapt to the specific needs of healthcare logistics. We need to ensure the highest level of reliability, which is why we decided to implement this new intralogistics solution with Dematic" - Diego Rey, director of Purchasing and Infrastructures for Grupo Servicio Móvil -

For its healthcare customer in Madrid, Grupo Servicio Móvil installed a warehouse very close to the hospital, which came at a premium real estate cost, so an efficient, extremely compact solution was a top priority. The energy cost reductions associated with AutoStore systems –the robots utilise regenerative energy along with warehouse lights-out operation capabilities – are additional benefits.

To meet the needs of the hospital, the 3PL healthcare specialists needed to automate storage, retrieval and sorting processes as well as improve picking and sorting accuracies, which would lead to improved inventory management and order fulfilment. Additionally, scalability to adapt to changing business needs and growth over time was also a requirement. The Dematic solution covered each one of these aspects.

The compact AutoStore system takes up just 190 square meters of space and includes three CarouselPort™ workstations, seven R5 robots and 5,005 bins. Dematic Software manages the operation of the system. The overall warehouse itself is situated on 15,000 square meters.  

“We continuously strive to improve operational efficiency, precision and most importantly, adapt to the specific needs of healthcare logistics. We need to ensure the highest level of reliability, which is why we decided to implement this new intralogistics solution with Dematic,” notes Diego Rey, director of Purchasing and Infrastructures for Grupo Servicio Móvil. He added, “In today’s highly competitive market, having the best professionals on our team is not enough; we must also have the best automation solutions, which is where Dematic brings us value, not only with their equipment and software, but also with a great team of technical professionals who always show commitment and support during both design and implementation.”