The 145-year-old Vatican pharmacy has a new hire: a state-of-the-art robot working behind the scenes to manage the stockroom, retrieve medications and deliver the drugs quickly to the sales floor.
The Vatican, which claims to have the busiest pharmacy in the world, recently adopted the new automated system by the Germany-based BD Rowa firm.
The pharmacy’s director, St. John of God Brother Binish Thomas Mulackal, said the automated technology will revolutionize the way they serve some 2,000 customers who come through the doors each day.
Because the pharmacy robot takes in the order, scans for it in storage, picks it up with a mechanical arm and quickly delivers it via a series of conveyor belts, it will allow the pharmacists to remain with the customer at the counter longer to give needed instructions and advice, he told the Vatican newspaper, L’Osservatore Romano, Aug. 25. Continue reading