Pharmacy goes high-tech

A Bunbury pharmacy is embracing the future with the introduction of a "robot" that dispenses medication.

The automated stock management robot Riedl was installed at the Friendlies Bunbury pharmacy in February and its capabilities include stacking its own shelves, processing orders and delivering medication out of a chute.

Friendlies Bunbury manager Jenni Harrison said the idea of installing the robot was to make the workplace more efficient.

"It's the latest technology out of Germany and when it was installed, we were told it was the first of its kind in WA, which was very exciting," she said.

"We wanted something efficient and modern that suited the practice - it's definitely improved workflow at the pharmacy.

"It's changed the way we operate because it manages the stock and checks expiry dates plus it means we don't have to clean shelves."

Mrs Harrison said stock could be placed on a conveyor belt, which the robot would then sort into place.

"Our staff members use a computer to order the medication for customers and the robot finds it before delivering it out of a chute," she said.

"The customers have loved it, they think it's great and they've been blown away watching it work."

Mrs Harrison said it also improved the security of the store because all of the medications were locked inside the robot.

"The mechanism or arm that finds the medication moves very quickly, it can move at 4m per second," she said.

"It can adjust to the size of the packet of medication and place it in the right spot."