Automating Pharmaceutical Transport with Robotics: ひのき薬局's Kachaka Case Study

Kachaka is also being put to work transporting pharmaceuticals in settings like pharmacies. This article is based on an official Preferred Robotics interview with ひのき薬局, part of the 会喜地域薬局グループ in 會津若松市, 福島縣, where representative 馬場 and administrative supervisor 鈴木 share how they put Kachaka to use.

About ひのき薬局

ひのき薬局 is operated by the 会喜地域薬局グループ in 會津若松市, 福島縣, and reopened after renovation on July 18, 2023. To support the overall health of the local community, the store features a library and meeting room open to anyone without a prescription, along with a resident registered dietitian who offers nutritional consultations, recipe suggestions, and cooking classes. It is a new type of pharmacy that functions as a certified nutrition care station.

Official website: https://www.aiki-ph.co.jp/shop/hinoki/

Why They Adopted Kachaka

Pharmacies are a business where medications, cardboard boxes, and other items are moved around constantly. On top of that, the July 2023 renovation enlarged the floor space and lengthened the routes staff travel, adding to the load of moving both people and goods.

馬場 notes that at first Kachaka simply struck him as an interesting product. But given the circumstances above, the team concluded that Kachaka could lend a hand with their own in-store transport, and decided to bring it on board in August 2023.

How They Use It in Practice

ひのき薬局 has handed the transport of incoming pharmaceuticals from the back door over to Kachaka.

The actual flow, from the back door to the dispensing room, runs as follows:

• Once medications arrive at the pharmacy’s back door (registered on the map as “Entrance”), staff inspect and receive them
• Accepted medications are placed in turn onto the Kachaka Shelf (a Kachaka-dedicated rack) stationed at the back door
• When the shelf is full, staff summon Kachaka from a smartphone app to carry the medications to the dispensing room (registered on the map as “Workroom”)

About five staff members handle receiving, and all of them operate Kachaka with ease, issuing commands by voice or tablet.

Results After Adoption

The interviewees summed up the most noticeable benefits in two points: “staff can focus on the work that matters” and “physical strain has been reduced.”

Pharmaceutical deliveries arrive at the back door at a rate of roughly five per day. With all post-inspection transport now handed to Kachaka, staff can devote more time to patient care, dispensing preparation, data entry, and verification. Patient care and dispensing preparation are the pharmacy’s most important, highest-priority tasks, while data entry and verification are work that leaves no room for error. Being able to concentrate on these tasks as fully as possible is a very real benefit.

Meanwhile, the distance from the back door to the dispensing room is about 10 meters. While not beyond what a person could carry, each delivery of medication weighs around 5 kg, making it a strain to move. With the staff being predominantly women, having Kachaka take over the transport has noticeably lightened everyone’s physical load.

In the Users’ Words

The interviewees describe Kachaka, which reliably avoids people and obstacles to get the job done, as “like a teammate on the same crew.” The way it diligently hauls heavy loads and even reports back once a delivery is complete is endearing, bringing a sense of comfort to the staff.

Because Kachaka’s clean design blends naturally into the pharmacy space, the team has also begun imagining future uses centered on patient interaction—for instance, placing a standee with the registered dietitian’s “Recipe of the Month” or recommended products on Kachaka and having it circulate through the waiting area, spreading information to patients more widely. They are confident patients will come to love Kachaka, too.