Hospital Distribution Center
The consortium of six Health Authorities within the Emilia Romagna Region, responsible for supplying hospitals with.
Here are some figures:
5800
hospital beds
90
nursing homes
2 University
hospital companies
660M €/year
annual turnover
Since 2022, it has chosen
single warehouse
To improve resource management and standardize the healthcare offering to
enhance quality standards.
Medicine procurement
stock
breaks
Achieving a positive impact on service levels, reducing costs, improving stock turnover, and, eventually, optimizing space management.
Artificial Intelligence for Managing Healthcare Warehouses
Area Vasta Emilia Nord: Digital Technologies for Healthcare
Marco Rossi, ICT Manager of the Centralized Logistics Unit for Area Vasta Emilia Nord: “By centralizing logistics, embracing innovation, and digitizing management processes, we have launched an AI-based project to enhance the procurement and distribution of medical devices and pharmaceuticals for hospitals and nursing homes.”
Sector: Healthcare
Thematic Area: Healthcare
The Organization
Area Vasta Emilia Nord (AVEN) is the Association of the six Healthcare Companies operating in the Emilia Romagna region, covering the provinces of Piacenza, Parma, Reggio Emilia, and Modena.
AVEN aims to develop activities to promote aggregation processes at a broad regional level, in line with programmatic guidelines and regional directives. The goal is to foster synergies and resource sharing while contributing to the standardization of healthcare offerings to the highest quality standards.
The central warehouse, established by Area Vasta, supplies hospitals with 5,800 beds, 90 nursing homes, and 2 university hospital companies, serving a population of just under 2 million residents, with a current annual budget of approximately 650 million euros. AVEN’s warehouse manages the procurement and distribution of pharmaceuticals and medical products on behalf of the Area Vasta facilities, handling over 15,000 different types of products.
A Centralized Warehouse with the
Most Advanced Logistics Standards
With a surface area of approximately 5,000 square meters and a height of 12 meters, equipped with 11 bays—5 for receiving goods and 6 for dispatch—the AVEN warehouse was designed based on the most advanced logistics standards found in Italian and European facilities.
The interior is divided into various areas: supplier goods reception, stock (including special stock like refrigerated cells, flammable material bunkers, narcotics storage), picking, and shipping, as well as quarantine zones.
The picking area features automated “goods-to-person” equipment, reducing the number of resources required for picking activities.
In line with resource optimization efforts, stock and picking management have been organized according to different packaging types (single packages, multiples, full packaging units), with “pick to light” systems reducing the time needed to prepare orders. The entire logistics process operates via radio frequency, eliminating the need for paper-based supports.
Artificial Intelligence to Optimize Procurement and Distribution
In this highly innovative context, a new project has been developed in partnership with the startup Profiter, to implement an advanced inventory management and replenishment system for pharmaceutical products, based on artificial intelligence.
The main objective is to improve the distribution of medicines to all system facilities, aiming to almost entirely eliminate stockouts (product shortages) that are sometimes caused by inefficient restocking.
The project is based on the collection and normalization of data from the past five years, sourced from the facilities linked to the central warehouse.
The aim is to create a model that not only makes the management process more efficient but also serves a predictive function.
The trial, which began in 2022, is focused on 84 high-cost products: the potential of AI is being tested for inventory management, reducing product holding times, and lowering stock levels—all without compromising the high quality of service that must be maintained.
The added value of this project is not limited to solving the issue of stockouts: the use of AI algorithms also optimizes stock levels in the warehouse.
This outcome translates into reduced storage costs and a general increase in operational efficiency, along with better utilization of space. The implementation of this innovative solution will span three years, during which a progressive increase in the number of products managed by the system is expected.
Benefits
Using the double-blind method—comparing the “traditional” order system with one that uses the AI-based model—a potential 17% reduction in average stock levels, a 12% decrease in stockouts, and the elimination of unplanned orders were observed within a few months across 84 products.
Therefore, the project has a potential positive impact on service quality, costs, inventory turnover, and, in the long term, on space management.
