Walgreens Boots Alliance Leverages Robots for Pharmaceutical Fulfillment

Walgreens Boots Alliance, based in the U.K., is leveraging robots to fill orders at micro-fulfillment centers across the U.S. as pharmacists at retail stores are forced to pivot in changing roles, CNBC reported on Wednesday (March 30).

The global drugstore chain plans to open 22 Walgreens Boots Alliance facilities across the U.S., according to the report. The Walgreens Boot Alliance in Dallas, for example, fills about the same number of prescriptions for typical medications that the average Walgreens pharmacy fulfills with just a “handful of staff” on any given day.

According to CNBC, Walgreens Boots Alliance is opening “automated, centralized hubs to keep up in the fast-changing pharmacy industry.”

Roz Brewer, the new CEO of Walgreens, said she wants to make healthcare the focal point of the retailer’s “growth engine” and also make pharmacists’ jobs easier. 

“We’re doing all of this work, so that the pharmacist has an easier job, so that they can get back to being front and center, building a relationship with that patient and interacting the way they were trained — the work that they love to do,” Brewer said.

Related: Sale of Walgreen’s Boots in Flux in UK With Less Bidders, Market Upset

The company recently acquired a majority stake in the primary care startup VillageMD as well as healthcare automation technology firm iA. Walgreens is also considering selling off its U.K.-based Boots business.

According to CNBC, about 50% of prescription volume from Walgreens could be filled at the automated centers by 2025, said Rex Swords, Walgreens group president of centralized services, operations and planning.

Even as the company expands its use of robots, pharmacists will continue to fill time-sensitive medications and controlled substances at local stores, per the report.

Walgreens has its plans centered on growing 22 facilities that serve over 8,500 of the company’s nearly 9,000 stores over the next three years.