Investigating automation and AGV in healthcare logistics: a case study based approach

ABSTRACT

In France, as in numerous countries, healthcare organisations are undergoing major transformations, leading them to rationalise their resources and optimize their flows. In this context, automation can play an important role, enabling value creation and patient satisfaction. Previous research has mainly focused on the technological aspects of automation, neglecting the organisational issues related to the implementation of this innovation and particularly the management of the hospital staff, including logistics personnel, involved within the organisational change process. The aim of this article is, at least, to partly address this gap within the literature, and to propose, based on an exploratory case study, an analysis grid of the challenges and changes in terms of logistics flows (pharmaceutical, waste, laundry, etc.) that impact staff involved in managing these flows in a hospital context. Our results highlight the importance and necessity of anticipating the building and deployment of new knowledge and skills in order to efficiently and effectively design and manage automated logistics flows with AGV system.

KEYWORDS:

• Logistics
• automation
• healthcare organisation
• AGV
• exploratory case study

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Acknowledgments

The authors are most grateful to three anonymous reviewers for their constructive and helpful comments on the earlier version of the manuscript which helped to improve the presentation of the paper considerably.

ORCID

Blandine Ageron http://orcid.org/0000-0003-1723-368X

Omar Bentahar http://orcid.org/0000-0002-2047-7135

Notes

1 (T2A) Price per activity is a new system for financing public and private health institutions in France. It is based on the nature and the volume of business and no longer on lump-sum funding.