Pharmacy Daily | Willach looking to hospitals

THE collapse of the Australian operations of pharmacy robotics supplier Gollmann Bouw (PD 21 Jul) hasn’t dampened the enthusiasm for the local market of the other major player in the market, Willach + Heise. Jorg Heise, Willach’s ceo, told PD this morning that he’s concerned that the failure of Gollmann may impact the industry’s perception of robotic suppliers, reassuring that Willach + Heise is trading strongly. He said he believed that Gollmann Bouw underestimated the expenses of a national sales and support network in Australia. The difficulties experienced by the Gollmann Bouw joint venture were “not because the business model doesn’t work,” he said. Heise said that with Willach wellestablished in community pharmacy here, the next phase is to look at hospital pharmacy. One difference between Willach and Gollmann is that Willach offers conventional dispensary solutions as well as robotics, meaning that its market here is potentially bigger. “Robotics are sexy - and they’re one way of achieving improvements in the dispensary,” he said. “But drawers and carousels can also deliver significant efficiencies”. The Gollmann-Bouw collapse is believed to involve a significant number of unsecured creditors, with some sources estimating liabilities in excess of $1.4 million. Attendees at the creditors meeting earlier this week included Vic Guild President Dipak Sanghvi, but it’s unclear at this stage how many Guild members have been affected by the failure, with Gollmann not providing any further details at this stage of the status of existing orders or contracts. Further information on the collapse is likely to emerge in about three weeks when the Gollmann- Bouw administrator holds its second creditors meeting.

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