Pharmaceutical Distributor OCP Completes Modernization Project

OCP Répartition is the leading pharmaceutical distributor in France dispatching over 2 million boxes of medicines and personal care products every day in over 44 establishments.

A long-time client of Fives for several decades, OCP Répartition previously called on the technical expertise of the Fives Upgrade teams in early 2019, as part of a project to retrofit a platform based in Montpellier.

OCP Répartition was completely satisfied with the operational performance of the machines deployed in this installation spurring it to renew its collaboration with the Fives Smart Automation Solutions teams to modernize its site in Marseille.

The work to upgrade the previous system – installed by a competitor in the 90s using technology the Fives teams were relatively unfamiliar with – involved replacing an empty tray accumulation conveyor and adding two next generation tray denesters, an empty tray return system and a wet tray detection system. The denester’s twin head allows it to process up to 1,800 trays per hour simultaneously.

These machines were developed especially for this project by the Fives Smart Automation Solutions teams.

Fives’ solution was developed to meet significant coactivity constraints in order to integrate all the new equipment for OCP Répartition. Spread over 6 weeks, the Fives teams performed their work in several phases to ensure OCP Répartition’s activities did not stop. The project was finalized in August 2020.

“In the context of a pandemic, during which it is vital for our activities to continue, we need to be able to rely on a partner with specific expertise in retrofit projects to efficiently address the various challenges of our business. This is why we chose the Fives Upgrade teams, which through our previous collaborations, have demonstrated great responsiveness, delivering services in line with our expectations”, said René Blanc, Head of Maintenance at the OCP Répartition site.

This new achievement demonstrates the extent of Fives’ expertise in both new projects and upgrade projects, relying on a Client Service team capable of handling extremely complex upgrade projects requiring significant agility.