Swisslog makes autonomous robot available for deliveries

BROOMFIELD — Swisslog Healthcare, the tradename for Translogic Corp., which manufactures systems for material transport and supply-chain management for health-care systems, has developed a robot to pick up and deliver pharmaceuticals in health-care settings.

Swisslog,  in conjunction with robot developer Savioke Inc., has launched Relay robot, a new autonomous service robot.

“Today’s healthcare environment challenges nurses, lab techs, and pharmacists to decide how they spend their valuable time,” Cory Kwarta, North America president of Swisslog Healthcare, said in a prepared statement. “The Relay ASR is an advanced delivery technology helping hospitals optimize labor productivity and more effectively allocate resources to ensure patients get the care they need when they need it.”

The robot can operate elevators and doors and navigate in busy public corridors. It can deliver medicines, blood, lab specimens, snacks and documents 24 hours a day.

Several hospitals in the United States and Europe have contracted with Swisslog to deploy Relay robots to improve lab and pharmacy workflow. Hutchinson Health in Minnesota, for example, deployed Relay in May to deliver blood and specimens between the central laboratories and adjoining clinics and is already seeing skilled labor savings each day, Swisslog said in its announcement.

“After four years providing service in the hospitality industry, we are thrilled to see Relay doing such important work in the health-care space,” says Steve Cousins, founder and CEO of Savioke.  “With many hospitals already short staffed, Relay can handle the tasks that typically take skilled health-care workers away from their primary, critical responsibility of caring for or serving patients.”

Swisslog Healthcare is located in Broomfield. Savioke is located in San Jose, Calif.