Priceline goes robotic

IT’S yet to be named and it’s not quite R2-D2, but it is one of the largest robots in the Southern Hemisphere.A 2.5-metre-by-six-metre robot is being installed at Maryborough’s new Priceline Pharmacy.The German-made Gollmann robotic dispensing system will hold 17,000 products and will deliver each within 10 seconds.The $360,000 robot will be part of the new two-storey Priceline.Pharmacy co-owner Peter Heywood said the robot would change the way staff interacted with customers.“We should be more out the front with the customers,” he said.“We’re unfortunately tied to the mechanics of dispensary.“It’s fancy and very expensive. It will make the process much more effective and we will be more involved with the customers.“It will be a paradigm shift for all of us.”Mr Heywood said the machine would speed things up, with two robotic arms dispensing the medication.“The most commonly used items will be at the top,” he said.Seven technicians, including two from Germany, have been working this week to install the robot.The new store will open on September 1.