Expansion project provides Lapland Central Hospital with a modern logistics centre
With the construction of new buildings in a wide area around Lapland Central Hospital, the hospital will expand to twice its present size. Sweco’s experts helped design an efficient and modern logistics centre for the hospital.
The ITU2022 alliance project will double Lapland Central Hospital’s floor area. New facilities will be built around the main hospital, which was completed in 1988, for both a psychiatric hospital and ‘hot’ hospital functions, such as operating theatres. A long-needed car park was completed in the area in summer 2019, and a logistics centre serving the entire hospital area will start operating from autumn 2022 onwards. The objective is to avoid extra steps, even though the distances will be longer.
“In a low-rise hospital spread out across a wide area, the distances can be up to 400 metres, so unless our operations are enhanced, we will need twice the number of people to handle the logistics,” says Logistics Specialist Riku Huhtinen from the Lapland Hospital District.
Originally, a logistics centre was not included in the ITU2022 project, and the intention was to run the logistics from the main hospital. However, the decision was made to build a modern logistics centre in a central spot. It will not only be used for storing goods but also for preparing deliveries as far as possible. The space reserved for the logistics centre is roughly 680 square metres.
“This may sound like a lot, but it isn’t much for a logistics centre,” says Janne Sarajärvi, Service Manager of the Lapland Hospital District’s Procurement and Logistics Unit. “Because of this, we needed expert assistance in space planning and the placement of functions at the logistics centre.”
Support for work ergonomics from automation
The only things already decided when the planning of the logistic centre’s operating model commenced were the locations of two automated storage-retrieval systems and the loading platform. Sweco expert Ville Ruuskanen, who is an expert in hospital logistics, prepared four alternative layouts for the logistics centre. The objective was to make as efficient use of the facilities as possible. “The logistics centre must accommodate facilities for receiving and shelving goods as well as for retrieving outgoing goods and preparing deliveries.”
Space was also needed for several other pieces of auxiliary equipment, such as a pallet wrapping machine and tow tugs. “In practice, the plan extended down to the smallest details, i.e. how goods should be placed on pallet racks,” Ruuskanen says.
The client was able to weigh different opinions and select the best one. “I didn’t expect the facilities to become this well-functioning!” Sarajärvi says, delighted. The facilities will include many familiar solutions, such as a tow tractor, refuse chutes and pneumatic tubes, but also new automation. “For example, we will have a pallet stacker that will improve work ergonomics considerably.”
Now, on the cusp of summer, the work is in full swing to install the logistic centre’s automated storage-retrieval systems. “Next, we will plan functional processes, work descriptions and instructions for the new facilities. The planning of the operating model also laid a good foundation for this process,” Huhtinen says.
Space reservations for future mobile robots
Next, Ruuskanen helped the client conceptualise the refill service and indoor transport. With the help of a preliminary survey of automated transport, they went over the hospital’s transport needs and the options available. the operations so that people, goods and machines would have to travel as short distances as possible – smoothly and without bumping into each other.
“There will be wide logistics corridors between the logistics centre and the different parts of the hospital, and most of the transporting will focus on floor 0,” Huhtinen says. The different floors will be accessed via lifts from optimal locations, which minimises the visibility of logistics at the hospital.
Huhtinen appreciates the fresh insights provided by the independent expert, as well as the fact that the future and the space requirements of mobile robots were taken into account in the planning. Robots can be used to transport medical supplies and equipment maintenance instruments, for example. “The placement of trolleys in the logistics centre’s layout will allow robotics to be utilised later.”
Ruuskanen also recommended a transport control system for the main hospital to make internal logistics more manageable, efficient and flexible. “Information systems also facilitate reporting and the traceability of transport.”
The hospital’s logistics personnel and Sweco kept in close contact throughout the design and planning process. “In addition to our steering group, we also received help from employees involved in practical logistics work, which was great,” Sarajärvi says.
Pictures: Verstas Architects
