In Kazakhstan, one of the manufacturers began to monitor the availability of the necessary list of tablets on pharmacy shelves using computer vision. The necessary medicines are now always in their place in more than 5,000 pharmacies of different chains. This became possible thanks to the introduction of computer vision into the work of the international pharmaceutical company SANTO (Polpharma Group).

Goods Checker, a cloud–based platform for automating merchandising processes using computer vision, is now operating in the pharmaceutical industry of Kazakhstan. It consists of three components: a back-end, a mobile application for medical representatives and a web application for regional managers. The offline mode helps medical representatives to work safely in any pharmacy and in any region, regardless of the quality of Internet coverage. 

Advanced technology monitors not only the availability of tablets in pharmacies, but also the implementation of planograms – the correctness of the calculation of drugs. Computer vision helps to keep order on pharmacy shelves. The system does not get tired, works better due to fewer errors and is more efficient due to faster shelf analysis.

1,500 pharmacies participated in the pilot project. The accuracy of drug recognition in photos exceeded 90%, and the time that medical representatives spent on pharmacy audits became less than 5 minutes. Previously, specialists spent about an hour on similar work, and inaccuracies and errors occurred in the process.

The test period was successful, so the solution has already been implemented on an ongoing basis in the workflow – now it tracks medicines in more than 5,000 pharmacies across the country. About 80 people are involved in the process, who regularly take pictures of shelves with medicines and send them to the system. Now, thanks to computer vision, the necessary pills in the pharmacy are always in their places.

The work process looks like this: a medical representative arranges medicines according to a planogram, after which he takes photos of each shelf. The application processes the images in real time and shows the result: which positions are in place, which need to be rearranged, and which are missing. The program shows which products are missing so that the pharmacy can quickly eliminate it.

The results of each visit are displayed in the analytical system immediately after the visit. The system generates detailed interactive reports – in one click you can view data on the representation of goods on the shelves, for example, the percentage of compliance of the layout with planograms, compliance with merchandising standards, availability on shelves by pharmacy categories, etc. The work of medical representatives is also analyzed: how many pharmacies they visited, which photos they took, whether the standards for the display of goods on the shelf are met. This allows you to objectively evaluate the work of employees, as well as understand the situation in a particular region and even a specific pharmacy.

"Computer vision opens up new opportunities for digitalization of various industries in Kazakhstan. Thanks to the implementation of this project, the efficiency of the pharmaceutical industry has increased, which now relies on reliable and accurate information obtained through IT systems. Thus, pharmaceutical companies receive detailed analytics on what is happening with medicines on the shelf: where they are missing, which are in demand, what should be changed or improved. The results from the implementation of the system will not take long to wait," commented Dmitry Vasilkov, Business Development Manager at the international IT company IBA Group.

The developers of Goods Checker plan to introduce computer vision in other companies and industries in Kazakhstan in the near future. Promising, experts say, are distributors of consumer goods, manufacturers, large retailers, merchandising agencies, as well as gas station chains and other pharmaceutical companies.