Bukwang Pharmaceutical to build state-of-the-art automated warehouse at Ansan factory

Bukwang Pharmaceutical will build a state-of-the-art automated warehouse at its Ansan factory at a total cost of 24 billion won ($17.3 million), aiming to expand pharmaceutical production capacity and maximize logistics efficiency.

The company announced Thursday that it has begun construction this month and is targeting completion and full operation in September 2027.

The new facility will raise the factory's storage capacity nearly threefold — from 1,500 cells to 4,500 cells — by extending the building height from 13 meters to 45 meters. The structure is also designed to allow further phased scale-up in the future.

The warehouse will be equipped with the latest smart logistics systems, including racks, stacker cranes, a warehouse management system and Good Manufacturing Practice-compliant equipment, enabling integrated management of the entire storage process for both raw materials and finished pharmaceuticals.

Once the automated system is fully operational, the processing time per cell for incoming and outgoing goods will fall from 10 minutes to 38 seconds. The seven storage sites currently scattered across the factory will be consolidated into a single location, reducing staffing requirements by about 60 percent and significantly streamlining logistics routes.

By eliminating the logistics bottleneck, Bukwang Pharmaceutical expects to gain an additional annual production capacity of 200 million tablets — equivalent to roughly 26 billion won in sales.

The investment is a management efficiency measure aimed at proactively resolving chronic logistics bottlenecks at the pharmaceutical manufacturing site through smart automation, optimizing labor and cost structures while accelerating the shift to a large-scale production system over the medium to long term.

A company official said the decision to build the new warehouse was driven by the need to prepare for the company's target of a "1.2 billion-tablet production system" by 2029 and to address the saturation of its existing manual warehouse. "Even with an expansion of the existing manual system, we could only meet about 50 percent of the storage capacity needed by 2029," the official said. "This automated warehouse simultaneously achieves maximum productivity, workforce efficiency and stronger regulatory compliance. We will enhance the stability of pharmaceutical supply and strengthen our market competitiveness through cutting-edge logistics infrastructure."