Willach Australia Pty Ltd is today pleased to announce the appointment of Meg Brideson (nee Hurley) as its Country Manager for Australia and New Zealand, effective 1 April 2019.The current Managing Director of Willach Australia, John Koot, will step down from his position effective March 31, and will hand over the day-to-day responsibility for the Australasian business to Mrs Brideson at that time. Mr Koot will remain as a Non-Executive Director of Willach Australia and will continue to consult across the industry.

In a statement, the Chair of Willach Australia, Dr Jens Willach, thanked Mr Koot for his significant contribution to the business over the past 7 years and welcomed Mrs Brideson to his global management team.

“Meg shares John’s passion for Australian pharmacy and bringing pharmacists and patients closer together,” he said.

“Along with that passion she possesses extensive sales and marketing experience, which will benefit both our Australian team and our customers as we move into the next growth phase for the business.”

Mrs Brideson brings a wealth of industry knowledge to the role and her professional career has included senior sales and marketing positions with Chemmart, Symbion and Ansvar Insurance.

“My first job in the industry was as a pharmacy assistant when I was just 14 years old and safe to say there’s been a significant amount of change in that time,” she said.

“In particular, over the last decade, pharmacies have realised that they must fundamentally change the way they approach health consumers, who have greater expectations of their in-store experience.

“From my initial discussions with Willach, we share the same vision of working closely with pharmacists to make real improvements to their business that, importantly, are focused at changes that will deliver tangible increases to profitability.

“There is also fantastic growth potential within Willach, which is underlined by the company’s recent venture in DAAs with the launch of its new medication sachet packaging and inspection systems.”

Since becoming the Managing Director of Willach Australia in 2012, Mr Koot has led the business through a significant period of growth, which has seen it triple its customer base through a heavy focus on educating pharmacists about the benefits of customer-focused retail fitouts

“This is a natural succession plan for the business and Meg is the ideal candidate to guide Willach on the next stage of its development,” Mr Koot said.

“Having worked with Meg on and off for more than 15 years, I have full confidence that she has the expertise to build on Willach’s strong reputation and offering in Australasia.”

Willach is the only Australasian provider of comprehensive pharmacy design and workflow solutions through its two business division, Willach Pharmacy Solutions and Pharmacium. Its specialist team of designers and consultants work with customers to bring to life their perfect pharmacy, managing every aspect from design to build and product installation, while also offering the most comprehensive service and support program in the region.

This capability has also been extended by the recent launch of Willach’s new range of automated DAA solutions, including the CONSIS.ATP and CONSIS.PI systems, which completes the company’s whole-of-dispensary offering.

Willach – Australasia’s leading provider of dispensary solutions – is set to shake up the DAA market with the launch of its CONSIS Automated Tablet Packagers (ATP), which are now available to community pharmacies across the country.Willach will offer three core variants of its CONSIS.ATP system locally, with flexible configurations that can be adapted to suit the individual requirements of customers wanting to pursue growth and opportunities in the DAA market.

“Australia’s ageing population is fuelling demand for DAAs and pharmacists are increasingly realising that there is a unique opportunity to capitalise on this trend,” Willach Australasia Managing Director John Koot said.

“As the leader in wholistic solutions for the dispensary we identified the growing need not only for high quality DAA systems for our clients, but also for a comprehensive level of support pre and post installation.”

The CONSIS.ATP system is designed for filling unit-dose or multi-dose pouches with medication for individual patients, sorted by day and time of medication intake.

The system features numerous drawers fitted with cannisters which are calibrated to specific medication and offers unrivalled speed and accuracy, with the ability to fill up to 60 pouches per-minute.

“Pharmacists who supply a large number of DAA customers will benefit from the flexibility and scalability of this new solution, which is backed by Willach’s unrivalled customer service and support,” Mr Koot said.

“It fills the void that smaller manual in-house packaging systems and outsourced DAA suppliers cannot service – and Willach has the market knowledge, resources and infrastructure to deliver a solution.

“CONSIS.ATPs are fast, accurate and vastly superior to any other comparable product on the market – it’s a proven system for thousands of pharmacies across the globe.”

In keeping with its reputation of offering market leading service, Willach will offer training, implementation and technical support, as well as the convenience of quick and easy consumables replenishment through its online shop. Its partner business Pharmacium will also offer marketing kits for pharmacists wanting to entice everyday customers to consider DAAs.

“The CONSIS.ATP system adds to Willach’s already impressive portfolio and we are also in the final stages of bringing another exciting DAA innovation to Australia,” Mr Koot said.

“This will see us offer the fastest, smallest and most accurate pouch checking systems in the country and completes the Willach offering to provide a full workflow and automation solution for Australian pharmacies.

“It’s a really exciting time for Willach in Australia – so watch this space.”

To view the full range of CONSIS.ATP systems, visit the Willach website