PharmBox (An ATM for Medicines at your doorstep)

Inspiration

The gap between the supply and the demand in the medicine procurement market. Through personal experience of I not being able to get the medicines when I needed after 10:30 pm as the pharmacy was closed and due to the COVID19, no net medicine delivery apps were delivering. That experience really moved me and I wanted to do something to help others who had faced similar issues. We want to make sure that no one else faces the same problem. Through the experience, we identified the need for such a solution in the market. We created this to bridge the issue of the procurement of medicines.

What it does

Bridges the medicine demand, supply gap by increasing the ease of access and convenience of the procurement of medicines. This benefits the customers as well as provides an additional source of income for the pharmacies. In addition, it also has a positive impact on the environment as it reduces the fuel consumption on travel by net medicine delivery apps by taking fewer journeys to only stock the vending machines in various localities, and not actually going to deliver to each and every customer.

How we built it

I along with my team brainstormed on the idea. I found some good statistics to understand that this is indeed a major problem. My team made an app for the same. We have tested the prototype of the app in the last 72 hours with more than 100 people to identify the best market fit. All this helped us In finalizing the features of the app that would have the maximum benefit.

Challenges we ran into

In the beginning, we were facing a lot of issues due to the concept of PharmBox not being crystal clear in our own minds. We had to do multiple discussions, and brainstorming sessions to arrive at what we deemed was suitable for a market survey. After multiple edits and debates in addition to the useful inputs from everyone who helped by giving valuable feedback, we were able to develop more and reach the stage where we are at this moment.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

1. 105 beneficiaries in 72 hours and total revenue of 1200 USD using the app
2. Discovered the potential of solving real-world problems using location intelligence and basic application.

What we learned

The experience of building PharmBox was really enthralling. I learned how data science on GIS can be the game-changer during any kind of disasters or pandemics. Also how touchless transactions have the potential to transform the customer behavior post COVID allowing them to safeguard against any direct transmissions of any diseases.

What's next for PharmBox (An ATM for Medicines at your doorstep)

Our next step is going to be the design of the vending machines, how to optimize the vending machine space, and install them in strategic locations. With the collection of data, we plan to improve inventory management through the usage of Data Science and Machine Learning Algorithms.