Lake Forest, IL (February 4, 2010) - Kirby Lester, LLC, the world's leading pharmacy automation provider, today announced that installations of its new KL60 compact, robotic dispensing system have far exceeded their customers' expectations. Kirby Lester began installing the KL60 in the fourth quarter of 2009, and customer reaction has been consistent: "I am totally convinced the KL60 is the best value out there," says Jimmy Yuen, R.Ph. and owner of Advance Medical Pharmacy in Walnut Creek, CA.

KL60 customers like Yuen have found the compact device to be the perfect amount of technology for today's pharmacy economics:

• Simple installation that required little or no remodeling,
• Efficient dispensing of the fastest-moving medications,
• Affordable price tag (just one-half to one-third the cost of other robotic dispensers).

Yuen had his KL60 installed in mid-December 2009. Already he considers the KL60 an important part of his business because it continually dispenses orders for 60 of his most commonly dispensed medications - without a break or slowdown. "Our average daily volume is about 150 prescriptions, with peaks up to 200. But the Monday after the New Year holiday, we saw that volume spike to 270. Thankfully we had the KL60," Yuen says.

Like many independent pharmacy owners, Yuen played a delicate balancing act as business escalated in his small pharmacy in the Bay Area of California. The compounding orders were labor-intensive, and prescription volumes overall were rising at Advance Medical Pharmacy. He either had to hire more staff, or invest in automation. Yuen chose the latter. "I considered a lot of technology, both robotics and counting machines. However, the KL60 is the only full automation machine with a small footprint out there right now," Yuen says. "It turned out to be a no-brainer."

The KL60 handles the labeling and filling of a pharmacy's top 60 medications - just the right amount of tablets and capsules without reaching a point of inefficiency. With 60 drug-specific cassettes aboard, there are no "slow movers" to expire in the device before they are dispensed, and stocking the KL60 is not prohibitively expensive. The 60 cassettes manage 30% or more of the orders in a typical retail pharmacy. Put into perspective, the KL60 manages 95% of the workload put out by other midsize pharmacy robots, yet sells for 50% less.

The KL60's major features include:

• The industry's smallest robot - only nine square feet
• Always-accurate labeling and filling
• Dispensing speed of 160+ prescriptions per hour
• Full interface with the pharmacy management system
• 60 drug-specific cassettes that handle the most common oral solids in a pharmacy
• Accommodates several common vial types and two sizes
• Direct-fill from cassette to vial
• Standard 110v power; no special wiring, floor supports or compressed air are needed
• Simple installation, training and touch-screen operation
• World-class 24/7 service and support
• Full networking with Kirby Lester's KL20 and KL30 for a fully-integrated dispensing and verification system

About Kirby Lester
Kirby Lester was established in 1971 and maintains the largest market share of automatic tablet/capsule counter sales in the United States, plus 35 other countries. More Kirby Lester counters are used to dispense prescriptions in retail, mail order, hospital and long-term care pharmacies and manufacturing facilities than any other automated counting system; 30,000 pharmacies worldwide rely on Kirby Lester for their dispensing needs...exactly! For more information, contact Kirby Lester at 847.984.3377.