Robotics in healthcare is revolutionising the industry by enhancing precision, efficiency, and patient outcomes. Innovations range from robots assisting in surgery to automated drug delivery. Furthermore, AI-enabled robots can clean and prepare wards independently or reduce the time it takes to identify, match, and distribute medicine to patients in hospitals.
To gain insights into changes within the sector, Digital Journal caught up with Ting Ming Ling, CEO of OTSAW, a leading robotics company focused on optimizing healthcare operations.
Digital Journal: Can you provide a brief background on OTSAW?
Ting Ming Ling: OTSAW is a robotics & AI company revolutionizing hospital logistics through the use of advanced robotics. The company’s team operates globally with installments in Singapore, Boston, Munich, and more with clients in more than 20 countries, 1000+ robots deployed, and over three million days of robot operations.
Founded in 2015, we established OTSAW with a clear mission: to enhance operational efficiency, safety, and overall quality of life. Today, the company specializes in designing and building autonomous robots that address real-world operational challenges, with a strong focus in healthcare, security, and logistics sectors. By integrating modular designs and intelligent automation, OTSAW’s solutions are scalable and adaptable, offering businesses real-time monitoring, streamlined processes, and lower operational costs.
DJ: What are OTSAW’s key robotics products and what differentiates them?
Ling: OTSAW offers a suite of robotics solutions built to enhance hospital logistics and streamline essential operations. Our key products include the Transcar AGV/AMR and the Camello+ AMR.
The Transcar is a heavy-duty autonomous guided vehicle (AGV) and autonomous mobile robot (AMR) designed to transport large trolleys carrying food, linen, waste, and medication. These advanced robots are capable of carrying loads of up to 500 kg and are engineered for robust, continuous operation in demanding hospital environments. The Transcar AGVs are equipped with advanced navigation systems, ensuring precise movement within shared hospital spaces while maintaining high safety standards through sensors that prevent collisions with staff or obstacles. The Transcar Management System optimizes fleet performance by managing routes, schedules, and vehicle speeds in real-time. This system integrates seamlessly with hospital infrastructure, including elevators and automatic doors, enabling efficient vertical and horizontal transport without significant construction.
The Camello+ AMR is a fully autonomous, multi-purpose delivery and security robot designed for both indoor and outdoor environments. Camello+ offers a versatile platform capable of seamlessly transitioning between delivery and surveillance roles based on the selected mode. In delivery mode, Camello+ can be equipped with various modular attachments, enabling it to handle a diverse range of delivery tasks, such as transporting packages, medical supplies, or other goods. In surveillance mode, Camello+ is equipped with advanced security features such as warning lights, high-definition cameras, and real-time two-way communication capabilities. These features enable the robot to monitor its surroundings effectively, detect unusual activities, and interact with human operators during emergencies. Unlike many other robots that specialize in only one role, Camello+ integrates both seamlessly without compromising performance.
DJ: What is the process for companies to get OTSAW’s products installed?
Ling: At OTSAW, we provide a seamless end-to-end deployment process to ensure that each robotics solution is fully tailored to our client’s operational requirements. The typical implementation journey includes:
1. Needs Assessment: A collaborative consultation to understand the client’s logistics challenges, workflow gaps, and specific goals.
2. Site Survey & Customisation: OTSAW’s team conducts a thorough site inspection to map operational routes, assess infrastructure, and configure robot functions accordingly.
3. Integration & Installation: OTSAW’s robots are deployed on-site and are carefully integrated with existing building systems, such as elevators, automatic doors, turnstiles, and IT networks.
4. Training & Handover: OTSAW provides hands-on training to the client, ensuring they are competent in operating, supervising, and maintaining the robots.
5. Ongoing Support: OTSAW offers comprehensive post-deployment support to ensure the long-term success and reliability of its robotic solutions. This includes service maintenance contracts that cover routine inspections, hardware diagnostics, and timely repairs to keep the robots in optimal working condition.
DJ: Can you discuss some of your recent installations? Where are these robots already working?
Ling: OTSAW’s robots are extensively deployed in prominent healthcare facilities across Asia and Europe, holding a commanding 90% market share in Singapore’s government hospitals. Almost all of the Singhealth Group hospitals are using our Transcar AGVs to transport food, linens, waste, and pharmacy medications.
One of our most recent hospital installation, a part of the National Healthcare Group (Singapore), includes a fleet of 14 Transcar AGVs that play a critical role in automating material handling processes. These vehicles streamline the transportation of medical supplies, linens and meals throughout the facility, reducing the strain on manual labor and freeing up healthcare staff to focus on patient care.
DJ: Why do you believe robots are a necessary solution for the healthcare industry?
Ling: Healthcare manpower costs are rising globally, fueled by labor shortages, increasing demand for services, and the need to offer higher wages to attract and retain skilled workers. Meanwhile, the cost of robots has been steadily decreasing, thanks to advancements in technology, economies of scale, and growing competition in the robotics industry. This downward trend in robotic costs positions them as a highly cost-effective solution for automating repetitive tasks, enabling healthcare facilities to reduce their reliance on costly human labor while improving efficiency and productivity.
In addition to that, the growing aging population is intensifying the manpower shortage in the healthcare sector. At the same time, younger generations are showing less interest in taking on lower-skilled, repetitive roles—such as trolley-pushing in hospitals. Robotics offers a solution by automating these routine tasks, enabling healthcare professionals to focus more on other critical, high-value duties.
Lastly, robots can gather large volumes of real-time operational data, offering healthcare organizations valuable insights. This data can help streamline workflows, boost productivity, and improve patient outcomes. By automating routine tasks and delivering AI-powered analytics, robots help lower operational costs while enhancing the overall efficiency and effectiveness of healthcare facilities.
