SECTORS

A period of growth and a phase of transformation: this is what the Food & Beverage sector in Europe has been going through in the past year. The first is due to consumers’ increasing interest toward buying groceries online (a consequence strongly correlated to the lockdown period): in fact, the increase is estimated to be 140% just in the year 2020 (Reply, 2021). The second, instead, is the effect of the first: the explosion of online sales has created doubt around managing large commercial spaces, since users have moved their purchases to digital platforms. This resulted in the rethinking of logistical spaces of industry players, due to the complexity derived from the production supply chain and distribution of goods.

With their solutions for intralogistic environments and their offerings of industrial automation, Automha developed a modus operandi able to optimize management processes of automatic warehouses: a method that, in 2021, allowed the Bergamo company to emerge in the highly competitive sector for their quality and innovation.

Aviko is one of the first four companies in the world in the sector of potato manufacturing. It was born in the Netherlands, over 50 years creating high-quality products, and throughout that time has expanded to be in over 100 countries. The 2-billion-euro turnover per year allows for focused investments: following the wave of growth of the Food & Beverage sector, the business decided to increase their activity commissioning Automha for two automatic warehouses. The first, situated in Holland, has been operating since the end of 2020, while the more recent situated in Belgium is in the launch phase.

The request? A self-sustaining warehouse at refrigerated temperature (-27 C) that allows pallet storage of 80×120 cm and 100×120 cm, with a maximum reachable capacity of 50,000 loaded units.
A unique aspect to this installation is the simultaneous management of 150 loaded units entering per hour and 300 loaded units leaving per hour. Abiding by the requests of Aviko, the Automha team studied a layout including a roboticized area, completely automatic and attached to the warehouse, giving Aviko the possibility to satisfy each request of their clients creating multi-reference pallets.

Different machines make up the structure: 39 Autosatmover (the modular system for the automation of storage through multi-depth pallets), 3 loops of Rushmover (the combinable circuit for transporting any kind of pallet) with a total of 22 vehicles, and 2 Miniload (the automatic storage system for containers and trays, used in cases of withdrawing goods from high flows with significant weight.)

Completing the automatic warehouse are 6 elevators at a height of 32 meters, 2 elevators at a height of 8 meters, 2 robotic islands, 5 pallet stackers/dispensers and more than 300 conveyer systems such as roller conveyors, catenaries, rotating tables, and orthogonal transfers.

To respond to the needs of Aviko, Automha took charge of the mechanical and electrical projections of machines, of their production and of the whole installation, as well as the software foundation of the warehouse. Through the employment of these technologies, Automha guarantees Aviko the periodic requests, optimal management of their warehouse and, due to the continuous development in the Food & Beverage industry, anticipation of their future needs.