Carrara: automated vertical warehouse for the mechanical engineering industry
Industry
MECHANICAL ENGINEERING
Key objectives
Carrara S.p.A. manufactures braided packing, gaskets, and sealing solutions for valves and pumps, with storage requirements centred on handling large, heavy industrial moulds.
- Store a large number of industrial moulds within the available space
- Ensure fast, direct access to each load unit
- Improve mould management and organisation
- Reduce handling and retrieval times
- Increase operational safety
Technical requirements and constraints
Our solution
Key features
1. Integrated structural and automation design
- Modulblok developed an integrated project for a self-supporting automated high-bay warehouse, working with technology partner Vertilog on the automation system.
- Installed outside the production facility and seamlessly integrated from both an architectural and functional perspective, the system combines the storage structure and automation into a fully coordinated solution.
2. Vertilog VL vertical storage technology
- The solution is based on Vertilog VL technology, an industrial vertical warehouse system featuring dynamic tray storage and an internal stacker crane.
- The system automatically manages retrieval and put-away operations, transferring materials to the operating bays and providing fully automated handling throughout the operating cycle, with continuous, controlled material flows.
3. Dimensions and storage capacity
- The system provides approximately 484 m² of usable storage area within a height of 8.35 metres.
- The dynamic configuration of the storage levels, adjustable in 52 mm increments, allows the available space to be tailored to the actual dimensions of the stored materials, optimising capacity even for non-standard components or complex geometries.
4. Advanced material management
- Advanced software-based management of materials with irregular geometries
- Optimised space utilisation, including items with voids or complex shapes
- Flexible configuration of operating bays.
Technical specifications
| Voce | Valore | |
|---|---|---|
| Tipologia impianto | Magazzino verticale automatico autoportante | |
| Sistema di movimentazione | trasloelevatore interno | |
| Logica operativa | accesso centralizzato ai vassoi, gestione automatizzata | |
| Altezza impianto | 8,35 m | |
| Capacità complessiva | circa 252.000 kg | |
| Numero di vassoi | 504 con portata unitaria di 500 kg |
Key Benefits
Maximum storage density and space optimisation
Continuous use of vertical space through storage levels adjustable in 52 mm increments, providing a total capacity of approximately 252,000 kg across 504 trays and around 484 m² of usable storage area. The external self-supporting vertical warehouse, standing 8.35 metres high, frees up internal production space and improves the overall facility layout.
Operational efficiency and automated material flows
The system reduces material search and retrieval times while eliminating non-value-added manual handling. It provides fast, controlled and centralised access to the trays, with automated handling via an internal stacker crane and operational continuity even in a single-bay configuration.
Advanced management of complexity and variability
Optimised storage of heterogeneous, non-standard materials, including components with irregular shapes and varying dimensions. The configuration dynamically adapts the available space to the actual characteristics of the stored materials, improving traceability and inventory visibility while reducing waste and inefficiencies.
Scalability, cost-effectiveness and innovation
A scalable vertical warehouse system that allows additional trays to be installed, operating bays to be added in the future and the system to be reconfigured. The solution balances high storage density with targeted automation, providing a more cost-effective investment than complex automated systems and a highly flexible hybrid configuration combining vertical warehouse and miniload technologies.
Gallery
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