Freudenberg Italy: On-time delivery for spare parts

Freudenberg has been active in Italy since 1936. Today, it offers products and services to various branches of industry, including the automotive, energy and chemical, medical and mechanical, plant engineering, household and professional cleaning, textile and clothing sectors.

The Freudenberg facility in Pinerolo stores automotive components serving their customers across Italy and Europe. The Italian distribution centre deals with orders for Freudenberg Sealing Technologies, including a specialized division for the independent aftermarket, Corteco.

To store and prepare Corteco orders in the most efficient, safe, and reliable way – while embracing industry 4.0 opportunities – Freudenberg turned to Swisslog.

Responding to the needs of a constantly evolving market

Freudenberg decided the area dedicated to Corteco shipments would be entrusted to Swisslog’s CarryPick. Developed by KUKA and Swisslog, CarryPick is a flexible and modular system for storage and order picking, based on AGV technology.

A fleet of mobile vehicles allow the transport of shelves from the storage positions to the workstations (Operator Windows) and vice versa, reducing the travel path of the operators in the warehouse and maximizing order picking times. Collaboration between people and robots increases workplace safety, minimizes errors, and speeds up the entire operation.

Given the simplicity of CarryPick’s components, the system can be easily reconfigured, making it a highly flexible and modular installation. Freudenberg has chosen this technology to ensure that the warehouse can meet the needs of an ever-changing and rapidly expanding market such as that of the independent aftermarket, in which frequency of delivery and reliability have become the important factors.

Powered by Swisslog’s WMS, SynQ, smart algorithms find the best path for the robots. The system moves the robots in order to maximize the hourly flow of shelves to the operator stations.