PreGel, where ice cream tastes of Digital Innovation

A feather in the cap of Industry 4.0 in Italy's Food Valley

Simplicity, determination and creativity” is the motto that guides Lucio Rabboni, founder and current president of PreGel, the company that revolutionized the ice cream market through the launch of several products: in 1970 the Gran Stracciatella Reale, in 1971 the classic paste Zabajone Vittoria and in 1985 the Yoggi®, the first and inimitable yogurt flavor for artisanal ice cream.

PreGel Interview from E80 Group on You Tube

PreGel logistics center

It was from an intuition that in 1967 Lucio Rabboni, from 2019 Cavaliere del Lavoro, decided to start a small production of ice cream flavors in a laboratory set up in his father's garage. Later, he and his wife founded the PreGel company, which step by step conquered ice cream parlors, pastry shops and cafeterias around the world. Since 1982, it has been headquartered in Gavasseto, Reggio Emilia, where production and a microbiological chemical and quality control laboratory are located. Today, it has 700 employees working in four different plants around the world and boasts a presence in 130 countries, with 17 foreign subsidiaries and a dense network of agents. Over the years, PreGel's strong growth leads to an increase in sales volumes and a consequent greater differentiation of orders, addressed to different sectors: Ice Cream, Confectionery and Beverage. It becomes increasingly vital, therefore, to find a solution that can streamline the preparation of shipments with different products.

In 2019, a new logistics center is built in Arceto, in the municipality of Scandiano (RE), equipped with cutting-edge technologies that wink at Industry 4.0. This automated distribution center covers an area of 114,700m2 and houses 1,573m2 of solar panels with a power output of 330 kW.

AS/RS Crane Store with LGV

 

The tailor-made solution of E80 Group

Our Group, which has been by PreGel's side for many years, has developed a high-density automated warehouse tailored to the company's needs. The AS/RS has 5 stacker cranes, 11 levels and 25,000 pallet spaces to be able to provide high density storage and selectivity, as well as high performance.

E80 Group's robotic depalletizing system

In addition, we implemented one depalletizing system and two automatic picking systems to make mixed order preparation more streamlined and efficient. The pallet of uniform product is transported from the 8 LGVs working in the plant to E80 Group's robotic depalletizer. Using its universal gripper and a suction cup system, the layers of boxes that make up the pallet are moved to another pallet. This pallet, still incomplete, is taken to the automated picking system where another state-of-the-art robot makes up the required mixed order. 

Robotic Layer Picking System

Finally, our robotic wrapper finalizes the pallet, which is now ready to be shipped to the end customer. The entire solution, which is fully automated and integrated, makes it possible to drastically reduce damage to product packaging and minimize error in the fulfillment of semi-processed product boxes.

LGV in shipping area

The partnership between PreGel and our Group is a virtuous example of how two companies, from a neighboring territory, have been able to bring together highly innovative skills, experiences and visions to create efficient and reliable solutions.