PreGel, where ice cream tastes of Digital Innovation
A flagship in the cap of Industry 4.0 in the Italian Food Valley
“Simplicity, determination and creativity” is the motto that guides Lucio Rabboni, founder and current President of PreGel, the company that revolutionized the gelato market with the launch of several products: Gran Stracciatella Reale in 1970, the Tradiitional Paste Zabajone Vittoria in 1971, and the Yoggi® in 1985, the first and inimitable yogurt flavor for artisanal gelato.
PreGel Interview from E80 Group on You Tube
PreGel logistics center
It was way back in 1967 that Lucio Rabboni, named Cavaliere del Lavoro (order of merit for labor) in 2019, decided to producing gelato flavors in a worshop set up in his father's garage. Later, he and his wife founded the PreGel company, which little by little has conquered gelato parlors, pastry shops and cafés around the world. The comapny's headquartered have been in Gavasseto, Reggio Emilia, since 1982, also home to production and a microbiological chemical and quality control laboratory. Today, it has 700 employees working in four different plants around the world and competes in 130 countries, with 17 foreign subsidiaries and a dense network of agents. Over the years, PreGel's strong growth has led to an increase in sales volumes and a consequent greater differentiation of orders, which are directed at different sectors: gelato, pastry and beverage. It becomes increasingly vital to find a solution that could streamline the preparation of shipments with different products.
In 2019 a new logistics center was built in Arceto of Scandiano (Reggio Emilia), equipped with cutting-edge technologies that embrace 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 worked closely with PreGel for many years, 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 in order to be able to provide high storage density and selectivity, as well as high performance.
E80 Group's robotic depalletizing system
Furthermore, we implemented a depalletizing system and two automatic picking systems to make mixed order preparation more streamlined and efficient. Pallets loaded with a single SKU are transported by the 8 LGVs working in the plant to E80 Group's robotic depalletizer. Using its universal gripper and a vacum system, the layers of boxes stacked on the pallet are moved to another. This second pallet, still incomplete, is then taken to the automatic picking system where another state-of-the-art robot picks the requested order.
Robotic Layer Picking System
Finally, our robotic wrapper finalizes the pallet, which is then ready to be shipped to the final customer. The entire solution, which is fully automated and integrated, makes it possible to drastically reduce damage to product packaging and minimize errors in the shipment of boxes of semi-finished products.
LGV in shipping area
The partnership between PreGel and our Group is a virtuous example of how two companies, from a neighboring regions have been able to bring together highly innovative skills, experiences and visions to create efficient and reliable solutions.