ICR – A New Automated Warehouse
Dymation contributes to the development of the new automated warehouse with 8 ROCLA AGVs
An integrated intralogistics solution combining automated guided vehicles, storage systems and control technologies to optimise material handling in support of production operations.
ICR – Industrie Cosmetiche Riunite has inaugurated its new automated warehouse dedicated to component handling, marking a strategic step forward in the development of its logistics infrastructure.
The new facility adds 28,500 pallet positions, bringing the company’s total storage capacity to approximately 70,000 pallet positions. This investment is designed to support the growth of production activities through increasingly efficient, safe and controlled material flow management.
As part of this project, Dymation contributed to the implementation of an integrated automated material handling system, developed in collaboration with Alfaproject, which supported the customer in analysing and designing the logistics solution.
An Integrated System for Automated Material Handling
The implemented solution combines several technologies within an infrastructure designed to coordinate inbound, storage and outbound material flows.
At the heart of the system are 8 ROCLA automated guided vehicles (AGVs), performing complementary functions:
- 4 ACTs (Automated Compact Trucks), dedicated to moving pallets between receiving areas, transfer stations and outbound areas.
- 4 VNA vehicles (Very Narrow Aisle), designed for pallet storage and retrieval operations in high-density racking systems, reaching heights of approximately 12 metres.
The system is further enhanced by industrial racking, gravity roller conveyors, RFID identification devices and three-dimensional load profile measurement technologies.
Integration with ICR’s SAP ERP system enables automated vehicle missions to be coordinated with information on materials and warehouse locations, keeping physical material flows aligned with warehouse management processes.
From Inbound to Storage: Every Movement Is Coordinated
The automated process begins in the goods receiving area, where pallets are placed on gravity roller conveyors following preliminary inspection and verification procedures.
Once a pallet reaches the pickup point, a detection system triggers an ACT mission. The vehicle identifies the pallet through RFID scanning and communicates with SAP to verify its correct destination.
Before storage, the load undergoes a three-dimensional profile check to ensure compliance with the specified dimensional parameters.
Once all checks have been completed, the ACT transfers the pallet to one of the transfer stations. From there, a VNA vehicle carries out the next mission, depositing the pallet in the warehouse location assigned by the management system.
The entire process is designed to ensure coordinated material handling, reducing the need for manual intervention in transportation and storage operations.
From Warehouse to Production: the reverse flow
The solution also manages the reverse flow, enabling the automated retrieval of materials required for production.
Based on requests managed in SAP, VNA vehicles retrieve pallets from their designated storage locations and deposit them at the transfer stations assigned to outbound operations.
The ACTs then complete the transfer to buffer areas, where materials are made available to operators for subsequent delivery to the production departments.
The system also supports replenishment of picking areas, where operators can prepare pallets containing different product references according to production requirements.
In this way, automated material handling is integrated with manual operations, helping to make material flow management more organised and easier to control.
Safety, Monitoring and Exception Handling
A key aspect of the solution is the integration of technologies and operational logic designed to ensure material safety and manage anomalies.
In addition to load dimension checks, the system incorporates detection systems, safety devices and route management logic, designed to coordinate automated vehicle movements within the aisles and transfer areas.
Particular attention has been paid to exception handling: pallets presenting RFID identification, destination or dimensional compliance issues are directed to dedicated areas, where operators can inspect them without disrupting the normal storage flow.
Operations are also supported by a real-time monitoring interface that provides visibility into vehicle status, missions and any anomalies, facilitating day-to-day system supervision.
These features help make automation more controllable and reliable, including in situations requiring human intervention.
The Value of Integration: From Technology to Solution
The ICR project is a concrete example of how intralogistics automation can go beyond the implementation of individual technologies.
The challenge is not simply to automate pallet transportation, but to coordinate material handling systems, storage infrastructure, control devices and management processes within a solution tailored to the customer’s operational requirements.
The collaboration between Dymation and Alfaproject brought together complementary expertise, from logistics flow design to the integration of automation technologies, contributing to the development of an infrastructure focused on efficiency, safety and operational continuity.
For Dymation, this project reflects its approach as an intralogistics solution provider: starting with the customer’s processes and requirements to integrate the most suitable technologies and turn them into customised automation solutions.
Because the true value of automation lies not in individual machines, but in the ability to make the entire system work as one integrated solution
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