Industry
Electric
Strumentazione Industriale: when the promise of 48-hour delivery depends on warehouse automation
- Electric
- SILO²
- Finished products
Finding the right transmitter among 3,000 SKUs, in hours rather than days
Strumentazione Industriale Srl has distributed process instrumentation for almost forty years with a clear promise to the market: delivery within 48 hours. Keeping that promise across a catalog of 3,000 active SKUs, with small items, high variability and uneven turnover, requires a storage system that responds with the same precision as the customer order.
To centralize high-turnover item management and integrate the picking flow with the company management system, Strumentazione Industriale installed 2 SILO² Vertical Lift Modules at its Invorio warehouse, near Novara, interfaced with the management system via ICON.
Product
SILO²
Key results
• –2/3 tatic racking
• Picking errors eliminated
Key feature
Side-by-side picking and refilling stations with IRIDE
Strumentazione Industriale: forty years of technical know-how, 48-hour delivery
Founded in 1987 in Invorio, near Novara, by Dario Gnemmi, Strumentazione Industriale Srl distributes process instrumentation, pressure gauges, thermometers, pressure transmitters, pressure switches, valves, thermocouples, manifolds and much more, with a catalog of around 3,000 active SKUs and customers in Italy and across Europe, with exports accounting for around 20% of revenue.
With 14 employees, the company stands out for its specialized technical consulting and for its ability to respond within timeframes that manufacturers, focused on large-volume production, cannot guarantee.
“The value we offer is technical expertise and consulting. When a company needs a pressure gauge, Strumentazione Industriale has what it needs.”
With 14 employees, the company stands out for its specialized technical consulting and for its ability to respond within timeframes that manufacturers, focused on large-volume production, cannot guarantee.
“The value we offer is technical expertise and consulting. When a company needs a pressure gauge, Strumentazione Industriale has what it needs.”
The logistical challenges
The 350 m² warehouse was organized with two-level static racking. The daily process was well established but demanding: paper picking lists, repeated walking between aisles, and ladders to access the second level.
The decision came from a strategic assessment: recover floor space, reduce errors, improve ergonomics and adopt a scalable system able to grow with the catalog.
The critical issues were clear:
- average 5-line order: around 20 minutes from picking to packing, with repeated walking back and forth between aisles
- physical strain for operators, who had to climb up and down ladders while carrying materials
- risk of errors structurally linked to manual search and paper picking lists
- increasingly valuable space as the catalog grew, with no possibility of automatic reorganization
2 side-by-side SILO² VLMs for high-turnover items: fast, accurate picking across 800 SKUs
The 2 SILO² Vertical Lift Modules occupy 69.63 m² of footprint, less than 20% of the total warehouse floor space, and manage around 800 small and medium-sized SKUs: the high-turnover items where picking speed and accuracy make a difference every day.
The remaining static racking manages low-turnover items, larger quantities and customer-dedicated stock. The layout choice is clear: automate the main flow to optimize the process without making daily management more complex.
Each SILO² VLM is equipped with IRIDE on both picking and refilling stations: colored light beams guide the operator to the correct box or bin, with quantity and item information shown on the head-up dashboard directly in front of the workstation.
The remaining static racking manages low-turnover items, larger quantities and customer-dedicated stock. The layout choice is clear: automate the main flow to optimize the process without making daily management more complex.
Each SILO² VLM is equipped with IRIDE on both picking and refilling stations: colored light beams guide the operator to the correct box or bin, with quantity and item information shown on the head-up dashboard directly in front of the workstation.
ICON integrated with the company ERP: automatic replenishment and paperless picking
The main change was in replenishment: with ICON integrated with the management system, supplier deliveries automatically generate refilling lists, and SILO² delivers trays with available locations to the Picking and Refilling station. Each item is stored in the right place, with no manual search.
Order preparation is carried out once a day, in the early afternoon, by two operators on a single 8-hour shift: one handles complete orders, the other manages orders to be completed with items processed in the internal workshop.
The result: around 25 shipments per day, with picking errors eliminated regardless of operator experience.
Order preparation is carried out once a day, in the early afternoon, by two operators on a single 8-hour shift: one handles complete orders, the other manages orders to be completed with items processed in the internal workshop.
The result: around 25 shipments per day, with picking errors eliminated regardless of operator experience.
Key results
Less space, fewer errors, more control with the same resources
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800 SKUs in 69.63 m²
Less than 20% of the total warehouse floor space
-
–2/3 static racking eliminated
Recovered space reinvested in other activities
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25 shipments/day, 2 operators
Single 8-hour shift, with no increase in headcount
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Picking errors eliminated
The storage system delivers the tray to the station, the operator picks the item: the possibility of error no longer depends on the individual operator
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Automated replenishment
ICON generates loading lists on goods arrival; no manual location searches
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Improved operator ergonomics
No ladders, no repeated walking, no manual search across stacked racking levels
We eliminated around two thirds of the static racking. What remains is used for low-rotation inventory, larger quantities and customer-dedicated stock.
The warehouse was not completely transformed: it was made more intelligent, faster in its main flow, more organized in reserve storage, and more controlled in replenishment.
Because having the right product was not enough: we needed to be able to locate it, pick it and ship it without wasting time and without making mistakes.
Discover the product chosen by Strumentazione Industriale
SILO²: the Vertical Lift Module
With 2 to 7 storage columns, over 120 tray size configurations and specific tray load bearing capacity up to 1,000 kg/m², SILO² is ICAM’s answer for companies managing small and medium-sized items, even those with a very high specific weight.
Explore SILO²
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