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Industrial

COMPATTA for multi-site logistics management at Litokol

  • Building & Construction
  • COMPATTA
  • Raw materials
COMPATTA for multi-site logistics management at Litokol

Litokol: from Emilia-Romagna to over 100 countries worldwide

Founded in 1968 in Rubiera (Reggio Emilia), just a few kilometres from Sassuolo, the heart of the world’s most renowned ceramic district, Litokol is now an international group specialising in products for the installation of ceramic floors and wall coverings, building solutions and interior decoration.
With around 600 employees, consolidated revenues exceeding €75 million and an export share of 85%, the company’s products are distributed in more than 100 countries worldwide.
Its flagship products include the Starlike® EVO epoxy grout, Aquamaster EVO waterproofing solutions and StyleGrout cementitious grouts. The strong growth of these product lines made a major redesign of the plant logistics necessary.
Litokol: from Emilia-Romagna to over 100 countries worldwide

The logistical challenges

Litokol’s Rubiera operations are distributed across multiple production and logistics facilities separated by a roadway, where efficient intercompany logistics flows are essential to daily operations, not simply a matter of efficiency.

 

The company faced two main challenges across separate facilities:

Raw materials warehouse (2,700 sqm)

• heterogeneous SKUs ranging from 30 to 1,500 kg in weight and from 50 to 200 cm in height

• all pallets stacked directly on the floor, one on top of another

• multiple handling operations required to access the desired batch

• accatastamento che causava indurimento delle materie prime, compromettendone la qualità

• no possibility to further increase storage capacity without expanding the facility

Finished goods warehouse (approximately 1,000 sqm)

• growing number of SKUs driven by the expansion of the Starlike range

• finished goods temporarily stored before shipment to the picking warehouse

• fully saturated space and structural columns restricting usable floor area

COMPATTA warehouse for raw materials:
7,000 pallet locations in 2,700 sqm

For the raw materials warehouse, Litokol installed a COMPATTA system consisting of 20 double-sided mobile bases with 5 load levels and a load capacity exceeding 430,000 kg per base. Within a footprint of 2,700 sqm, the system provides storage for approximately 7,000 pallet locations of different sizes.
All operators are equipped with handheld terminals: a simple barcode scan records every loading and unloading operation in real time within the StockSystem WMS. The mobile bases are opened remotely via radio control, creating the access aisle for direct operation with reach trucks, without requiring the operator to leave the vehicle.
Around 50–100 loading operations and 30–40 unloading operations are performed daily.
COMPATTA warehouse for raw materials:
7,000 pallet locations in 2,700 sqm

COMPATTA warehouse for finished goods:
3,400 pallet locations in 1,000 sqm

Satisfied with the benefits achieved through the first COMPATTA system, Litokol installed a second one in the production facility dedicated to Starlike® EVO: 9 double-sided mobile bases, each 35 metres long, for the storage of approximately 3,400 finished goods pallet locations awaiting transfer to the picking warehouse.
The strategic division of the system into two separate sections allowed Litokol to maximise the available floor space while working around the facility’s structural columns.
COMPATTA warehouse for finished goods:
3,400 pallet locations in 1,000 sqm

Key results

More storage capacity without relocating to a new building

  • 7,000 pallet locations in 2,700 sqm

    Storage capacity equivalent to 2–3 additional facilities within the same footprint

  • 3,400 pallet locations in 1,000 sqm

    Starlike® EVO finished goods managed in a buffer area without saturating floor space

  • 0.04% annual error rate

    Guided picking and StockSystem WMS traceability ensuring exceptional operational accuracy

  • Automatic FIFO management

    Older batches are picked first, preventing obsolescence for products with a 12–24 month shelf life

  • Raw material quality preserved

    No more stacked storage causing raw material compaction and deterioration

  • Operational safety

    Photocells and remote aisle opening via radio control, without leaving the forklift

Automation proved to be the strategic solution for turning complex logistics management into a competitive advantage, allowing Litokol to support production growth and international expansion without proportionally increasing warehouse footprint.

Claudio Ruozzi Operation Manager, Litokol

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