THE COMPANY

Conad Nord Ovest is one of the ve cooperatives that make up the Conad Consortium, a leader in Italian food distribution. The cooperative operates in Valle d’Aosta, Piedmont, Liguria, the Province of Mantova, Emilia, Tuscany, Lazio, and Sardinia, employing over 18,000 people and managing 620 stores. With a turnover exceeding 5 billion euros and 371 entrepreneurial members, Conad Nord Ovest is among the largest companies in in-dependent distribution in Italy.

THE SOLUTION AND RESULTS 

System Logistics designed and implemented the new automatic picking system for fruits and vegetables, inaugurated at the Montopoli Logistics Hub. This facility is a novelty for the organized large-scale retail sector, as it utilizes a fully automated system for fruit and vegetable picking for the rst time in Italy. The facility covers an area of 6,000 square meters and employs state-of-the-art robots for the ventilation, preparation, and preservation of produce. The core of the project is SortMate, one of the latest technologies developed by System Logistics, particularly effective for large-scale distribution and the management of fresh products. This solution autonomously manages the entire inbound and outbound sorting process of fruits and vegetables, from the arrival of goods to distribution at various destinations, improving accuracy and timeliness of handling. Utilizing anthropomorphic robots with integrated vision and automated guided vehicles (AGVs), SortMate ensures efcient and safe handling of pallets, with a capacity to manage up to 43,000 crates per day and the ability to assemble pallets for 240 stores, making the process much faster and more efcient compared to traditional methods.