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Intralogistics 4.0 EPC General Contractor

Forel

Electrical materials distribution · Fasano (BR) · Puglia

From a manual warehouse with 14,000 SKUs to a fully automated intralogistics 4.0 facility — delivered turnkey by Key4 as EPC General Contractor.

9,000
AutoStore bins
storage capacity
9
autonomous robots
operating 24/7
1,500
orders / day
guaranteed throughput
11,000
sq m total
3,000 new + 8,000 existing

The client

Forel S.r.l. is a wholesale and retail distributor of electrical materials, lighting, industrial automation, HVAC systems and renewable energy, founded in 1979 in Fasano (BR), Puglia.

A member of the national Fegime Italia network, Forel serves installers, designers and industrial and commercial companies through 4 trade counters and a regional agent network. With over 40 years of activity and an assortment of approximately 14,000 SKUs, Forel needed to radically modernise its logistics infrastructure to support growth without compromising service quality.

The challenge

14,000 SKUs managed manually
Electrical materials, lighting, cable reels: a huge assortment handled with traditional processes. Long picking times and human error led to delays and returns.
Delayed shipments, no traceability
Without automation it was impossible to guarantee on-time order delivery or track goods in real time — from receipt to customer delivery.
Saturated space and unoptimised flows
The 8,000 sq m logistics area was at capacity. Flows between receiving, storage and dispatch were disorganised, with recurring bottlenecks blocking operational throughput.

The Key4 solution

Key4 took on the role of EPC General Contractor (Engineering, Procurement, Construction), coordinating six specialist partners and delivering the entire transformation turnkey.

01
Analysis and layout redesign
Study of 2021 historical data and full redesign of the facility into 8 functional zones: receiving, quality control, automated storage, picking, consolidation, dispatch, returns and cable reel area.
New 3,000 sq m extension + reorganisation of existing 8,000 sq m = 11,000 sq m total
02
AutoStore — robotic storage
9,000 bins, 9 autonomous robots and 2 ergonomic picking stations. The grid handles up to 1,500 orders/day with unit-level traceability for every item.
Zero picking errors · guaranteed throughput
03
Stacker cranes for pallets and reels
Vertical automated storage systems for pallets and cable reels — bulky, heavy materials requiring precise and rapid vertical handling, integrated into the new warehouse flow.
Integrated into the new warehouse flow
04
AGVs + automatic cable reel unwinder
Autonomous guided vehicles for inter-building transport between the original 8,000 sq m warehouse and the new 3,000 sq m extension. Automatic unwinder for cut-to-length cable orders.
Continuous flow, zero manual handling

The project in action

Forel automated warehouse

AutoStore robots and carriers operating in the new intralogistics facility

Forel case study presentation

Key4 presents the Forel project: intralogistics 4.0 with AutoStore, AGVs and automatic cable unwinder

Results

9,000
AutoStore bins
storage capacity
9
autonomous robots
operating 24/7
1,500
orders / day
guaranteed throughput
11,000
sq m total
3,000 new + 8,000 existing
8
functional zones
optimised layout
6
partners coordinated
EPC consortium

Project consortium

AutoStore / Automha
Robotic storage system
Fives Intralogistics
AutoStore integration
Kad3
Mechanical engineering
WPS
WMS software
InResLab
Research and optimisation
Scaffsystem
Automated racking

Technologies & systems

AutoStore GridStacker CranesInter-building AGVsAutomatic cable unwinderIntegrated WMSDouble-depth automated racking

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