New automated cheese warehouse Brazzale.

For the efficient and sustainable ripening and treatment of the Italian cheese Gran Moravia, we supplied to Brazzale a fully automated solution for the reception, treatment, sorting and delivery of these cheeses.

At the foot of the mountains in the Italian village Cogollo del Cengio you will find the new cheese warehouse of Brazzale, the oldest dairy company in Italy. Brazzale invested in this warehouse to store, age and handle their cheeses in a more sustainable way. This fully automated warehouse can store up to 250.000 Gran Moravia cheeses, a total of about 10 million kg! These hard cheeses are aged for a minimum of 12 months, after which they are ready for sale.

Handling of Gran Moravia cheeses.

Brazalle devotes great attention to sustainability in the production of Gran Moravia and this is also reflected in the design of the new warehouse for the ripening and treatment of Gran Moravia. For example, the location in the valley was chosen because of its optimal climate and good air quality for storing cheese, and solar panels on the roof of the warehouse provide the necessary energy supply.

In addition, together with the Italian supplier Dalmine Logistic Solutions, a fully automatic system for the reception, treatment, sorting and delivery of the cheeses has been realised in the warehouse. This allows Brazzale to age more cheese in a smaller space and significantly reduces energy consumption. We supplied two different installations for various functionalities.

Cheese reception, selection and delivery
The first installation has a wide range of functionalities. The young cheeses are loaded onto boxes after arrival, and are then automatically transported to the storage area by AGVs and transport systems. This installation is also used for quality control and sorting of the cheeses, and for the delivery of the cheeses, whereby the cheeses are checked with vision technology and are weighed.

Cheese treatment
We also supplied a treatment line for the regular treatment of the cheeses. Here the cheeses are turned and brushed all around and the shelves are turned and cleaned. 

The lines we supplied for the automatic storage, sorting and treatment of Gran Moravia cheeses in Brazzale's new warehouse.

Total automation 
The cheese storage and handling are characterised by full automation and optimum use of the available volume, resulting in a high cheese density. By minimising the space required for logistical movements, there is more room available for cheese ripening! 

The cheeses and shelves are handled by FANUC robots. AGVs are used for the automatic transport of the boxes to and from both lines and in the storage area this is done by shuttles moving on rails. The cheese remains easily accessible despite this automation, because the boxes can automatically be taken out of storage on demand.

Because of the extensive automation, no manual labour is required other than loading and unloading the cheese between the trucks and the lines. This is quite an improvement compared to how it was done before!

Click here for more information about Brazzale and click here for more information about Gran Moravia.

// P. Mulder - Synergy Food  //