In the food and beverage industry—where speed, freshness, and hygiene standards are mission-critical—manual management of raw material warehouses is increasingly becoming a major bottleneck. As the number of SKUs continues to grow, the demand for fast, accurate storage and retrieval has never been more urgent.

Challenges in Raw Material Storage for the F&B Industry
Modern food manufacturing companies commonly face the following challenges:
- Large volumes of consumable materials such as plastic trays, labels, packaging, gloves, knives, and tools—often numbering in the thousands of SKUs.
- Physical distance between storage areas and production lines, leading to wasted time and inefficient internal transportation.
- Strict requirements for storage environments to prevent cross-contamination and ensure hygiene and stable temperature conditions.
- Difficulties in traceability and in reconciling production data with individual work orders.
Kardex Automated Warehouse Solution – Technology That Optimizes Operations
One of the most advanced solutions increasingly adopted by food manufacturers across Europe is the Kardex Shuttle automated storage system, integrated with modern warehouse management software. Specifically, the system includes:
- 7 Kardex Shuttle Vertical Lift Modules, with heights ranging from 8,250 mm to 10,950 mm, flexibly adapting to different warehouse spaces and storage requirements.
- Clearly defined warehouse functions:
- 04 Shuttles dedicated to packaging materials
- 02 Shuttles for ultra-fresh vegetable samples
- 01 Shuttle for technical purposes—tool and spare part storage
- Positive pressure technology to maintain a clean and stable environment at temperatures of 0–4°C or 4–7°C, minimizing cross-contamination risks and ensuring compliance with food safety standards.
- Integration with Kardex Power Pick System software, seamlessly connected to ERP and MES systems, enabling precise control and traceability down to each individual order

Achieved Results
- Faster internal material flow, significantly reducing picking time between the warehouse and production areas.
- Enhanced food safety through optimal storage conditions for raw materials and product samples.
- Strict quality control and full traceability, with all data recorded and monitored in real time.
- Optimized space utilization by maximizing vertical storage instead of expanding warehouse floor area.
Real-world video of the Kardex automated warehouse system for the food industry:
Explore More Warehouse Automation Solutions
- Tool storage optimization with Kardex VLM
- Pallet Flow solution – Smart FIFO pallet storage
- Autonomous Mobile Robots (AMR) – Optimized internal transportation
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ETEK Intralogistics – Optimized solutions for smart, safe, and efficient warehouses.