POLTRONA FRAU IMPROVES ITS LOGISTICS WITH VERTICAL LIFT MODULES AND PALLET RACKING

Poltrona Frau is a leader in high-end made in Italy furniture and one of the symbols of Italian excellence throughout the world. Established in 1912, the brand is today part of the Haworth group, the leading American office furniture holding company, and is present in over 100 countries worldwide. Now as in the past, the brand stands out for its know-how, understood as intelligent manual processes and manufacturing skills, all of which is dedicated to the company’s material of choice: leather. The driving force is the Tolentino facilities in the Marche region, a 40,000 square meter factory that preserves and protects the knowledge and expertise which are well rooted in its territory. The wide range of products made in this factory are delivered to destinations worldwide.

Poltrona Frau currently manages around 23,000 different incoming raw material codes, just for the residential division. Each year the company introduces several new collections and the presented lines evolve continuously: from upholstered items, such as armchairs and sofas, to furniture, and even lamps and rugs. Thus, the company's needs are varied and ever changing. In this context, the Ferretto Group has been the ideal partner, thanks to the wide range of solutions it can create, and has ensured Poltrona Frau the dynamism necessary for efficient warehouse management.

The project was not limited to the simple supply of the storage system. With the evolution of the market, Poltrona Frau has in fact increased the number of products with coverings other than leather, such as fabric upholstery. This has created new logistical needs for the furniture maker. After careful analysis of the situation, carried out in agreement with the customer, the Ferretto Group proposed the most effective solution: the Vertimag EF. This automatic vertical storage system ensures very short picking times while at the same time correctly preserving and respecting the characteristics of the stored materials. One vertical storage system was installed in the “fabrics” department and is dedicated to the storage of accessories for sofas and armchairs. The second storage system was positioned in the “cars” department and is used for the storage of the leather cuts used for automotive interiors. In each tray, the material is divided by reference car brand and model, which results in better product management and increased productivity. The uniqueness of this solution lies in that the entire tray can be extracted from the system in order to easily move it to other areas of the department or warehouse. The supply included the installation of new shelves for leather, in order to facilitate the transition from leather wrapped in cores and stored on pallets to the storage of leather left open on pallets specially built to contain it, thereby preventing any damage. The design analysis aimed at the optimization of the system with respect to both the size of the goods to be stored and the handling of the delicate material that has made Poltrona Frau known worldwide: leather.

“Undoubtedly - affirms Daniele Pelliccioni, director of the Tolentino plant - the Ferretto Group project gives us the guarantee of a high-quality product, always one step ahead of the current needs, so that it keeps confirming its validity over time. But it's not just about the system itself: their continuous presence here helps us in all the study and planning processes. For a well-established company with a very highly specialized workforce like ours, the introduction of a solution like the Vertimag EF marked an important step for its ability to respond effectively to complex logistical needs and was immediately well received by our workers for its ease of use".