Technology/IT ¦ IDM
Intralogistics at Brazzale rely on automated
driverless transport vehicles (Photo: Brazzale)
Roberto Brazzale (left) explains the processes in
the new ripening warehouse to Burkhard Endemann,
B&L MedienGesellschaft (Photo: Brazzale)
The ripening warehouse holds 250,000 loaves and
has an extremely compact design (Photo: Brazzale)
March/April 2022 ¦ international-dairy.com · 27
weighed. This data is merged with that from production to allow
constant monitoring of the quality and to trace the path of the
cheese all the way to the milk silo and to the farmer.
Gran Moravia is produced using the grana cheese technology
at the Czech Brazzale plant in Litovel. Brazzale took the step of
relocating production from Italy in 2003. Roberto Brazzale explains:
"Italy does not have enough agricultural land to feed its
inhabitants. Over the years, Made in Italy has become an ideology
that unilaterally serves the interests of the agricultural industry.
For us as entrepreneurs, however, it is imperative to maintain the
competitiveness and best quality of our products, for which we
can use the opportunities of globalisation." However, the value
chain is shared equally by the Czech Republic and Italy: The headquarters,
marketing, research and development departments, as
well as ripening, packaging and logistics remain in the beautiful
Mediterranean country.
The microclimate
The new warehouse was put into operation in June 2021 and will
now gradually be fully operative until spring 2022. In parallel, the
processes are being optimised, be it the microclimate that surrounds
the cheeses (humidity, temperature, air circulation) or the
operation of the robotic systems. Special attention is paid to how
the cheeses react to the microclimate. Two Elten robots take care
of storage and retrieval as well as cheese care (turning, brushing).
Of course, all the cheeses pass through a metal detector during
storage.
The new warehouse is located at the mouth of the Valdastico
Valley, at the foot of the Asiago plateau, about 300 metres above
sea level, in a position that ensures optimal ventilation and pure
air coming from the surrounding mountains, which is particularly
essential for prolonged ageing. Roberto Brazzale: "The outside air
is in fact the pure and dry air of the Valdastico Valley, milder in
winter and cooler in summer thanks to the mountain breeze." The
indoor air in the maturing rooms is renewed 12 times a day. The
air is transported particularly gently through the air ducts, which
measure a total of 140 km, yet the microclimate across the cheese
stacks is characterised by homogeneity. Maximum possible stabilisation
of temperature and humidity, which controls the natural
and complex ripening process of the cheese, as well as extreme
precision of all loading, unloading, brushing and turning processes,
which are controlled by a central computer system, are the
main characteristics of the new warehouse.
With a total of 10,000 tons of cheese, the new warehouse
is the largest fully automated system for this type of cheese in
the world. The Gran Moravia cheeses are matured for nine to
24 months. Incidentally, the warehouse does not need any storage
aisles at all, resulting in a space saving of 50% compared to
conventional warehouse types and there is no need to heat the
ripening warehouse as cheeses are positioned close to each other
maintaining temperature easily.
Brazzale's new warehouse is completely self-sufficient in energy,
as it is powered by 2,000 m² of solar panels. Their output is 470 kWh.
/international-dairy.com
