Quadrifoglio Group case study: multi-warehouse management and logistics flow optimization

Quadrifoglio Group is an Italian company that has been designing and manufacturing workspaces and professional environments for over 30 years. Founded as an office furniture manufacturer, the company has evolved to offer complete turnkey solutions, from design through to installation.

This strong growth has also brought greater logistics complexity: thousands of items, multiple sites and warehouses to coordinate, together with the commitment to maintaining a high level of customer service.

To support this growth, Quadrifoglio chose Stesi as a partner for a digitalization journey involving three projects: the modernization of finished goods warehouse management at the Mansuè site, the introduction of an automated warehouse for materials used in furniture assembly and installation, and the implementation of a centralized warehouse at the Premariacco site.

The chosen solution is silwa, Stesi’s WMS platform, which enables Quadrifoglio to coordinate activities across its different warehouses and make daily operations simpler and more traceable.

“Our company has grown steadily over time and the number of items we handle has become so large that keeping track of them had become extremely difficult. We needed software that could help us.” ⁓ Manuel Rizzo, Operations Manager at Quadrifoglio

Initial challenges: more items, more warehouses, more complexity

Quadrifoglio Group’s growth had brought the number of managed items to several tens of thousands, making it increasingly difficult to maintain accurate traceability of materials and their movements.

Finding products in the warehouse depended largely on the operators’ experience. For a new warehouse operator to become fully independent, 3–4 months of on-the-job training with a senior colleague were previously required.

Managing multiple sites and warehouses was another challenge. Quadrifoglio needed to coordinate transfers between the main warehouse and secondary warehouses, ensuring that materials arrived where they were needed in time for shipping or production.

Another issue involved warehouse errors. Without a system capable of guiding and verifying operations, an error could only be identified during picking, when the product was already being prepared for the customer and correcting the issue became much more difficult.

The solution: WMS for multi-warehouse management

Stesi worked alongside Quadrifoglio Group from the analysis phase, collaborating with the company’s team to define requirements and workflows and develop a solution tailored to its organization. Warehouse management was centralized through silwa, enabling Quadrifoglio to coordinate activities across different warehouses and manage locations, movements, picking and transfers in a more structured way. The project involved several processes and technologies:

• management of the finished goods warehouse;
• multi-warehouse management and transfers between sites and warehouses;
• integration with the automated mini-load warehouse;
• guided picking operations;
• automatic printing of package labels directly during warehouse operations;
• a simplified interface for order receiving;
• use of mobile terminals and Bluetooth printers;
• the ability to operate at sites with a simpler network infrastructure;
• centralized flow management while maintaining the specific requirements of each site.

Particular attention was paid to ease of use. silwa guides operators through their different activities and can be used on Android and Windows devices, reducing reliance on individual knowledge of the warehouse.

“silwa has a very good user experience: it adapts to any device, whether Android or Windows. And Stesi’s support is extremely responsive and always provides immediate assistance.” ⁓ Daniele Malutta, IT Manager at Quadrifoglio

Quadrifoglio’s warehouse operators now have a system that guides them through each step of their activities, making material management significantly more reliable and improving the day-to-day warehouse experience.

Results: greater operator autonomy and fewer errors

The implementation of the WMS has enabled Quadrifoglio Group to manage tens of thousands of items while keeping the number of operators virtually unchanged, while also reducing the number of hours required for warehouse activities.

One of the most significant results has been the increased autonomy of warehouse staff: “A warehouse operator previously needed to spend at least 3 or 4 months working alongside a senior colleague to become independent and able to find materials in the warehouse. Today, with the WMS, a new warehouse operator can start handling picking and shipping independently after just 2–3 days. Within one week, they are already fully operational and able to work independently.” highlights Dr. Manuel Rizzo, Operations Manager at Quadrifoglio.

Inventory errors have also been reduced to near-zero levels. Greater traceability makes it possible to identify potential discrepancies during the process, rather than discovering them only during picking or when the product reaches the customer. In this way, Quadrifoglio Group is taking care not only of its employees, but also of the service it provides to customers, improving the speed, accuracy and reliability of its operations.