Bem Brasil, the country’s leading producer of pre-fried frozen potato chips, has significantly expanded its logistics infrastructure with the construction of two fully automated clad-rack warehouses at its Perdizes facility in Minas Gerais.
Built in partnership with Mecalux, the new installations are designed to handle the storage and distribution of up to 500,000 tonnes of frozen food annually.
The state-of-the-art facilities are outfitted with Mecalux’s Automated Pallet Shuttle system, integrated with a stacker crane and managed by the Easy WMS warehouse management system. This combination delivers a high degree of automation and precision, enabling Bem Brasil to maintain tight control over its inventory while streamlining operations from inbound goods to final dispatch.
“In a country of 211 million people, Bem Brasil covers up to 55% of the national demand for products like smiley chips (carinhas) and onion rings, among other specialities. The company also exports to South America, Taiwan, Singapore, the US and Mexico, where it holds a commercial partnership with Walmart,” said Célio Zero, Operations Manager. “Mecalux’s solutions give us complete control over our stored goods. That translates into faster, safer and more cost-effective logistics operations.”
The new warehouses offer a combined total of 66,000 pallet positions and operate at a consistent temperature of -25 °C. Within these cold environments, the Automated Pallet Shuttle system autonomously inserts and retrieves pallets, while a network of conveyors links the storage and production zones. This seamless connectivity ensures a continuous flow of materials throughout the facility, from raw inputs to finished products. The absence of lighting in operational areas—made possible by the fully automated setup—also contributes to greater energy efficiency.
In addition to supporting operational scale, automation has fueled tangible growth for Bem Brasil, enabling a 10% increase in production and a 30% rise in revenue over the past year.
The Easy WMS platform plays a critical role in maintaining product quality and traceability. By overseeing all warehouse processes in real time—ranging from goods reception to order dispatch—it enforces rigorous inventory management. The system applies a FEFO (first-expired, first-out) methodology to ensure that products with the earliest expiration dates are prioritized for shipment. This approach not only enhances customer satisfaction but also helps minimize food waste by optimizing inventory turnover.
Through its investment in Mecalux technology, Bem Brasil has positioned itself to meet rising domestic and international demand while delivering improved operational performance and long-term sustainability.
Find out more at: https://www.bembrasil.ind.br