Building an open control system for automated storage.
rinf.tech builds the software that runs industrial machines. The Kardex Vertical Lift Module, a compact automated-storage system, is one proof. rinf.tech built its open control system, which lets customers connect the machine to their systems using standard industrial protocols, with no vendor lock-in.
Compact automated-storage machines usually share one constraint. To save floor space, they ship with a closed control interface: a single fixed way to integrate, and one operator at a time. Kardex wanted a Vertical Lift Module (VLM) without that trade-off.
rinf.tech built the machine’s software, from the open control interface (called ILA) to the backend architecture, both on standard industrial protocols, and delivered it in three stages, each tested on real hardware before the next began.
The project won Software Outsourcing Project of the Year at the 2025 ANIS Awards, run by Romania’s software and services industry association. Five years on, Kardex builds on the same platform rinf.tech delivered.
Basic, Standard, Optional. Each tested on real hardware before the next began.
ANIS Project of the Year. Software Outsourcing Project of the Year. rinf.tech’s second win in the category in three years.
The same platform. After trying other ways forward, Kardex keeps building on the platform rinf.tech delivered.
The problem with a closed control interface
Warehouses increasingly need automated storage that fits a smaller footprint than classic shelving and racking, without giving up throughput or flexibility. Most vertical lift systems get there by pairing the mechanical design with a closed, single-path control interface: a fixed integration route, used by one operator at a time. That is easy to build against, and hard to live with when a customer’s systems or operating model don’t fit the one path the vendor chose.
Kardex and rinf.tech set out to build a VLM that didn’t force that trade-off. Four requirements defined it.
What rinf.tech built, and the hardware problem it solved along the way
rinf.tech built the VLM’s control hardware to speak the same protocols already standard on factory floors — OPC/UA, CANOpen and MQTT — through a B&R programmable logic controller. That is what lets the machine plug into equipment and systems Kardex’s customers run, instead of requiring a closed, proprietary system.
Operators work through a web application built with TypeScript, Angular and Akka. It stays in step with the machine over WAMP, a real-time messaging protocol, so the screen reflects what the machine is doing as it happens. Behind that interface, the backend runs on C#/.NET, organised around two established design patterns — CQRS and DDD — that keep a system this complex manageable as it grows.
The system runs in Docker containers and deploys through standard automation tools: Kubernetes, Helm, Kustomize and Terraform. Builds and releases run through Bamboo and Azure DevOps.
The hardware problem
About a year in, the CPU first chosen for the control hardware proved too slow. It couldn’t handle the real-time coordination needed for several people to use the machine at once. With Kardex, rinf.tech redesigned the hardware and reworked the software to match. Both sides treated it as a change in scope.
What it means on the floor
An operator can stand back with a laptop. The connection happens automatically, the machine coordinates with other connected systems, and no proprietary console has to be wired in. The finished system runs at Kardex’s different customers, as the fourth requirement asked: some sites run it fully automated, others keep a manual mode.
# 01 — Basic VLM functionality
The machine’s core lift and storage functions, validated on real hardware before the next phase began.
# 02 — Standard VLM functionality
The standard feature set on top of the validated Phase 1 base. Completed within the engagement’s first year, tested to the same real-hardware standard.
# 03 — Optional VLM features
The ILA control interface and multi-side access, the engagement’s two central features. This phase ran past its original scope after the hardware redesign, until the core product shipped in 2026.
What the open architecture delivered
An open interface.
A customer connects the VLM to their systems over standard protocols — OPC/UA, CANOpen, MQTT — with no proprietary console to wire in. The route into the machine is the customer’s, not the vendor’s.
Multi-side access, with collision avoidance.
Two people can work the same machine from different sides at the same time, and the system keeps them from colliding automatically. rinf.tech’s engineering team describes this as rare in the category; it is not benchmarked against a named competing product.
Independent recognition followed. The VLM software was named ANIS Software Outsourcing Project of the Year 2025, a finalist in 2024. It is rinf.tech’s second win in this category in three years. In the 2025 edition, ANIS reports 85 entries from 48 companies, of which 27 proposals from 18 organisations reached the final round.
This is excellent news, and we are also proud to have driven this ambitious project forward together with you. I believe that something great has been created. This award, the feedback from numerous trade fairs, and, of course, the feedback from the market reinforce and emphasize this feeling.— Florian Schrot, Project Manager Product Development, Technology, Kardex
- Industry
- Intralogistics & automated storage
- Client
- Kardex — SIX Swiss Exchange-listed since 1989, ~2,500 employees
- Engagement type
- Embedded software & controls development
- Scope
- VLM remote-control interface (ILA) + machine software
- Engagement since
- 2021, ongoing
- Status
- Core VLM product live (2026)