Before starting: what you need and how long it takes
The floor plan with dimensions and clear height, the product list with its load unit, the movements of a representative period and the headcount with its shifts. If you are missing one, we put it together with you: it is part of the initial work. Integration with the management system you already use is evaluated during the survey.
3 to 4 months to commissioning, and only for automation. For ordering, equipping and mechanizing, the timeline depends on the floor area and the number of storage locations: we give it to you closed after the survey, not before.
Not from the outset. Execution is planned by stages and by sector so it can coexist with the operation, and the coexistence schedule is agreed before starting. If the chosen system requires a shutdown window, that is stated in the proposal with its duration: it is not discovered during assembly.
Not necessarily: first we measure the real capacity of the building you already have. A high-density system can take storage density up to 3x the current level and free up to 66% of the occupied floor area, depending on the clear height and the configuration.
Money: what it costs, what comes back and what support exists
We do not publish it, and it is worth distrusting anyone who gives a number over the phone. Cost depends on the scope, the load unit and the volume of movements, not on square meters. The evaluation returns an order of magnitude based on the real data of your operation.
Between 18 and 36 months, with the assumptions declared. What moves that range are the assumptions: what a square meter is worth where your warehouse is, what labor cost is reassigned and how many shifts the operation sustains. Without those three declared, the number means nothing.
In Argentina, yes. The RIMI regime amortizes in two equal annual installments and requires an SME certificate. The general VAT refund for capital goods has no minimum amount. And Kit 4.0 co-finances part of the net value, with the purchasing SME as beneficiary. The tax treatment is defined by your accountant.
Your building and your operation
There is no minimum height. Usable clear height is measured during the survey against the structure, the suspended installations and the system being evaluated. Automated pallet systems work in a band from 7 to 40 meters of storage height, with different ranges per system. If a value does not work, the alternative is a different configuration or a different system.
It is measured before installing. Flatness tolerance and permissible load are set by the manufacturer of the equipment chosen and verified by a licensed professional: they are not STOKA's criteria and they are not negotiated. If the value does not work, the options are localized repair, a different load distribution or a different system.
Yes, and you enter at the first step: layout, storage locations, slotting, processes, standardization and training, without buying equipment. There is no minimum size and no square-meter floor for working with STOKA. A small, well-organized warehouse performs better than a large one without defined locations.
where a project starts, depending on the problem you have today
Yes, within the range each system declares: stacker cranes operate down to −30 °C and pallet shuttle systems down to −25 °C. Beyond solving storage, they keep staff out of the chamber, which is where cold hits hardest in absenteeism and labor cost.
Working with STOKA
We tell you, with the reason. And we explain what would have to change for it to become worthwhile: which figure to measure again, which business decision unblocks it, which earlier step to take first. In many cases the improvement comes earlier, in organizing what you already have.
From the base in Mendoza, Argentina, with projects across Latin America. The evaluation is done remotely with data from your operation, in the same language and in nearby time zones, and we travel when the project justifies it. Outside Mendoza there is no office and no resident team.
Yes: there are four steps — organize, equip, mechanize and automate — and you enter at whichever one the budget allows. Each stage is designed with the next one in mind, subject to system compatibility, and engineering validates that on the project. Not everything installed today accepts robots tomorrow.
We do not publish our own cases yet: no client has authorized publication of theirs. The references visible on the site belong to the manufacturer we work with and are labeled as such. When there is a STOKA case, it will be published with the baseline, the period and the scope in plain sight.
Where the figures on this page come from
- Amortization in two equal annual installments under RIMI: RG Conjunta ARCA 5849/2026. Requires an SME certificate (certificado MiPyME).
- General VAT refund for capital goods, with no minimum amount: Ley 23.349, Argentina's VAT law, and RG AFIP 5298/2022.
- Kit 4.0, co-financing of part of the net value: Resolución 8/2026. The beneficiary is the purchasing SME.
- All three regimes are Argentine. For other countries, tax treatment is defined by local regulation and your tax adviser.
If your question is not here
Write to us anyway. The answer for a specific operation comes from its data, not from a general page: we reply within 24 business hours saying whether there is anything to evaluate, what is missing and what the next step would be.
Tell us about your operation