BARCELONA-BASED MECALUX is known in the United States as a supplier of bolted rack and shelving systems. But vice chairman Javier Carrillo says the company today is focused on three market trends: “Software, software, software.”

“We see the next 10 years as really a technology revolution for the warehouse,” he says.

Carrillo’s father founded Mecalux in Spain in 1966, and over the next three decades grew the company into a major supplier of rack and shelving in Europe and the Americas. Then in 2002 the company took a major step beyond its traditional business and launched a new division to produce automated materials handling systems.

Automated systems are now the fastest growing segment of Mecalux’s business.

Companies in the emerging economies of South America, Eastern Europe and Asia are automating their warehouses right from the beginning, says Carrillo.

As a consequence, companies in Western Europe and the United States that aren’t already automated will have to incorporate technology into their operations if they want to compete. And companies that are already automated, he says, need to update and renew their technology to maintain their competitive edge.

Mecalux is already helping European customers such as automaker Renault, tomato exporter Bonnysa and cosmetics maker Iberfrasa improve their operations with automated storage/retrieval systems, conveyor and software. And the company plans to expand its automation business to the U.S. market over the next decade.

In mid 2008, says Carrillo, Mecalux plans to exercise its option to buy Interlake Material Handling, a rack supplier based in Illinois. This purchase will significantly increase Mecalux’s U.S. market share, helping the company toward its goal of becoming one of the main players in the U.S. materials handling market.

“Our intention is to work hard to buy Interlake and to consolidate it and to work hard to put the company in a good growth path in the next five years,” says Carrillo. Once Interlake is fully consolidated under the Mecalux umbrella, he says, Mecalux will focus on adding automated equipment to its U.S. offerings.

When asked about the possibility of acquiring other U.S. companies, Carrillo said Mecalux is focused only on Interlake for now. “But,” he says, “we are open-minded to study every possibility.”