Refrigerated storage trends

Several cold store building projects illustrate trends currently observed in the refrigerated storage field: - by building in Harnes the largest cold store in France, frozen chip producer Mc Cain intends to house under one roof in April 2010 its stocks which were spread over 8 smaller local cold stores. This will lead to a considerable reduction in transport costs. Thanks to this unique high-density central store - 112 m long, 100 m large and 38 m high, with a total capacity of 68 000 pallets - and the use of the most advanced building techniques available, the costs for energy are expected to be 45% less than existing situations in conventional stores. At a temperature of -24°C, 9 cranes in 7 aisles and 2 main warehouse areas will automatically handle frozen food such as French fries. Automated roll and chain conveyors over 700 m long will link the two main areas and ensure fast flow of products between production, incoming goods, the storage warehouse, picking zones and distribution. - Inland Cold Storage has just opened a state-of-the-art warehouse facility in Stockton, California, US. This 12 000 m2 distribution centre with a capacity of 15 200 fully racked pallet positions includes the following: storage for both frozen and refrigerated foods, from -20 to +45°C, an enclosed refrigerated 18-m dock with 20 dock doors, RFID scanning and real time inventory tracking. - EastPack, one of the largest kiwi fruit pack houses in New Zealand was the first to implement the new RFID and indoor vehicle management supply chain solution from Peacock Bros. which continuously tracks the movement of all the fork lift vehicles and pallets within centimetres. This continuous monitoring allows full inventory reporting on where the stock is located, quantity, expiration date, as well as analysing the performance of indoor vehicles to ensure optimal efficiencies within the warehouse.