CCS , part of the Oceana Group has been , like their slogan suggests , keeping it cool for nearly fifty years . With facilities across South Africa and Namibia , the company offers over 112 000 tons of temperature controlled storage and handling capacity , with current expansion underway in the Western Cape .

The company ’ s various sites can store products anywhere from ambient temperatures to -600 ° C , and so caters to a wide scope of perishable products in the cold chain . Services include refrigerated pallet capacity in cold storage , fruit handling , blast freezing and transportation .

The company is constantly investing in their staff and facilities to offer the most efficient solutions . A Jungheinrich very narrow aisle ( VNA ) turret truck is the latest addition to the equipment fleet . It is the first truck of this type supplied by Jungheinrich in Africa , and is further one of only 50 in the world – boasting the latest materials handling technology .

The VNA turret truck was delivered to the CCS branch in Gauteng ( City Deep ) where training was completed in October this year . The City Deep and Midrand facilities are primarily used to store frozen products in South Africa . The decision to make the investment aligns with the company ’ s new strategy and drive to improving overall efficiency while ensuring safety and operator comfort .

“ The company thus decided to invest in new equipment with better technology that is safer and offers quicker storage and picking ,” says Nico Els , operations manager at CCS .

The VNA turret truck has an ergonomic design and includes exceptional comfort considering the environment and long hours the equipment will be in use daily . This includes cushioned seating with arm rests , lumbar support , dual heaters , an isolated cabin with fresh air and dust filters – all geared around the operator being well set up to do their job .

“ Jungheinrich is in fact one of the largest global suppliers to the warehouse and distribution sectors and this already gives us an advantage

in the materials handling space . This particular turret truck offers the latest technology and was custom-made for CCS according to certain criteria and specifications . This is also how we prefer to establish a partnership with our clients and don ’ t just offer standard units off the floor because every client has specific operational needs - the solution should therefore meet and exceed customer requirements . This includes small details such as site evaluations to ensure the equipment is the right fit , turning circle requirements and the nature of the pallet being handled ,” says Michael Botoulas , product specialist at Jungheinrich .

When working in the aisle , the VNA turret truck runs on a guidance system that is embedded in the floor – sunken about 10mm and operating via various RFID tags . As an inductive or wire guidance system , what this means is that once the machine is on guidance it operates in the most narrow aisle without any concerns of hitting the racking . Once the truck is locked onto the guidance system , the unit is able to operate at full speed in both forward

and backward directions , lifting to maximum height with unrestricted speed and efficiency .

One other very important technology feature of the new equipment is that the cab operates at the same height of put-away and retrieval , and because CCS aims to maximise their storage footprint , they have high racks in their freezers and the new equipment can easily handle the 13 metre requirement . This particular feature and the minimised mast-sway greatly reduce the overall pallet retrieval and put away times . The operator is always based at the optimal level eliminating distance perception errors . The operator also does not need to wait for the mast to stabilise before continuing to work .

“ This is but one of the small ways we will continue to create benefits for our clients and improve our efficiency and therefore ensuring our continual advantage ,” concludes Els .

CCS and Jungheinrich will continue discussions around rolling out solutions for their other operations and future expansions to improve their efficiency . CLA