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INCORPORATING COLD CHAIN
In another chat I had with a highly professional packhouse manager recently , when he described the various temperature regimes that were handled , it became clear that the industry battles with the laws of nature . Condensation is practically the only ‘ issue ’ that you must avoid , yet hundreds of growers do just that in their postharvest processes by not sticking to simple natural laws : Cold fruit in hot air or warm fruit in cold air creates condensation .
Please note that nature never ever breaks her own laws . If you think you can change that fact , be my guest . You will fail . Each time . It is that simple . But , sometimes to understand simplicity in science , you must know how to understand it . To do that , it takes years of really going to the root cause analysis of issues at hand .
During my audits worldwide , I am nearly each time flabbergasted on the way most of the professional people design , implement and execute postharvest principles . There is a genuine lack of attention to detail or real understanding of what is at stake to handle fruit , vegetables and flowers . There is a difference in making something cold and cooling fruit , vegetables and flowers in the proper way .
It really looks like there is some form of ‘ copy and paste ’ culture going about in the industry : simply push Ctrl C and Ctrl V . Maybe on your computer it goes like that , but not in our industry . Basic natural principles of nature ’ s law are simply ignored .
There are so many new and interesting products and developments at hand and developed by serious worldwide players , but they simply do not get implemented . As the harvest season approaches , once again we are asked to make many quotes to help alleviate some of the problems that occur after harvest . Some progressive farmers do implement our technologies and philosophies with great success . But some rather ignored the good advice and will again do exactly what they were doing for all these years . And guess what , the problems will be the same again …
Einstein said , “ Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again but expecting different results .” That is where I also do not understand the industry . Often a solution that can bring you big results ‘ only ’ costs half of the value of a full fruit container . Still , some ‘ okes ’ rather take the same risks repeatedly . You grow the best possible product on the vine , orchard or field and invest huge amounts of money to get that top-quality product eventually produced and then …
The German was right : “ I now realise that for all these years we really did not put enough emphasis on correct postharvest procedures after harvest .”
That is why one must ruffle feathers , simply hoping that the industry will take this subject seriously . That is not rubbing salt into any wound . In fact , using salt can be beneficial to heal wounds as well . If you wait for a miracle , we cannot make wine out of water , but we can turn wine back into normal water .
And that is a subtle but very important difference . Forget about rubbing salt into wounds , act now , before it is too late . CLA
The Smart and Connected Factory
By Phil Lewis , senior vice president of Solution Consulting , International , Infor
Automation is complex – especially in the manufacturing industry . Will the automation trend continue to accelerate ?
The adoption of automation is one of the unexpected game-changers that the Covid-19 pandemic has accelerated in manufacturing . The impact is nowhere more robust than on the shop floor .
Manufacturers have placed their factories in less-developed countries with low labour costs . They employed , and are still stuck with , a geographic footprint for production that was driven by labour arbitrage around the globe , rather than by factors such as proximity to customers or ecological considerations . In fact , supply chains expanded with goods being produced farther and farther from the customers who buy them . But the pandemic , and several other factors , changed all that . With the amount of disruption in the past two years , happening at an accelerating pace , the only constant now is change . The need to reduce delays and transport costs , as well as the pursuit of more sustainable production have led organisations to adjust their manufacturing footprints .
What does that mean ? Since the 1980s , the global manufacturing business model has been centred around locating physical factories in countries where labour costs were cheap . That made sense when global supply chains and just in time
26 www . coldlinkafrica . co . za COLD LINK AFRICA • March / April 2023