This year represents the third anniversary of the Exclusive Distributorship for the Sub-Saharan African region , owned by Logistics Systems Engineering ( LSE ) on behalf of Norwegian company Gonvarri Material Handling ( GMH ).
INCORPORATING COLD CHAIN
FEATURE
LSE celebrates 3rd anniversary with Gonvarri Materials Handling with exponential growth By Eamonn Ryan
This year represents the third anniversary of the Exclusive Distributorship for the Sub-Saharan African region , owned by Logistics Systems Engineering ( LSE ) on behalf of Norwegian company Gonvarri Material Handling ( GMH ).
During that time the turnover has grown “ exponentially ” says Fred Albrecht – chief executive officer of LSE . He quantifies that growth as having been 100 % year-on-year over the period since the inception of this agreement . The Gonvarri range includes complete Storage Equipment Solutions in steel pallet racking and shelving systems , as well as storage machines ( VLMs ), semi-automated and automated storage systems .
At the moment , the Cape Town and Sub-Saharan cross border African market is larger than Gauteng , as the former is the centre of the Cold Chain Sector , as well as being a harbour city . “ Our South African business volume used to be 70 % Gauteng , 20 % Durban and 10 % Cape Town – but that has now reversed . Durban has serious issues with its port , as well as past violence and flooding . The result is that South Africa is split where 60 % of our business is now occurring in Cape Town , 30 % in Gauteng and 10 % Durban . On top of that about 40 % of our business volume is in Sub-Saharan Africa and although very risky for those unfamiliar to these conditions , a great frontier for LSE .” Underlying this trend , says Albrecht , has been a move by Cape Farmers to consolidate their distribution in the metropolitan areas closer to the harbour , rather than small-scale on their own farms . “ They look to outsource some of their distribution activities , to those with the expertise and infrastructure – hence we don ’ t just supply the racking , but the entire solution is from LSE : from Product Flow , Supply Chain Design and complete Warehouse Designs .
Normally , the architect comes afterwards and designs the building around our engineering drawings of the solution that was conceptualised and then engineered . It is always an inside-out approach , and this does not lend itself to just selling a rack .” If a racking supplier only supplies the rack , it remains a commodity sold on price . As a solution , e . g . a Steri , or Pull-Down Chamber Solution , Complex Semi- or Fully Automated Storage Solution , or even End-Of-Line Automation , we aim to gain the lowest OPEX , with a tangible and measurable ROI , remaining conscious why we partnered with the world ’ s leading refrigeration and energy engineers ; which then becomes a bespoke solution for the cold chain supply customers .
Even during Covid , LSE experienced growth and moved to bigger office space , with a 250 % footprint increase in 2021 , and a larger than ever before warehouse , of which about a third is set aside to be a showroom of our new products , innovations and local and international R & D . It includes semi- and fully automated mobile racking and shelving among
LSE quantifies its growth as having been 100 % year-on-year over the period since the inception of the agreement .
All photos by : Logistics Systems Engineering
COLD LINK AFRICA • May 2023 www . coldlinkafrica . co . za 19