FEATURE
INCORPORATING COLD CHAIN
Serco
manufacturers have the technical skills and
understanding but in some instances the
customer base needs to be more aware of
the technical and servicing requirements of
the equipment they are using.
“Transport refrigeration units are seriously
stressed pieces of equipment – if a truck
does 10 000km a month, it could be said
the fridge does 30 000km. Some fridges run
up to 24 hours a day whereas the vehicles
may only run for eight. The fridge as
mechanical equipment takes a lot of strain
which customers need to be aware of,”
says Solomon.
The investment in a refrigerated vehicle
is at least a five-year commitment, so
customers are generally advised to think
ahead. That being said, and although the
supplier’s role is to ensure that the client
gets the correct guidance, every client has
a different strategy and there are other
common business-wide challenges the
transport industry sees as well.
The tough economy means that
companies are more focused on keeping
costs contained and one needs to
separate the cheapest upfront cost vs the
best lifecycle cost. It is a common trend
A thermally-efficient trailer supplied by Serco.
that customers fall into the trap of just going
for the cheapest truck and body, but the
thermal performance, durability and fuel
consumption is poor, and the vehicle ends
up requiring continual maintenance. In
these circumstances, customers should
consider quality and durability that affords
peace of mind.
“From a body-building perspective,
in the past, one insulated body against
another has been perceived as the
same and hence it hasn’t been easy for
customers to differentiate; and if they
do go to the trouble of doing pull down
tests, they find significant variances. We
have done our own informal testing and
have discovered up to 50% differences
in the time it takes to get to temperature
and then to maintain temperature, but
this doesn’t always seem to be something
that customers are taking into account
when buying. This has a direct impact
on your perishable goods, especially
when you have multiple deliveries,” says
Holcroft, adding “Which is why we have
invested in a state-of-the-art PU foam
injection process for manufacturing our
insulated panels.”
Maintaining temperature is one of the
biggest challenges for the industry so
having a vehicle body that performs
optimally definitely makes a significant
difference. What has been seen in the
industry is that some suppliers are using
polystyrene on one end of the scale which
obviously has a cost saving, but has a
tendency to absorb water quite badly, so
it’s not considered a good material.
Polyurethane (PU/PUR) foam is a far
more acceptable insulation material for
vehicle bodies, that comes in different
densities and when injected under high
pressure doesn’t absorb water easily.
Thermal performance is also significantly
better with this material.
“As far as the insulation goes, there
are two main criteria – maintaining
temperature and energy efficiency.
Energy efficiency is largely determined
by the insulation medium used – and the
technology within the insulation product
used. PUR is the most effective insulation
per thickness and insulation density is also
key on the structural side. On the other
hand, the logic that is often used and
overlooked being “the product arriving at
temperature” is very ambiguous as one
never looks at the costs – for example,
diesel usage used to maintain the
temperatures during the delivery process,”
says Gildenhuys.
For export products that carry quite a
significant value, rejected goods receive
a much lower local market price and this
is particularly where clients will feel the
impact of lower quality – ringing true that
refrigerated trucks are not just a ‘cooler
box’ and hence cannot be seen as such.
Transfrig
The Rigid CryoFridge 450 Slimline Evaporator.
LOCAL VS IMPORTED
South African companies and particularly
local manufacturers who are exposed to
international competition have moved their
views more towards catering internationally.
The advantage is not only being pricecompetitive,
but also being able to offer
quicker turnaround times, which in some
instances can be a critical benefit.
“Local supply is as good as any imported
products, so although imported goods
do pose a threat, South Africa has come
a long way and are world-class in many
aspects,” says Solomon.
“In some respects, international
competition is a threat as the South
African industry hasn’t entirely moved
with world trends and is still supplying
according to old methodologies driven
by the markets not supporting new
trends. Everyone should be supporting
local business, and retailers should be
dictating on the standards needed that
suppliers and manufacturers comply
with. Imports are only an alternative
because they offer different technology
that provides new advantages for the
sector that are not yet adopted locally
such as GPR bodies, anti-bacterial
materials and properties like vapour
permeability,” says Gildenhuys.
COLD LINK AFRICA • October 2020 www.coldlinkafrica.co.za 27