BUSINESS AND TRAINING |
INCORPORATING COLD CHAIN |
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in Port Glasgow . That was pure torture as I rode to work on a motorcycle . Scottish winters can be rough .”
That wasn ’ t his only sobering moment : “ Much later , I remember a meeting once in Belgium with a head engineer of a major world refrigerating company and being asked what did I want to talk about - to which I replied ‘ refrigeration ’. He informed me that ’ s a big subject and it is .”
He emigrated to South Africa in 1974 and worked for Grenco as a project engineer with food processing plants and refrigeration systems in Cape Town . He was transferred to Johannesburg in 1975 to manage the contracting branch returning to Cape Town at the end of 1977 .
OVERCOMING CHALLENGES
Overcoming challenges is a core skill in the refrigeration sector and he has many anecdotes in his portfolio .
Perks describes one project that makes him particularly proud . “ I was involved in a project to build an export abattoir in Khartoum , Sudan . There were lots of logistical challenges , with the primary challenge being to train the locals to operate the equipment installed . Then one day during construction there was a full-blown sandstorm . I saw all the locals quickly wrapping up and disappearing - and then the sandstorm arrived . On the basis of ‘ When in Rome …’, I immediately did the same . Another challenge was when all the galvanised pipe fittings disappeared from site - a major problem when you are so far away from a supplier , but fortunately I was
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able to buy back my own stuff in the local souk . On reflection it was the only real issue we had on the project so all-in-all it went to plan and we made a profit ,” he explains .
In another project , he relates how they had developed and built a major cold store complex in Cape Town . “ In the first week after commissioning , about 20 % full , we experienced major compressor failures , caused by an oil cooling problem , leaving the plant without any refrigeration . The problem was remedied the following day without any product damage as we had a spare compressor available that was scheduled to be delivered the next day to another customer . The other customer was none too happy - but what can you do other than airfreight another compressor immediately . Sometimes it is better to ask forgiveness than permission ,” he says .
“ The scariest problem I ever had was when I was sitting with my brand-new cold store with no cooling capacity - but failure was never an option . I have always appreciated that saying ‘ boer maak a plan ’.”
Another unexpected challenge he faced was supervising a weekend shut down in Johannesburg to repair welding . “ I had just arrived from Cape Town to handle this welding which had earlier been rejected . I had the plant pumped down and evacuated , when I turned round there was only me and a welder and an idle-standing dairy full of milk . I got a hold of the welder ’ s car keys - and we both worked right through the night and a Highveld storm to get the dairy up and running around 4 am . I was not impressed . I created merry havoc next day . Clearly , the
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“ That ’ s me and Gary Smith from ASTI .”
lack of staff meant someone had set out to teach me a lesson . It was a lesson well learned ,” says Perks .
Given his high-profile role in training , Perks has been personally involved in a number of innovations . “ Back in the early 2000s I was involved in drawing up SAQA unit standards for the refrigeration industry with Hans Damhuis , but probably my most significant contribution to the industry was SANS 10147:2014 Edition 5 with emphasis on safety and Annex D .”
Perks says that he had never thought to run his own company – until a particular partnership went bad . “ In Port Elizabeth in 1987 I realised what a mistake I had made when I entered into a partnership with a mechanical handling company in Atlantis
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to form Coldpak , a refrigeration contracting company . I thereafter took full ownership of the company which I sold in 2003 so as to concentrate on recycling my knowledge back into the industry via A Perks Enterprises - a safety and compliance company .”
THE EARLY DAYS
He relates some anecdotes from the ‘ early days ’ in South Africa at Grenco Projects . “ The first time I meet John Ackermann I had had the use of his car when I first landed while he was in Joburg . In his car , I got rear ended outside the university while coming into work one morning . It ’ s not nice to say ‘ Hi , oh and by the way your car needs to be fixed ’. It ’ s amazing that we are still friends to this day .
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