EVENTS
INCORPORATING COLD CHAIN
SARDA Tony Lewis winner
represents in California
By John Ackermann
The winner of the 2016 SARDA Tony Lewis Award, Francois Smith, received an all-expenses-paid
trip to the IARW-WFLO Convention in the US in April to compete for the NextGen Award.
T
he 126th International Association of
Refrigerated Warehouses (IARW) and
World Food Logistics Organisation
(WFLO) Convention was held from 22 to
25 April 2017 at Dana Point, California.
South Africa’s Francois Smith competed
against three other contestants at the
Global Cold Chain Alliance (GCCA)
Each of the contestants for the Global
NextGen Award presented their
overview of the cold storage industry to
an audience of 400 delegates from the
US, Australia, Canada, South America,
UK, and Europe.
Smith had defeated various other
local competitors for the opportunity
— sponsored by the South African
Refrigerated Distribution Association
(SARDA) — to attend this convention.
The SARDA Tony Lewis Award recognises
expertise in young people under the
age of 35 in the cold storage industry in
South Africa.
Opening night at the convention.
with the development of the KwaZulu-
Natal branch. In October 2011, he was
promoted to operations manager,
followed by a promotion to his current
position in December 2015.
ABOUT FRANCOIS SMITH THE PRESENTATION
Francois Smith, the logistics manager at
Sequence Logistics, started his cold store
career in August 2006 as an assistant
floor supervisor at Sequence Logistics
and was offered a permanent position
as floor supervisor after his first month of
employment. He relocated to Durban In his presentation, Smith elaborated on
the Sequence Logistics operation in
South Africa. In Johannesburg, their
storage has a capacity of 18 500 pallets
and a daily movement of approximately
1 000 pallets each day. In Durban, their
store has a capacity of 9 500 and
handles approximately 40 trucks during
a 24-hour shift. They pick approximately
25 000 cases totalling 35 tonnes in a
24-hour shift. In Cape Town, the holding
capacity is 4 400 and handles 20 trucks
in a 12-hour shift.
Sequence Logistics offers
warehousing, bulk and fine picking,
refrigerated transport, consolidation of
consignments, and other value-added
services as a third-party distributor.
Smith shared the mission of Sequence
Logistics: “Our mission is to be the best
temperature control solution provider in
southern Africa, and to be recognised as
the best. Our goal in the industry is to
have the best plan adherence, best
turnaround times, best order fill, best on
time, and best stock condition —
backed by the best customer
communication and offering a logistics
solution in perishables with the least cost.
“Our values are to care for each
other and for the company. To
challenge each other and ourselves
beyond boundaries, to be successful by
empowering, recognising, and taking
ownership. This is what excites me the
most in this industry.”
Smith felt that the cold storage
demands have changed over the years
in South Africa because of a change in
eating habits and the electrification of
homes. He went on to say that the cold
store market is becoming more
competitive with greater demands to
cover costs and improve income
streams. Frozen foods have increased in
popularity, whether imported or locally
produced. In 2006, Sequence Logistics
had a total storage capacity of 4 500
pallets. Over the past 10 years, it has
grown to a capacity of 32 400 pallets.
The growing demand for efficiency
within the supply chain will play a critical
part in the future of South African cold