Freezer store

SSequence Logistics expands to Johannesburg

Sequence Logistics expands to Johannesburg

cold store, Featured, Mobile Racking, New Installation, News, Uncategorized /

Sequence Logistics built its first freezer in Hammarsdale, KwaZulu Natal, during 2008. In 2010 it rented freezer space in Joburg, expanding to Cape Town in 2014 as well as adding a second phase to the Hammarsdale freezer. As the strategy of providing refrigerated storage, both primary and secondary refrigerated transport, case picking and stock optimisation services proved successful, Sequence decided to build its own freezer store to service the Gauteng area.     The store, situated at Aeroton Johannesburg is equipped with a combination of mobile racking for storage and static racking for case picking and order make up.   Barpro, together with Universal Storage Systems, designed and installed the Storax mobiles and fixed racking to suit the Sequence requirements of storage and case picking. Equipped with cascade control it includes the ability to move the Storax mobiles remotely from inside the heated cabs of the reach trucks. Additional features include aisle light switching and night park which spaces the Storax bases out at night for better cooling. The Storax bases have 6 pallet levels each suitable for a 2000mm high pallet weighting 1200kgs. The total base weight when fully loaded is just under 400 tons, the same as an airbus A380 800 on take-off and is driven by 5 Nord electric motors with a maximum current of 5 Amps, about half the current it takes to boil an electric kettle. The aisle light switching function switches on the lights in the open aisles. Even with LED fittings this saves electricity by significantly reducing the number of lights on at any time and also reduces the heat load on the refrigeration system.     Safety Features Safety features include fixed photoelectric beams which stop the mobile in 20mms when the beam is broken, double PE safety beams across the front of each mobile bank to prevent pedestrians stepping into a moving aisle and yellow aisle clear scanners which clear the aisle in line of sight before the bases can be moved. Each base has emergency stop buttons which are hard wired to the control panel. The racking on the mobile bases which is designed for the dynamic loads is well protected by the base structure from forklift impacts. On the fixed racking, frame protection is essential. Sequence requested heavy duty frame protection on all static uprights. Additionally, bollards are installed to protect the racking from side impact in the door areas and tunnels through the fixed racking in the case picking room.   Barpro always suggests that wooden bumpers be installed on the front guide wheel unit of every mobile as they prevent damage to both the wheel unit itself and the rack mounted push button stations.     From a general design perspective, there was a conscious trade- off between capacity and operational capability. Mobile aisles are wide enough to allow easy turning by counterbalanced trucks, rack bay clear openings are generous and gangways have sufficient width allow access to the fixed racks while leaving sufficient space for high volume product movement.   The front and rear cantilevers were installed on each base adding additional pallet locations. Rear cantilevers also create an escape route and safe access for servicing the rack control panels.   When Storax systems are handed over to the client, part of the procedure consists of formal training for the various levels of user. All aspects are covered including opening and closing the aisles and fault finding. Barpro also encourages users to sign up for a Service Level Agreement. SLA automatic inspections identify any problems early and prevent costly downtime later on.   Need to optimise space in your storage facility? Contact us [gravityform id=”10″ title=”true” description=”true”] Read more: Stellenpak’s experience with Storax Mobiles Read more: Project Management of the Vision Meats New Cold Store Read more: New Pongola Cold Storage Facility

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cold store floor rising

Why is your cold store floor rising?

Blog, cold store, Featured, Freezer store, Ice, Uncategorized /

Above Image: Heater mat being covered by a thin concrete layer at a newly built freezer store in the UK. In a newly commissioned Danish freezer some years ago, a Storax mobile refused to move. After some initial panic, it was found that the obstacle was a ridge in the concrete floor. As the floor had been checked for level after initial curing, the newly formed ridge was surprising. The floor had a glycol heater mat beneath the underfloor insulation and every circuit had a flow meter outside the building so that movement of the glycol mixture heated by the refrigeration system condensers could be easily checked. A bumblebee had become lodged in a flow meter obstructing the flow of glycol and allowing ice to form in the subfloor and creating the problematic ridge through “frost heave”. The bee was removed, the ice melted and the ridge disappeared without cracking the concrete floor.   In Australia, 200mm pipes are laid under freezer floors and air pumped through them to stop ice from forming in the subfloor. At one freezer the pipe did not have sufficient fall, condensation puddled and froze obstructing the pipe eventually causing the cold store floor to rise. At one local store, similar air vents were blocked to prevent rat ingress. That floor rose by 900mms……..     In South Africa, while some recent stores have installed glycol systems, most rely on electrical heater mats which normally consist of three circuits of wire a little like a hot blanket on a bed. The wires lie in a sand bed which may or may not be held together with a weak cement mix. The circuits end in a control box which turns them on only if the temperature beneath the cold store floor dips beneath 4 degrees C.   4 degrees C is interesting as water with impurities can freeze at higher temperatures than zero. Some chill stores have found this out to their cost, as heater mats were considered unnecessary. As the business changed temperatures were dropped to minus 0.5 degrees C and the rooms kept running year round instead of being switched off in the summer months. After several stores experienced frost heave, heater mats and underfloor insulation have now become part of the building design.   While it may sound obvious, check that the heater mats are on when the chamber is commissioned. We have seen at least three stores where the floor rose through frost heave because the heater mats had not been turned on. In one instance the floor subsided. In the others the movement had already cut the wires.   I have visited one store where the heat mat cables had been cut by accident and attempts were made to drill right under the floor in the insulation to replace the wires. I don’t know if the plan worked.   What I have found somewhat surprising is the number of times when management don’t immediately know where the heater mat control panel is situated and how it works.  Only last week we had to help a customer who found that his heater mat control panel needed fixing. This was only identified after the floor began to rise. It is critical that heater mats get checked regularly and that management understands their purpose. In freezer stores, especially those with mobile racking systems, keeping the floor level is so essential that annual floor level checks are recommended.   Need a storage solution for your new facility? Contact us: [gravityform id=”10″ title=”true” description=”true”]   Read more: How to choose the right storage system Read more: What’s so different about cold store floors? Read more: The Strange History of Insulated Cold Store Panels  

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Stellenpak’s Storax Mobiles experience

Stellenpak’s experience with Storax Mobiles

Barpro Storage News, cold store, Featured, Mobile Racking, Uncategorized /

Stellenpak, the stone fruit and citrus packing company situated at Simondium, Paarl, installed it’s first Storax system in an existing chill room in 2013 to store 1053 high cube pallets with a maximum weight of 1400kgs on two levels in the height. The Storax system can be controlled by their MJ IT Services warehouse management system via an RS422 port. The pallets are placed with their 1200mm sides facing the moving aisles. The bay spans for 3 pallets are 4000mms. As the systems were retrofitted, the Storax rails were fixed to the existing floor and an additional reinforced slab, designed and installed by Melt Wahl Concrete Services, was poured around them. The ramps were mainly accommodated in the doorways. Additional protection was added in the form of wooden bumpers to protect the Storax bases in this high volume environment.     Phase two, completed in a smaller room during 2016, has capacity for a further 506 pallets. One of the 11 mobile bases in phase one was reconfigured for use in phase 2 so as to increase the moving aisle width in phase one.   Robert Saunders, Stellenpak’s MD is happy with the decision to install mobile racking. “Although our rooms are relatively low at just over 7 metres, he says, “the Storax mobiles have allowed us to store two pallets high and give immediate access to every pallet.” “There is less product damage and stock rotation is no longer a hassle”.   Having experienced some counterbalance forklift damage to the Storax bases in the second season, Robert decided to increase the aisle width to over 4000mms by removing moving one mobile base which was incorporated into phase 2. He also improved the lux levels by installing three runs of energy saving OrbitX LED light tubes in each aisle. The lights come on automatically when an aisle is opened, which saves electricity and heat ingress. Stellenpak also called in Accredited Training to do regular training. As a result, last season’s damage was minimal. Need racking for your fruit store? Contact Barpro Storage – South Africa’s TRUSTED storage solutions specialist [gravityform id=”10″ title=”true” description=”true”] See what our other clients have to say: Read more: Project Management of the Vision Meats New Cold Store Read more: The Expansion of Aquatic Foods Read more: New Pongola Cold Storage Facility in KZN

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