warehouse storage management

South African Cold Storage Legend – Iqbal Faki Dawood

Cold Store Legends, Uncategorized /

Our Johannesburg Branch Manager, Corné Stapelberg met up with one of South Africa’s cold storage veterans, Mr Iqbal Faki Dawood, owner of F Dawood & Son, to discuss his experience in the cold storage industry. Iqbal has a number of cold stores and distribution centres around the country. His Johannesburg facility stores approximately 3900 pallets on Storax mobile racking and has to be one of the best cared for ammonia plants in the region. How long have you been working in cold storage? I’ve been in the industry for 40 years. What type of challenges did you have to face? The cold storage industry was an evolution. I started way back with retail. Initially the chicken industry had no frozen product, only fresh. Basically two items, whole chickens and what they then called a curry pack, which was the downgraded birds with broken wings etc. How do you overcome challenges? Challenges have now changed dramatically. Chicken is the most popular protein at the moment. We need to keep up with the demand. We have found a niche market with the “smaller” businesses and we are able to keep them happy. How did your family and personal life fit into your career? We keep the balance and make sure we make time for family. People get so involved in their business that they forget to interact socially with family. What do you do in your spare time to unwind? To get rid of the stress I use to visit friends and travel a lot. Nowadays not that much. In our view business is not always first and foremost. We make time for our families and it gives us time to unwind a bit. What are your views on the future of the cold store industry? There will always be a need, especially in terms of the evolution of the food industry. There will always be a need for frozen foods, irrespective of the fast food industry. It all depends on how many people would want to enter the distribution market and for what kind of margins they are willing to work with. You have an impeccable storage facility. What is the best advice you could give to any cold store owner, whether it’s new or old? Our store is owner driven which makes a big difference and good housekeeping is key.   For more information contact F. Dawood on 011 918 4769    

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South African Cold Storage Legend - Sunil Inarmal

South African Cold Storage Legend – Sunil Inarmal

Cold Store Legends, General Interest, Uncategorized /

Our Cold Store Legend for the month of November is Sunil Inarmal, Manager of Congella Cold Store in Durban who, in his two and a half decades in the cold storage industry, has seen cold stores upgraded and another almost burnt to the ground.   At 54, Sunil Inarmal has been active in Durban’s cold store industry for 25 years. He started as a temporary checker at the Maydon Wharf cold store in 1992 and progressed to cold room supervisor. Moving to Bayhead cold storage he became senior supervisor and assistant to the cold store manager. In November 2009 he joined the Chester Group in opening Congella Cold Store, as a cold store manager he oversaw an upgrade of freezer rooms, including the installation of Storax mobile racking and pallet conveyors.   His worst experience was battling a fire at Bayhead cold storage. The freezer rooms ended up with six inches of water after the fire was extinguished on the third day. The defrosted product had to be dumped and the smell was awful. The fire was contained by the heroic actions of the Durban fire brigade who climbed onto the cold room ceilings and cut the insulated panels, preventing the fire from spreading.   Sunil has worked with 5 different warehouse management systems including SAP, Data Point, Accellos, Nevision and Macro 2000. Congella, which uses Data Point, can move up to 1500 pallets a week into and out of the freezers using the data Point system. Congella cold store assists customers around the clock, 24 hours a day, 5 days a week.   Sunil lives in Newlands where his wife works as PA to the MD of a manufacturing company. His daughter is a third year student at the University of KwaZulu Natal studying applied Chemistry. He attributes his good health to working at minus 25 as bacteria cannot survive at these temperatures and his greatest wish is to build and manage a new cold store in the Durban area. Read more: Celebrating 21 years Read more: What’s so different about cold store floors? Read more: An alternative to sprinklers in colds stores  

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Gregory Rodriques - A South African Cold Storage Legend

Gregory Rodriques – South African Cold Storage Legend

Uncategorized /

Greg joined I&J as a laborer in 1970. In 1976 he assisted Valentino Engineering when they undertook a major refrigeration refit at I&J’s Diep River Cold Store. During this time Greg learnt to overhaul Grasso compressors and learning about the operation of ammonia refrigeration systems from Valentino Engineering’s and the late Ugo Spetto. Greg then became Diep River Cold Store’s refrigeration technician. After this cold store was closed in 2000 Greg moved to I&J Distribution’s Bellville flagship branch again as the refrigeration technician. I&J Distribution has since been purchased by Rainbow Chickens and is now, of course, known as Vector Logistics. During his career, Greg has worked with 8 refrigeration engineers and has been on call out standby for over 40 years. His current duties include servicing compressors, liquid pumps, cold store racking and anything else that needs attention. As I found out during my time at I&J in the 1990’s, a more reliable, diligent and pro-active refrigeration technician does not exist. Today Greg takes pride in his current position at Vector as Maintenance Technician and says that he owes a great deal of gratitude to Vector Logistics for the opportunities they have given him.    When Greg isn’t patrolling his Bellville plant and taking care of its every need, he can be found fishing on Kalk Bay’s harbor wall or in the Newlands Rugby stands. His wife Debbie, now retired, has been huge support to Greg over the years (despite the call outs), and they now have one grandchild. Read more: South African Cold Storage Legends – Ajay Kalan Read more: Barpro Storage – A tender yet experienced age of 21! Read more: Our very own James Cunningham celebrates 20 years with Barpro Storage!

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