A new automated, robotic, temperature-controlled storage facility is gaining clients in the Southern Hemisphere.
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cCain has joined Fonterra in committing to NewCold’s new temperature-controlled storage facility at Truganina, 15 km outside Melbourne. The US$100 million automated cold storage warehouse is due to open for business in autumn 2017. After establishing its Asia–Pacific headquarters in Melbourne’s west, Dutch-based cold storage and logistics company NewCold is looking to expand its business in New Zealand, Singapore, Malaysia and Hong Kong, as well as other locations in Australia. NewCold’s Truganina facility will feature high-level automation, creating jobs in IT, engineering, software development and management. It is anticipated that the facility will create 127 full-time jobs. The facility features a new-generation ‘high bay’ design whose height allows for more efficient use of space and for savings on floor slabs and footprint. The facility will also incorporate oxygen-reduction fire safety technology and stateof-the-art systems to significantly lower electricity consumption when compared with conventional cold storage warehouses. For receipt, storage and subsequent retrieval of palletised products, the warehouse will use unmanned stacker cranes, conveyors and automated truck unloading systems, all together capable of handling more than 11,000 pallet movements per day, allowing users to efficiently move stock out of the warehouse to their customers more efficiently than ever before. Users of the cold chain facility will also have access to continuous feedback on performance, service and efficiency, allowing for continuous improvement through its supply and delivery methods. The focus will be on recruiting local employees to staff the facility, with extensive skills and 12
March/April 2017
technology training for employees to ensure they can manage the facility at maximum efficiency. NewCold’s temperature-controlled storage facility will feature two warehouses: a fully automated, 34 m-high cold storage warehouse with eight double-satellite stacker cranes and a fully automated, 34 m-high chilled storage warehouse with six double-satellite and four single-satellite stacker cranes NewCold awarded the contract to build the two high-bay cold storage facilities to Dematic. The automated cold storage facilities will include ColbyRack high-bay racking which is capable of housing 100,000 and 106,000 pallets. Various pallet weights and configurations will be deployed within each facility up to a maximum pallet weight of 1265 kg. The ColbyRack components, comprising more than 8500 tonnes of roll-formed Bluescope G450 grade steel, were locally manufactured at Dematic’s factory in Belrose, Sydney.
Coldstorage warehouse • Fully automated, 34 m-high cold storage warehouse • Eight double-satellite stacker cranes • Footprint of 176 x 100 m • Total storage capacity: 102,816 Australian CHEP pallets • Storage area and loading docks temperature: -23°C • FEFO handling with a capacity of >10,000 pallets per day. • >900 pallet shipment buffer zone, minimising waiting time for trucks before loading • 19 docks (two allocated for automatic truck unloading) • Equipped for container loading and unloading • Open 24 h
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BULK HANDLING, STORAGE & LOGISTICS
Keeping it cold