Durban - Chep, the
multinational palletpooling
giant, is about to
completely transform
cold chain management
and distribution in
South Africa.
This week's launch of
its Snowbox, a freestanding
unit which can
be loaded onto conventional
trucks to transport
perishable goods,
would eliminate the
need for costly refrigerated
trucks and significantly
reduce cold
chain distribution costs,
said Graham Hossack,
the managing director of
Chep South Africa.
Chep South Africa, a
wholly owned subsidiary
of Londonbased and
listed GKN, runs a network
of more than 30
depots throughout southern
Africa to accommodate
the distribution
and materials handling
needs of most sectors.
According to Terry
Sandy, Chep's business
research and systems
director, the simple
technology behind the
Snowbox would not only
shrink fleet capital
investment and dramatically
drop running
costs, it would also cut
product spoilage and
reduce labour costs.
Different perishable
products with different
temperature specifications
could be loaded
into individual boxes
and transported side by
side on the same truck.
Up to 18 boxes fitted
on a standard vehicle
improving fleet usage
and allowing for the
transportation of mixed
loads, Sandy said.
This facilitated cross
docking, which reduced
stock holding and significantly
speeded up
the distribution process.
Chep's research
indicated that up to a full
day could be saved
during distribution with
massive savings down
the line.
He said the "retail
friendly" Snowbox was
designed to be pushed
through standard doors
on longlife castors. It
was fitted with a preload
cartridge which
could be removed while
packing the product
onto shelves. Product
tracking and deliveries
were monitored by swipe
card technology.
Proof of delivery via
swipe card would reduce
the huge administration
burden within the retail
sector, while reducing
any distribution disputes,
Sandy said.
Chep's aim was to
build this technology
into the entire distribution
system, creating "a
virtual warehouse".
Hossack said the
launch of the Snowbox
came almost 21 years to
the day after the
company began introducing
pallet pooling in
South Africa.
"One of our greatest
challenges was to
convince a market in
which forklifts were not
even commonplace that
significant improvements
in productivity
and bottom line profit
were possible through
the universal use of
pallets."
Today this is a global
norm. Chep has a base of
112 million. About 3 million
Chep pallets are
circulated throughout
South Africa.
Hossack said even
though the new Snowbox
would have a fundamental
impact on future
handling systems with
major cost savings for all
involved, markets often
initially resisted change
because of old habits
and potential conflicts
with existing practices
and investments.