Marcus Richards
If you manufacture temperature-sensitive items and require cold storage warehousing, this is your chance to learn more about cold storage warehousing. A cold storage warehouse is a structure or facility built to maintain a specific temperature to protect perishable products. These warehouses look just like ordinary warehouses on the outside, but they differ on the inside to fulfill a special purpose.
Cold storage warehouses are no big news to perishable products manufacturers. People need to eat, and perishable food products need to be stored at cold temperatures to make them safe for consumption.
Examples of Cold Storage Warehousing
There are essentially two key aspects that make up basic types of cold storage warehousing: the outdoor warehouse itself and the equipment inside. There is a third integrated version that incorporates both, in which the racks common to most storage designs are themselves part of the warehouse’s integral structure. Regardless of construction type, all cold storage facilities contribute to maintaining a consistent temperature within their internal space.
Generally speaking, cold storage warehouses are divided into two groups based on the required temperature:
- Temperature control refrigeration ranging from 0 to 10 °C.
- Temperature control freezing raging between -30 to 0°C.
Each method of cold storage has a specific purpose. A refrigerated storage warehouse, typically for food, aims to maintain items at an optimal temperature to prevent rotting and increase product life.
A freezer warehouse, on the other hand, must maintain a steady, stable temperature to reduce the possibility of product damage or alteration to its optimal state.
Challenges and requirements
Keeping things cool in a warehouse brings specific problems that must be resolved. Some of these are as follows:
- The human element – how will staff function in sub-zero temperatures?
- The additional cost of energy relative to ambient temperature storage.
- How to control, manage, and evaluate temperature control.
Many of these obstacles can be solved by carefully selecting and developing specific use equipment, such as conveyors and racks, that make the best use of available space. Automation and semi-automation are also used to streamline processes to cut overhead and labour costs.
Sustainable Cold Storage Warehousing
As governments continue to aim towards achieving net zero carbon emissions in all sectors by 2050, warehouse sustainability poses a unique challenge to the cold storage facilities being developed today.
This increased emphasis on sustainability necessitates more investment in the development of AGV-operated vehicles for cold storage environments. The goal is for the warehouses to be as efficient as possible. Using a pallet shuttle system eliminates the requirement for forklift trucks and therefore reduces the need for manpower. These systems are perfect for warehousing with low SKU levels that require an efficient and compact storage system.
Pallet-flow systems enable fast access while utilizing up to 60% less flow area in cold storage facilities with significant product turnover.
Additional Factors to Consider
As you can see, when it comes to cold storage warehousing, several factors go beyond the usual warehouse. DFDS has the resources to advise on all of these issues, as well as the correct storage solutions for your cold storage warehousing needs if you’re searching for a completely competent partner to handle your temperature-sensitive items.
