Edited by Eamonn Ryan
The following presentation was delivered at the 2023 GCCA Cold Chain Conference in Cape Town, by Jan-Cornell van Ekris, commercial director of Boltrics, on the topic ‘Future-proof towards your destination’. This is Part 1 of a two-part series.

In a world where the only constant is change, the cold chain logistics industry reflects on its past, present and future, emphasising the imperative of digitisation in navigating the evolving landscape.
Reflecting on the inception of Boltrics in 2010 as a strategic partner in the Netherlands, van Ekris describes a pivotal moment in the company’s history. Two full-service providers, operating on a generic ERP system, faced a common challenge: aligning their delivery solutions with evolving business processes. This challenge, compounded by rising customer demands, competitive pressures and technological innovations, underscored the need for a paradigm shift in logistics management.
His talk was based on the experiences of the cold chain in the Netherlands which could be replicated in South Africa.
The dawn of the digital age brought with it a deluge of opportunities and challenges. “Customers clamoured for real-time information, while margins were squeezed amid heightened competition. Simultaneously, technological innovations promised efficiency gains, yet uncertainty loomed large, exacerbated by external factors such as the Covid-19 pandemic.”
Van Ekris observes that amid this flux, individual service providers found themselves trapped in a cycle of reinvention. “Each endeavour to upgrade their systems represented a duplication of efforts, draining resources and heightening risks. Recognising the futility of this approach, Boltrics initiated a dialogue with industry stakeholders, envisioning a collaborative ecosystem where resources, knowledge and risks are shared.”
Looking ahead, van Ekris advocates for a proactive approach to digitisation. Embracing emerging technologies such as cloud computing and IoT sensors holds the key to unlocking efficiency gains and enhancing operational resilience. Furthermore, fostering a culture of collaboration and knowledge-sharing will be paramount in harnessing the collective intelligence of the industry.
“The concept of a ‘peloton’ [in French, ‘peloton’ literally means ‘ball’, but it is most often used with the meaning ‘group’] of logistics providers emerged – a collective effort to streamline innovation and mitigate risks. The concept is derived from the fact that a peloton of cyclists is always faster than a single cyclist. By pooling resources and expertise, participants could navigate the challenges of technological advancements more effectively. In essence, the cold chain industry, while vast in scope, embodies a close-knit community, where collaboration fosters resilience in the face of uncertainty.
“Everyone knows everyone; there aren’t many secrets. But that also creates difficulties, as they are simultaneously competitors. That isn’t sharing knowledge or investments. If you could do that, at the end of the day the cost is lower, you don’t have to reinvent the wheel and you can focus more on your business,” he explains.
He says the outcome was that they signed a contract with the Dutch cold chain association to develop an industry standard solution. “So, they, together with their members, invested in building an industry standard solution with all the functionality which is normally used within cold storage companies. We developed an industry standard solution for small companies, for big companies – for frozen, fresh, storing foods, meats and proteins, or fish, fruit, vegetables, etc. Because we have a focus on this industry, we were able to shorten the implementation time based on best practices, and we didn’t have to develop local functionality for individual customers. Because we based that solution on the Microsoft platform as a standard solution, we can secure that our customers don’t have to think about the technology itself.
“That’s what we did in the past. Today, we have expanded to three additional organisations in Europe and in turn to the US, Canada and Australia, and now Africa. We’ve worked together with Gartner to identify the challenges of logistics service providers and trends.
“I wish to share a couple of strategic trends identified by Gartner. The first one is industry cloud platforms. In the past, there were a lot of on-premises installations on local servers. What we see nowadays is that most installations are only partly done based on a cloud platform for installing, maintaining and doing the backup recovery scenarios. That is very time-consuming if you do that on local service – and you are not scalable. There are a couple of reasons why we now see a shift to cloud platforms.”