By Eamonn Ryan
At the recent GCCA Africa Conference, a highly engaging panel discussion tackled two of the most critical topics facing cold storage operators across the continent: energy management and fire safety. Moderated by Shane Brennan, part of the global leadership team at GCCA, the panel brought together a diverse group of experts:
- Petrie van der Merwe, senior mechanical engineer at Energy Partners Refrigeration
- Roy Weghorst, head of regulatory affairs – fire: Kingspan Group
- Richard Doyle, managing director of DDR Group
- Jan-Cornell van Ekris, Boltrics commercial director
This is part 5 of a six-part series.
Optimisation that drives both labour and energy efficiency: Van Ekris, Boltrics
Returning to operational efficiencies, Van Ekris shared an example of a client who optimised their warehouse processes – not just to save energy, but to scale capacity.
By reorganising picking and drop-off tasks, the facility reduced door openings and consolidated movements in and out of freezer areas. The result: a 50–60% increase in volume throughput using the same labour force, and a notable drop in energy use.
“These improvements often come together. It’s about smart sequencing and aligning task design with thermal performance,” van Ekris said.
What still goes wrong – common frustrations and missteps
- Overdesigning for the worst case
Van der Merwe expressed frustration with projects that design exclusively for worst-case scenarios – for instance, selecting compressor sizes that only make sense during extreme loads. The result is equipment that operates inefficiently under normal conditions.
“It leads to instability, especially during weekends or off-peak conditions. Correcting it later is expensive and disruptive,” he said. His recommendation? Scenario planning during the design phase, ensuring equipment performs optimally across average and peak loads alike.
- Inflexible infrastructure
Doyle criticised older cold stores that lack flexibility: “Many legacy buildings are designed for one specific tenant or product. That rigidity makes it hard to adapt.”
Retrofitting such facilities often requires removing outdated racking or reconfiguring layouts, which can be a hard sell to owners reluctant to abandon sunk investments.
“It’s a brave decision-maker who rips out infrastructure for long-term gain,” Doyle admitted, “but often, it’s the only path to real improvement.”