Client Success Stories

Versacold

VersaCold is one of the largest providers of cold store warehousing services globally. VersaCold’s Victorian warehouse operation has a capacity of some 330,000 cubic metres (11.7 million cubic feet), providing -30° C freezer storage.

The company also operates distribution and refrigerated transport services. The warehouse services the supply chain requirements for producers, manufacturers, food service operators and retailers. For such a large operation, it’s imperative that stock is meticulously picked, delivered and tracked in the warehouse.

The Challenge

VersaCold required robust, high quality radio frequency terminals to meet the rigors of a temperature controlled warehousing environment. They also wanted a supplier who could provide support and advice as to how best manage and structure their RF network, and someone who had an efficient servicing department.

After extensively researching the market for best-fit products to enhance productivity, and then evaluating and trialling, VersaCold selected RTS as the vendor with the best-fit solution to update their aging RF equipment. A key criteria for Versacold’s choice of RTS was due to RTS’s depth of expertise with RF in temperature controlled environments. A further consideration was RTS’s history of ensuring service turnaround times that would minimise impact to Versacold’s business.

How We Tackled The Problem

Chris Howard, VersaCold IT Systems Manager (Southern Region), was very impressed with the real-time products from RTS, which can operate in extreme temperature conditions (-20° to -30° C), enabling VersaCold to accurately manage operational activities within their warehouse.

The fully integrated RTS Pikker 4 mobile computer terminals, and complementing RTS Rugged Scanner 4, are designed to withstand temperatures down to -30° C without ancillary heaters or power supplies. Also included was the Intermec CK31 to support the previous screen size of the legacy terminals.

Versacold have found it very easy to work with RTS, with Chris Howard remarking that “RTS are very professional and fully understand the challenges we face in the 3PL cold chain industry.”

The Results

RTS have successfully designed, installed and supported Versacold’s RF networks for over 12 months and in that time have gained considerable knowledge of the company’s immediate needs and aims for the future. RTS will continue to provide ongoing services and maintenance to VersaCold, including preventative maintenance and upgrades to the equipment to ensure VersaCold gets the best return on their investment. Chris Howard indicated that the intention is to continue to work with RTS in Victoria and the other VersaCold sites across Australia.

Achieving return on investment.

RTS solutions are truly freezer-graded and ruggedised, which is what we need in our warehouse. We also wanted a partner that had done extensive work in the cold store industry, which RTS had.

Chris Howard