Dr Johan Ferreira’s view of the Second Packhouse Summit 2025
From the second Packhouse Summit as an exhibitor and a stakeholder in the cold chain industry
Attending the second Packhouse Conference was very interesting for us at Coldcubed. Whereas our company uses IoT networks, which we developed over the last ten years, to live-stream temperature data of cold chain warehouses, I was very surprised to learn of the leaps and bounds that AI and machine learning have made to assist the challenges of packhouses.
With reference to space optimisation, I noted how these new technologies allow us to use space more efficiently, putting more volume into the existing space of the warehouse. Also, the use of these technologies has accelerated the development of dark warehousing, improving the efficiency of stock movement, space utilisation, and eliminating the need for shift take-overs, where time and efficiency always get lost.
Focus on Packing Efficiency
Particularly interesting for me was the presentation by Nico from Ergopak. He discussed how the knowledge of human behaviour determined the use of peripheral vision and the application of scale technology to improve the efficiency of packing, especially for retail applications. The examples he gave of fruit packing, where every fruit has a unique weight, demonstrated how peripheral vision, including the scale design, can benefit packing efficiency and improve throughput. Better packing accuracy ultimately saves money. Overpack has been a bugbear of the fruit industry for many years.
Furthermore, Nico introduced the understanding of positive packing and negative packing. He highlighted that in negative packing (where the punnet is filled to more than the specified weight and then berries are removed until the screen flashes green), the clever bit is that the parameters can be pre-programmed to limit overpack. The use of red and green colours to indicate under or overweight, together with the actual weights, allows for very efficient packing.
Interestingly, I saw the application for myself a few days later when visiting a packhouse packing berries for the retail market. These guys indicated that their throughput increased by almost 30% since the new scales were implemented. Well done, Nico and team.
Cold Chain Visibility
Our ears pricked up when Antoinette described the challenges in the export fruit supply chain, and she really got our attention when she talked about getting visibility of the cold chain with live streaming.
Our live-streaming solution has been honed over the last ten years, and we have brought custom dashboards to the client’s screen that allow data to be interpreted as information. This information helps to bring the cold chain to life. Since the cold chain is the outcome of the efforts of so many in an organisation, and this tool is utilised to keep food safe and preserve quality, we are delighted to have brought a product to market that achieves this result.
Every organisation is different, and therefore, a customised dashboard is critical to meet their needs as per their reporting culture. In the modern context, the UX (User Experience) is a critical success factor, and we believe our focus on customised UX brings the cold chain into every computer, making it not only convenient but easily understood. Hearing the industry echo this sentiment was music to our ears – the dream we have been realising for ten years.
