Trying to run a dairy and meat business without refrigeration is an impossible task but that is exactly the type of emergency staff had to deal with at Aussie Farmers Direct recently.
After outgrowing its current facilities the company was preparing to move to its new purpose built headquarters only to find out that the refrigeration equipment was still two weeks away.
There wasn't just the 130,000 customers to worry about but there was also the prospect of losing a sizable inventory of meat and produce.
Aussie Farmers Direct's NSW distribution manager, David Anderson, said the company had no choice but to vacate the old premises. “Our new purpose-built facility was nearly set to go, but like all the best-laid plans, things didn’t go quite as expected; there was a two week delay on the refrigeration equipment,” he said.
Since starting a milk round in 2005, the company has become an industry leader in online food shopping. Aussie Farmers Direct have a very simple yet complicated objective: to source the best local milk, eggs, cheese, bread, and juice they can find and offer it as a home delivery service to the community.
They wanted to reinvent what the old fashioned milkman stood for, but this time, add modern technology to make the service easier. They also wanted to create a sustainable business that developed farmer friendships, rural support initiatives and promotion of healthy fundraising.
Not surprisingly they found great success and eight years on with a milk factory, five distribution centres and over 200 milks, Aussie Farmers Direct needed bigger premises. When this problem emerged it was up to Anderson to find a solution.
“It was hard to find a company that could provide emergency support for two 1200m2 storage facilities,” he said.
One facility is for fruit and vegetables and has to be kpt at 7 degrees Celsius while and milk and meat facility had to be maintained at 3 degrees Celsius.
“Because the facilities were still being constructed we didn't have power so the cooling solution had to be completely self-sufficient,” Anderson said. Once the engineers from Active Air Rentals had the site specifics they put together a solution.
Active Air Rentals director, Brad Sweeney, said a range of issues had to be addressed. “Firstly, because the air had to be so cool, 7 degrees C and 3 degreesC respectively, we chose to use low temperature chillers with glycol,” he said.
“And due to the critical nature of the job we added in specially insulated buffer tanks to ensure a consistent low temperature water supply.
“Secondly, we needed to ensure even cooling throughout the facilities with no hot spots. We achieved this with huge airflow generated by multiple air handlers placed strategically throughout the sites.
“With no power on site we also needed to supply generators to run the chillers and air handlers. These ran 24/7 and because it was mission critical the facilities stayed cool we added 100 per cent redundancy on all equipment.”
Sweeney said the biggest challenge was completing the job in such a short period of time. ‘The Active Air team had only four days in which to get the cooling solution installed. Our team worked from 6am to 11pm every day to get it operational.”