Supply Chain Mgmt Bus Process - HSRC-5013-RNA

CTQ7: Warehousing and Distribution

Discussion Topic

After graduating from HSRC program at Humber Marisa, Lucas and Dewash have decided to
start their own warehousing company.

In their supply chain course in Humber they have learned that demand for cold storage in GTA is
increasing, and it is expected that more and more companies will be looking to outsource
temperature-controlled warehousing function to 3rd party logistics companies. Maria, Lucas and
Dewash think they should get into the cold storage business and asked for your advice.

You are to share your own thoughts on how attractive this opportunity is, and provide Maria,
Lucas and Dewash with recommendations (as practical as possible) on how they should think
about the warehouse layout, activities, and value-added services to the prospective clients.

Cold Storage business is a really good opportunity to consider especially if it is GTA I believe.
For the start up we would want to suggest Maria, Lucas and Dewash, something that is easily
manageable, the most basic and inexpensive option out there, that in my opinion would be
Refrigerated Cold Storage for storing confined quantities of temperature sensitive products.
These are shipping containers consisting diesel-electric or grid-electric cooling units that are able
to maintain temperatures in between -30* to 70* F. These are the simplest and highly flexible
type of cold storage.
They are also extremely customisable, can be paired with features like varying floor types,
indoor lighting & remote temperature monitoring. Also being smaller in size their mobility is
very easy. Usually available in sizes between 10 to 40 feet.

Warehouse Layout: It should be in a way that it maintains proper sanitary conditions at all
times, which doesn’t allow pests, rodents and entry/development of any harmful extraneous
materials in the facility.
Few things that would need critical consideration and are worthwhile:
 Vapour Compression system
 Proper Airflow and Air Distribution
 Air coolers: Airflow
 Modular Curtains
 Air Curtains
 Rapid Closing Doors
 Automation
 Flooring

Value added services that are most common and could be beneficial, if the budget allows:
Blast freezers: These can be very beneficial for warm goods that are needed to bring down to an
acceptable temperature for longer storage right after production, so as to preserve its nutrition,
texture. Flavor and shelf life. It works in approximately 90 minutes to blow force air over the
products to chill them down from 160*F to 41*F.

Portion Packaging: Portion packaging would allow them to resize the bulk packaging’s as per
customer demand, it may also include washing, mixing, blending before repackaged.

HPP (High Pressure Packaging) and HTST (High temperature and short time Heating):
Retort packaging is highly cost-effective sterilization service achieved in shorter time and with
minimal product damage. It involves sterilizing and killing any pathogens/microorganisms by
conveying the vacuumed product through specialized equipment.

Custom Pallet Building: This service allows customize the pallets and add different products
together and reorganizing them as per the end user preferences.
Other services like automation etc. can be added later as the business prosper.

Two really critical aspects to consider for cold storage should be, its Shipping
and turn around time, as it requires the materials to be shipped and loaded/unloaded efficiently
taking minimal time. With that being said, area is also one of the most important factors, so
rather expanding horizontally which can be expensive, they can opt to expand vertically for
maximum storage space.

Since GTA is one of the highest populated cities, so it will be good to establish a presence to
start a business like 3PL for cold storage warehouse. It will not only give access to Port Montreal
(which is a leader for importing goods to other countries) through shipping but most major
markets around the globe, is being also close to Pearson Airport.
So, Maria, Lucas and Dewash should definitely pursue with this venture but it also needs a lot of
other considerations before they actually put the plan in work.

REFERENCES:
Joseph Bove PE. (2018, March 15). 4 Ways to expand Value added services at your Cold
Storage. Retrieved 2023, March 7. From
https://stellarfoodforthought.net/4-ways-to-expand-value-added-services-at-your-cold-storage-
warehouse/
WNF. (2023). Find the Best 3PL Warehouse and Fulfillment Centres in Toronto. Retrieved
2023, March 08. From
https://www.warehousingandfulfillment.com/locations/canada/ontario-toronto/