Abstract
The South African fruit export industry is a key contributor to the country’s economy , and must be managed efficiently to that ensure its vital role is maintained. Significant increases in reefer freight rates have placed substantial pressure on the fruit export industry to find new and innovative ways of improving the space / volume use of fruit in these reefer containers. Improvements must adhere to key constraints to ensure that fruit quality and shelf life are not compromised. This paper analyses the current potential for increasing the mass of stone and pome fruit that is exported in reefer containers. The study indicates that pome fruit has the greatest opportunity for improvement, whereas stone fruit has less room for improving the use of space / volume. Proposed improvement methods are: optimal packing arrangements of fruit; improved packaging and pallet dimensions (special pallet sizes); improved stacking arrangements of cartons on pallets and pallets in reefers; and lastly, the use of slip sheets instead of pallets.
Highlights
South Africa’s fruit industry is one of the key contributors to the country’s economy
Pome fruit has the greatest opportunity for improvement, whereas stone fruit has less room to improve the use of space / volume
Using the recommended stacking patterns provided by the optimisation software, 9.09 per cent more MK7 cartons and 11.11 per cent more MK9 cartons could be loaded inside the reefer
Summary
The South African fruit export industry is a key contributor to the country’s economy, and must be managed efficiently to that ensure its vital role is maintained. Significant increases in reefer freight rates have placed substantial pressure on the fruit export industry to find new and innovative ways of improving the space / volume use of fruit in these reefer containers. This paper analyses the current potential for increasing the mass of stone and pome fruit that is exported in reefer containers. The study indicates that pome fruit has the greatest opportunity for improvement, whereas stone fruit has less room for improving the use of space / volume. Die Suid-Afrikaanse vrugte uitvoer industrie is ’n belangrike bydraer tot die land se ekonomie, en moet doeltreffend bestuur word om te verseker dat hierdie rol volhou word. Die studie dui aan dat kernvrugte die grootste geleentheid bied vir verbetering, terwyl met steenvrugte daar minder potensiaal is om spasie / volume benutting te verbeter. Die voorgestelde verbeteringsmetodes is soos volg: optimale verpakkingsreëlings van vrugte; verbeterde verpakking en palletafmetings (spesiale palletgroottes); verbeterde stapelreëlings van kartonne op palette en palette in koelkashouers; en laastens, die gebruik van ‘slip sheets’ in plaas van palette
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