Installation of state-of-the-art centrifugal dryer at CHEP

CHEP New Zealand has taken on board customer feedback and is leading the industry with the development and installation of a state-of-the-art centrifugal dryer for its Penrose Service Centre that will benefit many fresh produce providers.

Following the introduction of CHEP’s Lift Lock Reusable Plastic Crate (RPC), feedback has been overwhelmingly positive with many fresh produce providers realising the value and cost saving benefits of the foldable reusable crates.

The ability to pack fresh produce directly into the RPCs and transport produce to cold storage facilities or directly through to retail outlets has reduced manual handling and delivered cost savings to customers.

One of the main benefits of these RPCs is that they can be collapsed and then stacked, ensuring more crates per stack therefore reducing transportation and storage costs.

Once fresh produce has been transported or sold, the empty RPCs are returned to CHEP Service Centres where they are cleaned, washed and redistributed to primary producers, ensuring a fast turnaround in order to meet harvest or pack house requirements.

Working closely with customers, CHEP reviewed how the cleaned and washed crates were handled following delivery. CHEP identified that improvements could be achieved in removing residual water from the RPCs following the conditioning process, which would provide significant benefit to customers in terms of labour, time and cost savings.

A significant capital investment has been made to upgrade and redesign the Penrose Service Centre and install a state-ofthe-art high-speed centrifugal dryer as the last step in the wash and dry process, reducing residual water in the crates to below 5 mg, in line with world’s best practice

How the system will operate:

When the RPCs are returned to CHEP, they will be manually loaded onto a conveyer belt, then erected, inverted and conveyed into the washer. Following washing, the RPCs will be repositioned to the correct orientation and the side walls collapsed. The RPCs will then be sorted by size, and stacked into predefined numbers. The crate stack will advance into a highspeed centrifugal dryer where water will be removed. Upon exiting the centrifugal dryer, crates will be stored undercover ready for dispatch.

CHEP New Zealand’s Fresh Team is proud to have worked closely with customers to introduce the solution. “This superior crate drying technology provides our customers with considerable savings in terms of labour, time and cost. By installing world-class, state-of-the-art crate drying technology within the CHEP service centre, all our customers will benefit, from this investment,” says Paul Dennison, Director Domestic and Export, CHEP New Zealand.