Bringing the ocean close to New Zealand business

Designing, delivering and operating an 18,000sqm coldstore that can accommodate 29,000 pallets within 18 months – under budget and ahead of schedule – is a highly impressive feat on its own. And then there’s the fact that the fully convertible spaces can lower temperatures to a controlled, icy, minus 25˚celcius. That’s the same as stepping outside at McMurdo Station in Antarctica in August.

However, a recent visit by CBRE New Zealand’s National Director, Industrial & Logistics, Claus Brewer, Kate Martinus and members of the team to the facility just off State Highway 1 in the Waikato at the entrance to the Ruakura Superhub revealed that the facility is much more than these statistics. “It is a pioneering facility, designed and built by Apollo Projects, for Maersk in New Zealand that has been designed to be no less than a sustainable and seamless connector of ports, people, places, communities and the land, and it is already well underway in doing all of this,” Brewer says.

Bringing the ocean closer to business

Tony Mildon, Maersk’s Cold Chain Sales Director, Oceania Area, and driving force behind the creation of the facility, introduces it as “a multi-modal hub designed to drive Maersk’s role in the globally integrated supply chain.” To explain, he says that what Maersk has been doing at Ruakura is working with its customers to bring the ocean closer to their businesses and closer to where they produce their goods. “Once customers’ product comes into our facility, it is already like being on the ship, which from an export perspective makes huge sense.”

“We are constantly talking with our customers about the digital and physical offerings that they need from us. The digital offering is all about visibility, track and trace, and e-commerce, whereas the physical offering is all about taking the product to their customers - the actual physical cargo, the cartons, the pallets. This facility is an essential part of that process, and the cargo that we are putting through is giving the customer certainty and complete visibility of the supply chain, so they can engage with their own customers.”
Mildon says that Maersk looked carefully at the New Zealand market long before committing to Ruakura. “We asked ‘where are our customers?’ We needed to position our facility somewhere that would be attractive to our customers. In the Waikato region we saw the number of production facilities in the protein segment covering both dairy and meat sectors, and we noted that there are between 16 to 18 customer plants near Hamilton.

“We then noted the plans that the Tainui Group had around the Ruakura superhub that they were developing, an inland port that would give us the ability to access rail, a key offering to our customers in terms of containers. This is important from a New Zealand perspective in terms of moving cargo, because there are limits on the weight that can be put into a 40-foot container when travelling by road, which can leave containers 20 to 30% empty. By reducing the number of containers that would be moving around the North Island empty, it would also help to reduce congestion in port terminals, meaning that vessels can be more efficient through the ports.

“Not only does this help with our carbon net zero position and for our customers, but it is key for heavy products like butter. It also means that we also offer something for landside customers, whilst still giving them choice for their ocean activities to generate efficiencies with Maersk when looking to distribute around New Zealand.”

Mildon continues: “Through engagement with our customers, our understanding developed of the changes and challenges they were facing today, enabling open discussions to build solutions for today and the future. We were able to include specific solutions for them into our design and build.”

Building the facility itself took about 18 months, with a fixed target opening date based on commitments Maersk had made to customers. This was achievable, says Mildon, partly due to Maersk’s ability to guarantee delivery of overseas construction materials through its shipping business, as well as the quality of the partners on the project. “We were very lucky that our partners beside us bought into what we were looking to achieve. They understood that an important part of the design was that it wasn’t a basic platform that we’re putting into New Zealand.”

So how does it all work?

Today, the facility enables both outbound and inbound container movements via 30 individual loading docks, to which trucks back up and unload cargo that is then moved efficiently inside by robotic racking machines. Inside are four main freezer rooms in the facility, which can hold product a specified temperature. “We also offer blast freezing,” says Mildon. “That’s taking in a chilled product and freezing it down to about minus 25˚C. It’s held at minus 18˚C. We can process 360 pallets over a 24-hour cycle, with nine freezers that take 40 pallets per freezer.”

The facility is also designed as a place for Maersk to demonstrate its values to its own people, of whom there are 12 office-based roles in a state-of-the-art office space, on site along with another 20 workers on shifts in the coldstore.

“One of our core values is to look after our people,” says Mildon. “Not only do we manage our team working in a difficult environment; we also have a wellness room, which has facilities for visiting health professionals, employment assistance programs and career development and training within the Maersk group.
 
“In the facility we also have two breakout areas for the staff, plus a full range of services on offer. The wellness rooms are a dedicated space that are fitted out  with massage beds, and supported by a contracted physio who comes in once a week to look after the team. You have to appreciate that these guys are moving 29 kilogram cartons, so we have to ensure that we’re looking after their health and their body as much as the work environment – and the environment.”

This is a key point for Maersk, which is working hard to change the somewhat outdated view of cold stores as being unsustainable. “Anything that we do or build must align within Maersk’s commitment to carbon net zero,” says Mildon. “When we looked at designing this facility, we made decisions based on how we operate as a company. For instance, we are using carbon dioxide instead of ammonia as a refrigerant, which is much better for the environment. Also, all the plant was designed to be accommodated within the roof, and rooms were placed strategically so that we used less steel in construction so the CO₂ to cool the chiller rooms now doesn’t have to travel as far. We are also capturing and re-using all our rainwater, and we have a 1.4MW solar array on the roof. If you look in the foyer of the building as you come in, the amount of renewable energy is recorded, and in the grounds we’ve got electric charging stations for cars.

“For us these are non-negotiable features, and we presented a business case for the investment required. And we will continue to use technology to get better and better.”
Another key part of Maersk’s approach has been to engage meaningfully with Tainui Group Holdings throughout the process, says Mildon. “Tainui have always been very supportive of what we wanted to achieve. The work they are doing with the environment in mind is a huge statement around who they want to be and where they want to play. That’s enticing for us, and we’re now working with Tainui to offer in-house training and job opportunities for iwi members. We are looking forward to developing this initiative as we move ahead.”

What’s next for Maersk in New Zealand?

Acknowledging that the facility has only been running ‘full noise’ for about six months, key lessons through the design, build, and early days of operation all begin with customer engagement, says Mildon. “We built a facility that we knew was needed by our customers. A key focus for us was very strong, and early, engagement with customers and with our own staff. We employed our facility manager at about the same time as we started construction, so they could work closely with the project team around how building came together. The commitment from our internal team has been completely off the hook, and I’m really thankful for getting really good partners who shared the vision of where we wanted to be.

“This is a significant change to New Zealand cold store infrastructure, and the facility is currently at approximately 80% of its capacity. The opportunity we have seen is to provide a consolidated service within New Zealand, as well as to and from export markets. If you look at the Waikato, the worker hub has a considerable opportunity to grow. If you couple that with the amount of space in the Waikato that will benefit from career development, the opportunity for growth here is huge.

“Then we ask what’s next for us in New Zealand, and what else can we do? Where are the other opportunities? When we look at what we’ve done in the North Island, what do we need to do in the South Island? Is the opportunity there? To make decisions around this, we will continue to be very clear on our customer proposition, who we are building for, and what we might want a facility to transact.

“What I can say for now is that the Property Awards was an incredible moment for me personally and for our team to be recognised. I think that we need to aspire to change. We can’t just do things the way they have always been done. We have to aspire to improve.”

Imagery courtesy of Apollo Projects