Sub Zero Insulation Technologies is bringing forward new-age insulated truck bodies in technical collaboration with Isi Yogev Industries, Israel. Isi Yogev is the only authorized supplier to the IDF (Israeli Defense Forces). Mr. Deep Khira, CEO, Sub Zero Insulation Technologies Pvt. Ltd., Pune, shares his observations about the domain.
Excerpts:
How does Sub Zero go about with its reefer building/integration program?
Reefer body building is highly customised, we understand our clients requirements thoroughly and accordingly design boxes. We also work closely with cooling unit suppliers to ensure that the required temperature is maintained well and the product reaches from A to B location without any problems. Sizes range from 8’ to 40’ and temperature requirements also vary from -25 deg to +15 deg. We are seeing an increased demand for pick up models 8’ boxes for transportation within cities. Popular sizes would be 14’ and 20’, these are preffered by TPL companies.
Explain the salient tech features and USPs of your reefers.
Our efforts are to make light weight reefers without compromising on strength. We design boxes eliminating any thermal bridges. Our floor is competely sealed, we never screw anything in to the floor. The minute water starts to seep into reefer box floor, it starts to get spoilt and can create bacteria too! We recommend GRP boxes but are not limited to this, we have the flexibility to offer steel boxes as well. Some customers prefer Stainless Steel inside, we can provide that too. For the insulation material we are using PUF for most customers as this is the best material one can use in terms of insulation properties.
Take us through the other processes such as body-building / integration of sub-assemblies, quality checks, testing, etc.
Our factory is well organised and laid out according to process flow from panel production to final assembly and integration with chassis. We have a fabrication team to prepare floors and chassis subframes. Doors are prepared seperately and then fitted to the box. After fitment of the cooling unit, we test the box by pulling temperature down to desired value. We also check our boxes for any leakages, particularly the doors. We have a solid team of engineers from India and from Israel checking all stages of each Sub Zero project thoroughly. Quality must come first if we want to establish ourselves as No.1 in the market. We have supplied reefers for all applications: Dairy, Ice Cream, Pharma, Horticulture, Frozen Foods, etc. Customer demands help us learn & improve, there has been nothing as such that we have been unable to provide to our clients.
What is your reefer production capacity and who are your major customers?
We have a production capacity of 500+ boxes in a year and can easily scale up if required. Our major customers are Chitale Dairy, Swift Cold Chain, Schedulers Logistics, Monginis, Mapro Foods, Venky’s, Protrans Supply Chain and many more. At the moment we are still very young, our target is customer satisfaction through quality and timely deliveries. We are making good progress and expanding our client base rapidly.
How do you work with OEMs and direct supplies to the market?
From the vehicle OEMs I believe Ashok Leyland is the only one really offering a complete package reefer truck. The market size is not big enough to make the OEMs jump. Also there is a certain amount of customization which is not easy for OEMs. Having said that, they are all showing interest as this is a fast growing segment. I believe OEMs will start to offer complete solutions for reefers sooner rather than later.
We are in discussion with a leading vehicle OEM to develop a light weight, high quality reefer box on their pick up chassis. It could be a very good product if everything goes as planned.
Your views on real-time monitoring of temperatures and vehicle movement?
Due to the amount of losses made through cargo getting damaged, people have become a lot more concious towards temperature monitoring. With the advancements in technology in telematics, it has become very easy for companies to monitor and log cargo movement and temperature. We always encourage our customers to track their temperature and give us feedback. This way we can show how we are better than the competition and if there are any problems then we can learn from the same and improve. With the advancement in technology, testing procedures will only get more stringent and in a few years companies may be mapping the entire box via sensors to create a thermal plot to check performance. This is required by ATP standards in Europe.
How do you see the future for reefer semi-trailers in India?
We are discussing with one of the largest agri businesses in the country to develop a reefer semi trailer for them. This will be a very special project where we will ripen the bananas inside during transit from Maharasthra to the north of the country. The demand for reefer semi trailers is quite limited at the moment and this will be driven through development of road infrastructure.