Investment in the Transcom
Sharaf warehouses and
container handling facilities
in Beira is providing exporters
and importers with the services and
capacity of an inland port capable
of handling the full range of dry
cargo, together with value-added
services.
The facilities now have the
capacity and systems in place
to pick and pack to clients’
requirements.
“This is to cater for the trend in
the tobacco industry to supply some
global factories direct from source.
Some companies are moving away
from centralised warehouses in
Africa/Europe and are relying on
us to pack containers to order,” says
Guy Harvey, Transcom Sharaf CEO.
Factories require a mix of
different types of tobacco, which are
then blended for final production.
The same system is being used for
other agricultural products.
All cargo is monitored live on
an internal management system,
which also tracks containers.
Individual boxes stored in the
warehouses are tracked to allow for
efficient and accurate picking.
Transcom Sharaf is the first in
Africa to use wireless phosphine
monitoring for the fumigation of
tobacco containers, in conjunction
with Eco2 Mozambique.
Monitoring software processes
the data to predict whether the
fumigation
of individual
containers will
be successful,
and also
provides
24-hour data
monitoring on
all fumigation
processes.
“It has been
a challenge
because no-one
else in the
world is monitoring and managing
containerised fumigation on such
a large scale and we have had to be
very innovative,” he says.
On the infrastructure side, the
container yard has been expanded
by an additional 12 000sqm,
allowing for additional container
storage prior to movement to port
or final destination.
Other investments in the
facility include
the building
of a 3000sqm
covered area
for the loading
and unloading
of trucks and
containers, the
implementation
of an electronic
management
system, and the
upgrading of
security through
the installation of new cameras,
floodlights and fingerprint access
control.
“Security services have been
brought in-house to ensure there is
full control”, says Harvey.
The facility now handles an
average of 40 trucks in an eighthour
shift.
Fire protection has also been
upgraded, with tanks storing
700 000 litres of water on site.
They are connected directly to the
internal firefighting system.
While the company is retaining
its focus on serving the tobacco
industry the investment in a new
12 000sqm facility allows it to
support other sectors as well, he
says.
Some 18 000sqm of bonded
warehousing across a number
of different buildings allows the
company to handle a range of
products without the risk of cross
contamination.
The systems and upgrades have
been implemented in accordance
with the requirements of ISO 9001
certification.
INSERT
No-one else in the world is
monitoring and managing
containerised fumigation on
such a large scale.
– Guy Harvey
