A Sweet Logistics Solution

Sugar Australia, the largest domestic customer of Australian raw sugar, and the largest exporter of Australian refined sugar invited CRT Group to provide a solution for refined sugar to be transported in bulk from the Sugar Australia plant in Yarraville (VIC) to Perth (WA).

CRT Group proposed a containerised freight solution that could provide efficiencies and flexibility to the supply chain and would intelligently optimise Sugar Australia’s resources.

One of the challenges addressed as part of the project related to the uploading systems required to provide refined sugar in bulk to customers, as well as to the plant as both were different. Therefore, a key focus was to provide a solution that would provide Sugar Australia with flexibility, whilst ensuring a high level of efficiency.

A component of the proposal outlined by CRT Group was the use of top loading 20 foot containers. This method offered the required flexibility, as containers could be sent to WA via sea, rail or road transport.

Once in WA the containerised product could be stored in a container park until delivery was required and therefore did not utilise valuable warehouse space. In addition, once the product was delivered the container could be easily returned to the Yarraville plant for re-loading.

Another important aspect of the logistics solution provided by CRT Group was the utilisation of the CRT Pod Trailer ™ for delivery to sites that required pneumatic discharge and the utilisation of a container tipping skel to sites that required gravity discharge methods. Rather than having a variety of containers for the different delivery sites, the solution as outlined provided the flexibility to supply product using one container format and size, regardless of where the product was to be delivered.

The CRT Pod Trailer ™ provided Sugar Australia with an effective solution that was required in order to convert their liquid plant from using raw sugar to refined white sugar, whilst still being able to utilise the existing equipment and systems.

Accordingly, this resulted in minimal conversion costs to equip the plant to produce liquid white refined sugar and resulted in a more efficient process and enhanced quality of product for customers.

Furthermore, the process of loading sugar from the Yarraville plant (VIC) provided Sugar Australia with efficiencies, as the process of packing to bulk bags and then rehandling it upon arrival in WA had been removed.

Overhead costs were reduced dramatically due to the storage of bulk product moving to a container, rather than utilising floor space in Sugar Australia warehouses. The need for substantial floor space occupied by the raw stockpile of sugar in the Fremantle Plant was also eliminated as it was replaced by the more effective solution of using refined sugar stored in containers.

This is the first stage of what is sure to be a mutually rewarding relationship between Sugar Australia and CRT Group as we endeavour to provide solutions for Sugar Australia at their other sites Australia-wide.

For further information on Sugar Australia, please visit their website at Sugar Australia.