Hacis, the logistics arm of Hactl, has opened a new climate-controlled facility to cater for the increasing volumes of perishable and temperature-sensitive e-commerce shipments transiting Hong Kong.
The new ‘Cool Zone’ is located within Hacis’ fulfilment centre and provides a climate-controlled handling solution for goods such as fresh fruit and chocolates.
Hacis said the decision to open the new facility was driven by the growth in cool chain shipments arriving at Hong Kong International Airport, which are destined for e-commerce customers.
“The Hacis E-commerce Fulfilment Centre needed to support this expansion of temperature-sensitive e-commerce business to various local and overseas destinations, and having reliable and efficient chiller facilities was essential to ensure the preservation of these shipments in prime condition,” said Hacis Executive Director Ringo Chan.
The company said cargo arriving in Hong Kong can easily be processed and delivered to local customers on the same day. Once cargo is transferred to the Cool Zone, staff perform all required processes such as pick and pack and labelling, before loading the cargo onto temperature-controlled customer vehicles waiting at the facility’s dedicated truck docks. Individual orders can also be delivered direct from to the end-customer by courier.
Hacis Cool Zone offers a handling area with temperatures down to 15°C and can integrate with agents’ own IT systems to feed direct status updates and stock information. It can also provide storage for chilled, fresh and frozen commodities ranging from +25°C to -25°C.
The Cool Zone is directly linked to Hactl’s SuperTerminal 1 automated Box Storage System (BSS), enabling it to cater for loose cargo, while minimising transit times.
Early users of the facility have been importers of fruit, yoghurt, snowy mooncake and chocolates, with most traffic inbound from Asian countries. Typical shipments comprise 100 pieces weighing between 1 to 5 kilos each.
“We anticipate an increase in the amount of temperature-controlled cargo being handled as there is a growing demand for direct supply of products such as fruits from Japan and Korea,” Ringo adds.
“For time- and temperature-sensitive perishables, it is important to keep the cargo handling time as short as possible,” continued Ringo.
“Hacis Cool Zone will take no more than 7 hours from unloading the cargo from the aircraft, to finishing the fulfilment process. So, for example, if the shipment is off-loaded in the morning, it can be delivered to a local end-customer the same day. That probably won’t be possible if the consignee deals with the fulfilment process using a downtown facility.”
