chillout - oxford cold storage · in f12b; berle transport and jurcola transport in f11c; gec...

Chillout Oxford Logistics Group Newsletter – December 2011 1

Chillout

An Oxford Cold Storage publication

Message from Management

As we come to the close of another year it is time to reflect on the

12 months just gone. From a business view point, this year has been

one of the most difficult years we have experienced. We started the

year with floods in Queensland, Victoria and Tasmania which have

all seriously affected the volume of produce available for our clients

to process. This has resulted in storage and out of stock issues

which have severely impacted business conditions in our industry.

The poor weather last summer also seriously affected ice cream

sales. This has led to relatively low storage volumes for the year and

increased pick complexity in order to support our clients to

maximise order fulfilment for their customers.

Another challenge for the year has been the changing ordering patterns by the retailers. The move away from

our clients’ branded products has led to some extremely uneven ordering patterns. We have had to deal with

some extremely volatile order pick volumes. This together with the produce shortages has led to a very

challenging operational environment. It has been a credit to the hard work and ingenuity of our staff that we

have been able to overcome these challenges and deliver our clients the high standard of service that we pride

ourselves on. Oxford staff can be proud of their efforts and quality results achieved.

During the year we have been fortunate enough to introduce a number of new clients onto our site and

welcome back a few customers who have returned. This year Anzco (Wilson Foods), Boeing, Dr Oetker (via

Simplot), Hakka, Kerry Group, Moira Macs, Orange & Green (incorporating Kruger ANZ) have all come on board.

We thank all our staff and our clients’ staff for making the transition of this new business so smooth and

efficient.

Over the next 12 months we will continue to deal with the many challenges which we encountered in 2011 and

new challenges which are sure to arise. Some of the major projects for 2012 include the establishment of a dry

powder warehouse for Fonterra, the introduction of SAP into the Fonterra business, preparations for the

introduction of SAP into the McCain business and the further consolidation of the Don-KRC business into its new

factory in Castlemaine.

In last year’s newsletter we noted the pressure the business was facing due to increases in our costs. These

issues will continue next year with one of our biggest challenges being the imposition of the carbon tax next

July. Electricity is one of Oxford’s largest expenses and we expect to be hit very hard by this new tax. Through

the great efforts of Gabor Hilton and his team we have implemented a number of projects to reduce our energy

consumption. The introduction of LED lighting, variable speed drives to run our compressors and upgrading

doors on our older chambers have delivered material energy savings. We will need to continue investing in

these and new projects in an attempt to mitigate the impact of these cost increases. These business conditions

mean we must continue to vigorously pursue cost reduction opportunities. Again we ask for the assistance and

patience of all our staff in order to achieve the best outcome for all.

Issue 16 - December 2011

_______________________

In this issue:

o Message from Management

o New Ambient Warehouse

o Transport Manager

o Staff Achievements

o O H & S

o Abbott visits Oxford

o Hatched and Matched

o List of Years of Service


Our IT business Radio Terminal Systems (RTS) has under gone a major restructure. RTS is now under the

management of Justin Anderson. The business has been scaled back and refocused. RTS was established to

provide IT services with a clear operator focus. We will once again ensure that is the focus of RTS’s service

delivery. This has already shown benefits with all new projects being completed on time and on budget. Our

service & repair performance has also improved dramatically. We wish Justin and his team all the best with the

continued challenges in 2012.

Oxford Container Services (OCS) is just completing its first year of operation. Under the guidance of Greg Lucas

& Frank Paola the business has established a core client group. OCS provides container services for refrigerated

containers, AQIS Quarantine containers and custom bonded containers. OCS is run by a small dedicated team

which has done a fantastic job during the establishment phase of this business.

Management would like to thank all employees for their effort and

loyalty which has helped provide great service to our clients. The Fleiszig

& Stern families extend our best wishes to all our staff and to their

families. We wish everybody a safe, healthy and happy festive season.

Paul Fleiszig

Director

New Ambient Warehouse

Oxford Prepares Ambient Warehouse for New Milk Powder Storage Work

Oxford staff and various contractors are in the process of preparing an ambient warehouse for milk

powder storage and export container packing work. In an extremely short time frame the ambient

warehouse must be transformed from a prefabricated concrete factory into a food grade warehousing

facility. Currently the preparation is well on track and will be ready to begin receiving its first loads of milk

power prior to the end of year. When completed, the warehouse will be capable of holding more than

6,000 pallets of milk powder. This new work contributes to further diversifying Oxford’s already broad

range of service offerings.


Jacquelene Brotherton

Transport Manager

There have been many changes in transport since

our last newsletter. We finally have the basics in

place to form the National Heavy Vehicle Regulator.

This has the possibility for the transport industry to

finally gain some uniformity instead having different

rules in all states and territories which has always

created problems for interstate drivers. It will make

it easier for all of us under Chain of Responsibility.

Oxford Cold Storage has been instrumental in the

draft of the RWTA Code of Conduct on Chain of

Responsibility which is in the process of applying for

registration by VicRoads. This will become the basis

for all of our Chain of Responsibility policies. We

will be conducting more CoR toolbox meetings

around the site when the Code is registered to give

all staff an update and better understanding of their

obligations under the regulations and the Code. As

a result of this involvement I was asked to take part

in the 2011 Chain of Responsibility Conference in

Sydney in December. I took part in a panel session

with representatives from Big W and Fleeteffect

concerning achieving Chain of Responsibility

Compliance and also a hypothetical case study

regarding a Load restraint real-life Breach to allow

attendees to test their knowledge and

understanding of who is responsible when things go

wrong.

We have been working with the WILD committee

and members of VicRoads for support in an upgrade

to the Hume and Dohertys Roads intersection. This

is a project where everyone can assist us by

reporting any near misses and minor incidents so

we can build a dossier to support our application to

the Minister for an upgrade. WILD and others have

already produced a DVD to show the intense traffic

flow and the potential for a serious accident.

Several transport companies have joined us on site

in recent years, Roadmaster and CCLS in F12A; SRT

in F12B; Berle Transport and Jurcola Transport in

F11C; GEC Transport and Troncs Transport in F11D.

This has improved communication between the

transport companies, clients and us.

Also, meetings have been held between transport

companies and our site/store managers for each

party to gain a better understanding of the

pressures faced and to put into place initiatives that

will assist all parties in meeting their obligations to

customers and regulators.

I have taken part in projects by VicRoads (part 2 of

the Heavy Vehicle Rollover Prevention Programme)

and the NTC Compliance and Enforcement Strategy.

It is a mark of the regard in which these

organisations hold Oxford Cold Storage that we are

invited to be involved in these programmes. On a

personal note, I again took part in the Leukaemia

Foundation Worlds Greatest Shave and my lovely

Mohawk raised $15,105. This of course is due to the

wonderful support of my family, friends and

colleagues. THANK YOU!!

On the move with our Transport Manager

We are trialling new trailer chocks which are proving much better than the original rubber chocks at

preventing the trailer moving forward. They are clearly visible when checking if the driver has applied

the chock as the Orange Safety contrasts very well with the truck tyre. It appears that the truck drivers

are finding them an improvement over the old rubber chocks as they actually cannot drive over them

and squish them.


Congratulations TIM PATTON Frank Vale Nominee 2011

Tim Patton represented Oxford Cold Storage & Victoria in the

annual RWTA Frank Vale Award. Tim delivered a remarkable

speech to an auditorium packed with the senior management of

the Australian cold chain industry. He performed brilliantly.

Unfortunately Tim did not win the award, however he can be

extremely proud of his efforts.

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LIFE MEMBERSHIP

Gabor Hilton, Oxford Cold Storage’s

Engineering Manager, was inducted

as a Life Member of the Refrigerated

Warehousing and Transport

Association of Australia in recognition

of his contribution to the Association

for over 45 years. What a popular

and worthy nomination this was.

Gabor received a rousing ovation

from all those attending the RWTA

Annual Conference Gala Dinner in

Launceston, Tasmania.

During the RWTA conference Oxford’s Paul Fleiszig was appointed RWTA Chairman for the next 2 years.

*********************************************************************************************

Supply Chain & Logistics Association of Australia 2011

Victorian Environmental Excellence Award

From left to right: Ray Tanner, Warwick Unsworth, Barry Harvey,

Gabor Hilton (centre), Doug Corey, Martin Porter & Paul

Burn

Gabor Hilton accepted the Victorian SCIAA award for Environmental

Excellence in Melbourne on the 6th October 2011.

The prestigious award was given to Oxford Cold Storage for:

• Maintaining electricity usage at 2008 levels even after expanding

Oxford’s storage capacity by 30% during the past 3 years.

• The energy savings were achieved by the retrofitting energy

hungry freezer lights with solid state LED lighting and by

adaptation of VFD technology to increase fan and refrigeration

compressor efficiency.

• Saving in excess of 20 million litres of water with rain water

harvesting.

The judges commented that Oxford’s win was because Gabor Hilton

demonstrated how the savings benefited the environment as well as

improved the profitability of the business. Gabor Hilton accepts trophy awarded to

Oxford Cold Storage at the Victoria Awards Event


`

New Air Lock Policy

A New Policy has been implemented for the Air Lock Devices which should prevent the early departure and

trailer creep which causes incidents when a forklift or workers may still be working in the trailer. With the

supervisors monitoring the placement and removal of the airlocks, a greater degree of safety will be achieved.

We are also rolling out a larger key tag to make the key hanging on the dock door much more visible and to

prevent it being placed into pockets and forgotten.

Occupational Health & Safety Update

Over the last 12 months Oxford Cold Storages OH&S Team have performed a fantastic job continually

striving to improve all aspects of health and safety around the site. We have paid particular attention to

safety vests and safety shoes flooding the site with signage and introducing a new slip-on shoe for visitors.

In 2011 we have also completed a lot of OH&S training bringing everyone up to date in many different

areas.

Some of the items we have managed to tick off this year have been:

• The formation of a new OH&S committee,

• Chief/Warden training over all three shifts,

• First Aider training updates,

• Test and Tagging over all three sites,

• Safety cameras in freezers 10, 11A, 11B, and 12A igloos,

• Safe roof and ceiling access over the all three sites,

• Breathing Apparatus training for the Maintenance Department,

• Initial 5 day OH&S training/refresher training for all 20 OH&S Reps.

Next year one of the committee’s main objectives will be to concentrate on LTI (lost time injuries) and MTI

(medically treated injuries) looking at the exact causes of these injuries and coming up with productive

solutions to prevent these reoccurring.

We will also be testing out our new crew of Chief Wardens and Wardens with site wide emergency

evacuations drills planned for early in the next year.

All members of the OH&S team would like to welcome Maggie Montagnese who has replaced Doug Ashley

as our new OH&S Manager. We are all looking forward to working with Maggie moving forward as we are

sure to benefit from the knowledge and experiences she brings to the table from her previous workplaces.-

Committee Chairman

I would like to thank Oxford Cold Storage for the warm welcome and hope that my past experience

will benefit Oxford as we grow to become leaders in safety.

I’d like to leave you with a quote for 2012 “Difficult things take a long time, impossible things a

little longer”. – Maggie Montagnese


Tony Abbott the leader of the Liberal and National parties’ coalition in the Federal Parliament paid

Oxford Cold Storage a visit on the 20th

October 2011. The visit was organized with the help of our long serving

employee Nizami Redzepi. Mr Abbott was greeted by Gabor Fleiszig and inducted by Adam Frankiewicz. During

his stay, the leader of the opposition spent time in Freezer no. 12 and was also shown how to tally, then later

addressed a group of around 50 employees where he spoke about the damaging consequences of the proposed

carbon tax. He took many well informed questions from the employees, and then gave a press interview. Before

leaving he discussed issues affecting our industry with Oxford’s management.


Hatched and Matched

Noel Tavendale (Oxford Site Manager) escorting

his daughter Melanie (Oxford Store 11C)

Lily Alice Bruell

Born 21 September 2011

Yvette’s daughter/Luis Fleiszig’s (Director)

granddaughter

Gus James Opperman

Born 21 March 2011

Son of Robert Opperman (Store 12A)

(Manager)

Layla Thwaites (Melanie’s daughter/Noel’s granddaughter) . . .

A picture can say a thousand words!

Max Tonner

Born 11 July 2011

Son of Josh Tonner (Store 10) Jamie Alexander Blood

Born 28 October 2011

Son of Adrian Blood (Store 11C)

Kurt James McCreadie

Born 15 October 2011

Son of Daniel McCreadie (Store 12A)

Deven Gujarati from Freezer 12A

Wedding 21 November 2011


Oxford Employees Years of Service - 2011

Employee Years of service Employee Years of service Employee Years of service

Over 30 years WOOD, Edith 12 REMUERA, Matt 8

HILTON, Gabor 37 GIDDINGS, Max 12 TALAU, Tevita 8

TAVENDALE, Noel 35 SIADI, Peter 12 VLAHOULIS, George 8

NAJDOSKI, Canko 34 FATAI, Mateaki 12 WILSON, Tom 8

MOODIE, Ian 32 STOJCEVSKI, Cvetkko 12 LOPEZ, Jesse 8

TALEVSKI, Blaga 31 PAOTAMA, Ivan 12 TEAO, Tere 8

Over 25 years ADONIS, Joven 12 JOHNSTON, Bradley 8

KANZAMAR, Joe 29 KAA, Jason 12 OPASIK, George 8

VIDANOSKI, Lidiya 28 ABAZI, Lirim 12 VAILEA, Dean 8

JUKES, Ian 27 BROWNE, Peter 12 SONEPHADY, Khambao 8

Over 20 years FRANKIEWICZ, Adam 11 IBRAIMOSKI, Faruk 8

GIACOBBE, Darren 23 PAOTAMA, Fred 11 PANDUREVIC, Drago 8

ABDULAI, Zerk (Zac) 23 NYSSEN, Robert 11 PANDUREVIC, Vlado 8

TALEVSKI, Anita 21 NGO, Van Dinh 11 NGUYEN, Tai Ngoc 8

GLOWICKI, Marek 21 CAMPBELL, Neil 11 MAMUD, Elvas 8

NASARENKO, Michael 21 PATTON, Tim 11 ORMSBY, Frederick 8

FA, Sitiveni 21 CASSIDY, Syd 11 DERBY, Wayne 8

Over 15 years AQUILINA, Geoff 11 HANSEN, Paul 7

GIACOBBE, Nick 19 MUSCAT, James 11 MOETAUA, Reeves 7

SHAMAI, Chaim 18 Over 5 years GOBBI, Trevor 7

KARCEWSKI, Ryszard 17 DENES, Zoltan 10 PENBERTHY, Kenneth 7

BECKHAM, Rod 17 SITA, Paula 10 PAOLA, Frank 7

CHAREWICZ, Tolly 17 TOTH, Steven 10 KEATING, Grant 6

ABDOULOSFSKI, Dzevdi (Joe)16 TALEVSKI, Peter 9 LANCER, Kevin 6

SOBKOWICZ, Andrzej 16 ZSORI, Tibi 9 LE, Tra 6

PETROSKI, Lupce 15 JOHNSTON, Jarrod 9 LEE, Elvis 6

VIDANOVIC, Neso 15 CHAJTER, Andrzej 9 NACUA, Armando 6

TUI, Julius 15 HERNANDEZ, Jose 9 NAGHAR, Mohamed 6

FASTUCA, Sam 15 TAMARANGI, Ty 9 EASAW, Philip 6

Over 10 years TEIONA, Taati 9

GRANGER, Nick 14 TEOKOTAI, Tiriamate 9

CLARK, Peter 14 VIDANOSKI, Slobode (Bob) 9

PAUA, Semisi 14 PALPRATT, Jason 8

SELVA, Mauro 14 BIRTIC, Simon 8

MANIBO, Mario 13 CHAREWICZ, Ted 8

REDZEPI, Nizami 13 ADEMI, Turan 8

GULAN, Les 13 BARBARA, Eddie 8

Contact us:

Oxford Cold Storage 1 Hume Road, Laverton North Victoria 3026 Australia

PO Box 264, Altona North Victoria 3025 Australia

T. +61 3 9240 4000

F. +61 3 9240 4100

E. [email protected]

W. www.aboxford.com.au

Whilst many employees have never

been to Oxford University they have been coming to Oxford in Laverton North where they have graduated with honours and contributed to the success of the Oxford Logistics Group. We acknowledge the valuable contribution of all employees who have achieved service milestones.

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