Eurocold helms efficient production in Queensland

The state of Eurocold’s Berrinba, Queensland, production facility makes one thing very clear – Eurocold is a business designed around teamwork. From engineering to assembly and quality control, collaboration is a daily discipline.

Over the past five-and-a-half years, Eurocold has built a production culture shaped by change, where the ability to adapt quickly and build with precision has become central to performance. This focus has been sharpened by a cold chain sector undergoing swift transformation.

“We are in a rapidly changing industry,” says Eurocold COO, Clayton Nel. “Refrigerated transport has seen a strong push towards higher thermal efficiency, smarter materials and improved build quality.

“Telematics and real-time visibility have become standard expectations. At the same time, demand is rising for faster delivery and more flexible last-mile solutions, driven by growth across grocery, meal delivery and pharmaceuticals.

“More freight is being moved within the cold chain, and a change in what consumers want is creating new refrigeration standards.”

Eurocold is supplying this growing customer base with ideal solutions through a great web of collaborative production.

“Eurocold engages business owners to make sure they can enter the industry meaningfully, with the tools and assistance that is right for them,” Clayton says. “We plan for our customers’ initial performance and their long-term growth. That’s what makes us unique.”

Eurocold operates as a completely knocked down (CKD) assembler, sourcing best-in-class components from specialist manufacturers around the world and bringing them together under one roof. Rather than relying on a single supply chain, the company selects premium truck chassis, high-performance refrigeration units, insulated bodies and fit-out accessories independently, allowing each vehicle to be built around the demands of its task.

Clayton describes the CKD model as fundamental to how quality is engineered into every truck. Local assembly provides tighter control over production, consistent build standards and the flexibility to tailor each vehicle to customer requirements.

“This gives Eurocold deep product knowledge, faster parts access and quicker repairs, which are just as important,” he says.

The approach sees chassis sourced from leading global manufacturers, refrigeration systems supplied by specialist providers and insulated bodies delivered from ISOKIT in Italy. Once assembled, completed vehicles are deployed across Eurocold’s depot network in Queensland, Victoria, New South Wales, Western Australia and South Australia.

Headlining Eurocold’s extensive production network is its Berrinba assembly facility in Queensland. The 8,677-square-metre site’s operations are upheld by a team of 33 people and underpinned by distinct business mantras under Clayton’s purview.

“We share our manufacturing facility with our head office,” he explains. “Our team covers all of our key functions such as our supply chain, production, finance, sales and Queensland’s repair division.

“Our setup is already quite collaborative given we share a space, but this is further encouraged through our four values – ‘people are everything’, ‘in it together’, ‘stop waste’ and ‘enjoy the ride’.”

The Berrinba facility acts as Eurocold’s cultural lifeline by championing these values. The operational processes within it specifically promote cooperation and efficiency in two ways. Eurocold’s consolidation of operations, along with its support of employees to apply soft skills to their manufacturing tasks, act as points of difference.

“Eurocold’s teams work as one connected community,” Clayton says. “This creates a tighter feedback loop, faster decision-making and a more personal relationship with operators.

“Additionally, we find that most companies do not prioritise the integration of soft skills like planning, communication, time management and more when it comes to gaining efficiencies. Eurocold employs people with manufacturing and automotive backgrounds to apply these soft skills to its work. It’s critical for our productivity, which is all to benefit our customers.”

This approach is evident in Eurocold’s production scheduling. The company relies on highly skilled coordinators and their problem-solving abilities to keep its supply chain lean. In addition, the implementation of critical data tells Eurocold how much stock should be held to support customer demand.

“We hold 90 days’ worth of stock based on historical company data,” Clayton says. “This ensures we have the right amount of stock to provide to customers in case we experience delays with parts or material imports from Italy.

“We want to be able to provide a solution for customers immediately, and this kind of planning allows us to do just that.”

This initiative has even extended to structuring building processes to support a set of precision workflows and create a lean assembly line. The Berrinba site has full drive-through capabilities with four roller doors on both ends and a floor divided into four lanes – one lane reserved for container unloads and stock control, the middle two to handle production volume and the fourth to be what Clayton refers to as an ‘exotic lane’ which manufactures vehicles that don’t follow the same timeline or processes as Eurocold’s other builds.

“This structure keeps our manufacturing process moving,” he says. “Vehicles progress from one end of the facility to the other with each step of the building procedure.”

These processes are also supported by cross-functional training, another collaborative feature of the company.

“Every one of our team members can complete at least 80 per cent of any given build, regardless of what their primary role is in our team,” Clayton explains. “This is part of our onboarding plan to make everyone into a team player. It creates a culture of reliability, ownership and care among our facility.”

The care in Eurocold’s Berrinba operations is further maintained by the presence of other soft skills utilised such as communication and motivation. Leaders at the site foster high-quality work and efficiency by assisting employees in taking responsibility for their output.

“Eurocold’s integrated structure promotes a work culture where team members at all levels are encouraged to contribute and take ownership of their areas,” Clayton says. “This approach builds pride and accountability, improves communication and accelerates problem-solving. It ultimately ensures customers receive better service because everyone is invested in the outcome.”

The efficiency achieved through this integration of skills to create a lean supply chain majorly contributes to Eurocold’s extremely quick turnaround times of between 14 to 21 days for scheduled builds. Although the state of Eurocold’s Berrinba facility and its manufacturing output is in phenomenal shape, Clayton is excited to improve it.

“The future of the Berrinba facility revolves around the development of more confidence and collaboration,” he says. “This will allow us to become a more cohesive team.

“While we are proud of our success to date, we are constantly reviewing our performance and striving for improvement.”