Annual Conference of the Refrigerated Logistics Association VDKL in Cologne

Rising energy prices, the looming natural gas shortage, and sustainability in refrigerated and deep-frozen logistics were the top topics at the annual conference of the Association of German Refrigerated Warehouses and Refrigerated Logistics Companies e.V. (VDKL) in Cologne. Energy and energy efficiency were the main topics alongside digitalization.

(PresseBox; Bonn/Cologne) The chairman Falko Thomas welcomed numerous new members among the approximately 130 participants and provided an overview of current developments in refrigerated and deep-frozen logistics. “The two-year Corona pandemic has significantly burdened us,” reported Thomas. Nevertheless, the supply of fresh and chilled food in Germany has always been secured. The ongoing shortage of skilled workers, limited cargo space, skyrocketing prices for containers, packaging materials, or pallets, and not least dramatically increased electricity and gas prices are currently making it difficult for the industry. “We are facing challenging tasks and, above all, new additional challenges. But we are ready to tackle and solve them. And we will solve them as well.”

Focus Areas of Association Work

VDKL Managing Director RA Jan Peilnsteiner presented the focus areas of the association’s work. Here, too, the topic of energy and energy efficiency was at the center – for example, the update of the VDKL practical guide for improving energy efficiency in refrigerated warehouses or a VDKL energy floater for members based on an electricity price index. A VDKL working group is also dealing with, among other things, the integration of PV systems and wind power into energy management.

Digitalization in Refrigerated and Deep-Frozen Logistics

Digital transformation, agile working, New Work Industry 4.0, blockchain… all buzzwords of the structural change towards a digitally connected age. Prof. Dr. Klemens Skibicki, an expert in digitalization and social media marketing, provided participants with exciting impulses, sometimes with Rhineland humor, on how companies must adapt to the new conditions of increasing digitalization.

Photo: © VDKL