More and more supermarkets and other distributors of food products are implementing insulated thermo covers or thermal covers for the distribution of temperature controlled or temperature sensitive products as fresh, chilled, frozen or exotic food products. The usage of thermal covers gives big advantages in the logistic flow and quality of the products. Seeing the thermal covers are functioning as a passing cooling system, the covers protect the temperature of the products or goods against any external or outer temperatures. This means that the goods can be transported in any condition which makes combined logistics of goods with different temperatures possible reducing the transport costs significant. Not only in the distribution but also in storage the thermal covers offer opportunities. In the distribution center or the local supermarket thermal covers are used as a short-time storage system in which the temperature of the product is protected from external temperatures increasing flexibility and quality.

When multiple use or re-usable thermal covers are used in the distribution of temperature sensitive food products, a send and a return flow needs to be organized between the sender of the goods and the receiver. When the covers are send back from the receiver to the sender, an internal logistic takes place within the distribution center being the internal movement of the thermal covers. To do all this efficient, the company Krautz – Temax also studies the most ideal internal and external logistic processes in the supply chain. This results in additional storage or handling systems and techniques to organize and implement the covers in the existing logistic processes as a efficient and easy as possible.

One of the additional products which are used together with thermal covers are storage systems on which the covers are hung-up. To do this the thermal covers are foreseen with straps on top of the covers which fit on the storage containers. These containers are foreseen with bars. A storage container can maintain storage of 20 covers depending on the thickness or insulation quality of the covers. If the covers are not used they are hung-up on these containers. The trick is to place the storage container strategically in the distribution center. The storage containers are also movable which makes it possible to move the stored thermal covers from the return entry of the distribution center to the temperature conditioned facility where they are to be used again.

Next to the storage the storage containers can also be used to bring-on the thermal covers over the roller containers or pallets. When the covers are implemented with the folding system, the cover will automatically fold open on the storage container so the roller container or pallet can be driven in the open cover. Next the cover is taken from the storage containers and closed, ready for transport. This system is successfully implemented in several supermarket groups where they see that the time, used to handle an insulated cover, is reduced from minutes to just seconds.