RWTA Honors Cold Chain Leader with Life Membership Award

The Refrigerated Warehouse & Transport Association of Australia (RWTA) bestowed the Life Membership Award to Paul Fleiszig, Director Oxford Logistics Group. The Award and Life Membership Medallion was presented to Fleiszig by RWTA Immediate Past Chairman & current GCCA Chairman, David O’Brien during the Global Cold Chain Summit conducted by RWTA and the Global Cold Chain Alliance (GCCA) in Sydney (October 2017).

“Paul has done so much for the association, so it is truly rewarding to recognise him for his commitment to the organisation and the industry” O’Brien said. “He is always ready to share his knowledge and is most generous with his time to ensure others in our great industry benefit from his knowledge and expertise.”

Life Membership of the RWTA is bestowed on those members who have made an outstanding contribution to the Cold Storage Association of Australia (1941 to 1993), and to the RWTA (1993 to present day), through their involvement and commitment to the Australian Cold Chain.

Fleiszig has over 23 years of experience in all facets of the cold storage industry following a career as an accountant before joining the family business. He has been involved in the design and project management of a number of new facilities. He has been an active member of the RWTA in Victoria for many years before becoming a member of the National Executive as a Board Member. He served as Vice-Chairman of the RWTA from 2007 – 2011 as National Chairman for 4 years 2011 – 2015 and has continued to serve as the immediate Past Chairman since 2015. 

Fleiszig recognised that members wanted to contribute and to share ideas about day-to-day issues confronting our businesses. To this end, Paul was responsible for establishing sub-committees to involve and engage RWTA members. His advocacy in this area saw sub-committees created to address industry concerns in the areas of Pallet Management and Controllers, Transport Issues and Energy Efficiency. 

“I am extremely honoured to receive the Life Membership Award” stated Fleiszig. “To be included in this exclusive group of industry leaders is very much appreciated.”

Read more about past Life Membership Award Recipients here - http://www.rwta.com.au/rwta-life-members/. To view photos from the Summit go to the Summit post event website - http://www.gcca.org/blog/gallery/global-cold-chain-summit/ 

2017 Frank Vale Award Winner

The Frank Vale Award has been awarded annually since 1993 to acknowledge talented young people within the industry, who are 35 years of age, or younger, have worked in the cold chain industry for a minimum of three years, and who have demonstrated to their employers that they have the potential to become future leaders, and make a positive contribution to the development of the Australian Cold Chain Industry.

The Refrigerated Warehouse & Transport Association of Australia (RWTA) is proud to announce Mathew Reiffel, Operations Manager, Americold Logistics, as the recipient of the 2017 Frank Vale Award. The Award was presented to Reiffel by RWTA Immediate Past Chairman, David O’Brien and Shannon Porter, CEO Retracom Contracting (award sponsor) during the Global Cold Chain Summit conducted by RWTA and the Global Cold Chain Alliance (GCCA) in Sydney (October 2017).

On behalf of all RWTA members we wish to congratulate Mathew on becoming the Frank Vale Award Winner for 2017, and we wish him all the best for the future.

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RWTA (QLD Division) End of Year Get-together

RWTA (VIC Division) - Networking Event: Women in Business

RWTA (VIC Division) Annual Golf Day - Fri 24 Nov 2017

We are looking forward to the annual RWTA (VIC Division) Golf Day at the  Eagle Ridge Golf Course 215 Browns Rd Boneo, (Mornington Peninsula).

Vale Dale Tieman

It is with great sadness the Tieman family has announced the tragic and sudden passing of Dale Tieman at 61 years of age.

Dale Tieman was doing what he loved doing every weekend, riding his mountain bike with two great mates, the Tieman family said.

For over 40 years, Tieman was heavily involved with the tail lift, materials handling and tanker industries.

His passion for the business and its engineering, family, employees and customers has never waned.

The Tieman family and all employees at Tieman Tankers are focused on continuing the family business as usual during this unforeseen circumstance and in the long term. Tieman Industries were long-time supporters of the RWTA and the RWTA sends their condolences to the family and his coworkers.

Tieman leaves behind his wife Donna and three boys, Mitchell, Brodie and Kaiden, all of whom work in the family tanker business.

He will be sadly missed and forever remembered as a key person in building the Tieman brand that reached so many people and industries. Funeral details will be advised as soon as possible.

RWTA (QLD Division) Annual Golf Day - 14 July 2017

We are looking forward to the annual RWTA (QLD Division) Golf Day at the  Brisbane Golf Club, Tennyson Memorial Ave, Yeerongpilly QLD 4105. 

International Association of Refrigerated Warehouses Elects New Officers and Board Members

(ALEXANDRIA, VA, May 10, 2017) – David O’Brien (Doboy Cold Stores, Hemmant, Queensland, Australia) was elected as the 2017-2018 Chairman of the International Association of Refrigerated Warehouses (IARW) Board of Directors on April 25, 2017. As the new chairman and the first Australian to chair the board in decades, O’Brien plans to focus on the Lead the Cold Chain aspect of the organization’s strategic plan; specifically, how the cold chain can be developed and employed to maximize food rescue and help feed the less fortunate throughout the world.

“After learning that the world produces enough food to feed 10 billion people yet there are 800 million people chronically undernourished, I realized the tremendous impact that cold chain development can have on feeding the hungry,” O’Brien said. “Too often food is lost because of an underdeveloped cold chain and all of us at GCCA can change that. I look forward to driving food rescue efforts forward over my next year as chairman.”

IARW is the third-party temperature-controlled warehousing Core Partner of the Global Cold Chain Alliance (GCCA). It dedicates itself to promoting best practices in the temperature-controlled warehousing and logistics industry through research, industry benchmarking, networking, and education. IARW members work closely with members of the World Food Logistics Organization (WFLO), another GCCA Core Partner, to improve food systems, specifically in relation to the safe, efficient, and reliable movement of perishable products to the global community.

O’Brien will be joined on the board by new IARW officers Vice Chairman Doug Harrison (VersaCold Logistics Services, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada), and Treasurer Andy Janson (Hanson Logistics, St. Joseph, Michigan, USA).

Also elected to serve three-year terms on the IARW Board are directors-at-large Harry Halpert (MTC Logistics, Baltimore, Maryland, United States) and Neal Rider (AGRO Merchants Group, Dallas, Texas, United States).

Rich Bauer (South East Cold Storage, Miramar, Florida, United States) was elected to represent the Southeastern Chapter.

The new officers and board members were appointed to their board positions at the annual 126th IARW-WFLO Convention, held April 22-25 in California.

View a complete list of IARW and WFLO Board Members.

Vale Andrew Main

Andrew Glenn MAIN passed away on 13 March 2017 aged 54. Andrew is survived by his wife Lynn, children Amanda, Sarah & Damien. Andrew who worked for Crown Equipment for over 20 years, attended various functions organised by the RWTA in Victoria, as well as attending National Conferences. He was always willing to provide technical advice in relation to MHE applications and his friendly disposition will be missed by members who had the privilege to know Andrew over many of those years. We remember a fine man who made a valuable contribution to the RWTA.

Our thoughts and prayers to his wife, Lynn and children Amanda, Sarah & Damien.

RWTA (SA Division) Networking Breakfast with the Big Cats

RWTA (QLD Division) Networking Breakfast

RWTA (VIC Division) Networking Breakfast

RWTA (NSW Division) Networking Breakfast

TransAsia Jakarta

2-4 March, 2017

Indonesia Convention Exhibition
ICE - BSD City, Indonesia

http://www.transasia-exhibition.com/about-exhibition

Australian Logistics Council - Forum 2017

EUAA - Tasmanian Energy Forum, Hobart, 23 March

SMART Supply Chain and Logistics Conference

Advancing Cold Chain Warehousing & Logistics

EUAA National Conference 24 & 25 May 2017

Resignation of RWTA Executive Officer

Members and Associate Members of the Refrigerated Warehouse and Transport Association of Australia Ltd (RWTA) are advised that Mr Russell Sturzaker, the Executive Officer of the RWTA has tendered his resignation, effective Friday, 9th December, 2016.

On behalf of the RWTA Board and all Members and Associate Members of the RWTA, I wish to thank Russell for his professionalism, thoroughness and dedication during his two year tenure with the Association.

The following is an extract from my Chairman’s Report for 2015-2016. 

Under Russell Sturzaker’s stewardship, this past year, a great deal of foundation work has been initiated. Russell has directed a complete overhaul of our association’s website; introduced Wild Apricot membership and event management software; developed a special Member’s Portal to allow members to access the vast array of association documents, now archived electronically.

Russell has also initiated the development of a stand-alone website to better manage the complex elements of the association’s annual conferences. Members have benefited from the convenience and efficiencies associated with On Line Event Registration and On Line Payments and members can now gain access to the GCCA website directly, courtesy of a link established between our associations’ servers, during the past year.

In addition to attending the networking breakfasts organised by the state divisions, Russell provided support and garnered sponsorships, to ensure that each function was well run and well attended.

A search for a replacement Executive Officer has been initiated, and we expect this position to be filled early in the New Year.

We wish Russell well for the future. 

Regards,

David O’Brien

Chairman