Consultant case study: defining the project before sourcing suppliers

1. What the definition phase produced

Two weeks of engineering work that every later step depended on.

• A design duty in kW with an optimistic, base and pessimistic range — not one rule-of-thumb figure
• Pallet capacity validated against the real footprint, aisle strategy and dock traffic
• A redundancy and downtime position agreed with the client before suppliers could assume one
• An annual energy and ten-year cost model that set the award criteria in advance
• A written exclusions register: electrical infeed, racking, floor heating, controls, commissioning, spares

2. Why sourcing came second

Suppliers price the project they are given. Definition decides whether the bids can be compared at all.

• Before definition, two informally contacted suppliers were designing to two different assumptions
• After definition, five bidders priced the same duty, the same exclusions and the same commissioning scope
• Clarifications were answered once and reissued to everyone, so the comparison stayed like-for-like
• Price only entered the conversation after exclusions had been normalised onto one scope

3. What stayed with the consultant

ColdMatch is supplier-neutral infrastructure behind the consultant's deliverables, not a replacement for them.

• The client relationship and the signed design basis
• The exclusions register and RFQ technical annex as billable deliverables
• The normalised comparison pack and the written recommendation
• Final sizing, refrigerant choice and compliance sign-off with the client's engineer

Best for

Commercial and industrial cold chain projects, typically from USD 250,000 upward: cold rooms, refrigerated warehouses, blast freezers, processing plant refrigeration and distribution hubs.

Not a fit: domestic refrigerators, household or office air conditioning, small repair call-outs, or spare-parts-only enquiries.

Typical cold chain project types

• Fruit, vegetable and horticulture cold storage with pre-cooling
• Meat, poultry and fish chilling plus blast freezing
• Dairy and beverage process cooling
• Pharma and vaccine GDP cold chain (2–8 °C, −20 °C, −70 °C)
• Refrigerated warehouses, 3PL hubs and mobile cold rooms

Cold room vs refrigerated warehouse

A cold room is a single insulated chamber, usually under ~500 m³, serving one process or storage step. A refrigerated warehouse is a multi-zone facility with racking, docks, air locks and a central refrigeration plant, sized by pallet positions and daily throughput rather than by room volume.

What affects project cost

• Storage volume, pallet positions and daily throughput
• Target temperature and ambient design conditions
• Refrigerant choice (NH₃, CO₂, HFC) and plant redundancy
• Panel thickness, doors, air locks and civil works
• Backup power, solar, freight, duties and commissioning

Temperature range checklist

• +12 to +16 °C — bananas, potatoes, curing
• +2 to +8 °C — pharma GDP, dairy, fresh produce
• 0 to +4 °C — meat, fish and chilled distribution
• −18 to −25 °C — frozen storage
• −35 to −40 °C — blast freezing and IQF

RFQ checklist

• Product, temperature and daily intake
• Room dimensions or required pallet positions
• Site location, ambient conditions and power supply
• Backup autonomy and redundancy level
• Budget range, timeline and scope exclusions

Build your RFQ →

Project type cluster

Agriculture and horticulture cold storage

Pre-cooling plus storage for fruit, vegetables and flowers, usually +2 to +12 °C with high humidity control and fast pull-down after harvest. Sized by daily intake in tonnes, not only by room volume.

Meat, poultry and fish cold storage

Chilling at 0 to +4 °C combined with blast freezing at −35 to −40 °C and frozen holding at −18 to −25 °C. Hygienic panels, drainage and separate dirty/clean flows are part of scope.

Pharmaceutical and API cold storage

GDP-compliant 2–8 °C rooms, −20 °C and, for some active pharmaceutical ingredients and biologics, −70 °C. Requires mapping, IQ/OQ/PQ, N+1 refrigeration, backup power and alarm escalation.

Refrigerated warehouse and 3PL distribution

Multi-zone facilities sized by pallet positions, dock doors and daily throughput. Typical scope covers racking, air locks, dock levellers, a central plant and an energy strategy.

Food processing plant refrigeration

Process cooling, chillers, spiral or tunnel freezers and glycol loops integrated with production lines. Usually specified alongside ISO 22000 and HACCP food safety requirements.

Mobile and containerised cold rooms

Plug-and-play 20 ft or 40 ft refrigerated units for seasonal peaks, remote sites and temporary capacity, typically −25 to +8 °C with optional solar or generator support.