[Hebei, China — October 2025] — As global demand for temperature-controlled goods—such as frozen foods, pharmaceuticals, biologics and perishable produce—continues to accelerate, the warehousing industry is increasingly turning to automation to meet the twin challenges of capacity, cost and reliability. In this evolving environment, HEGERLS is stepping forward with solutions engineered for the cold chain: combining high-density storage systems, robust handling equipment, and intelligent software to enable efficient, scalable, and reliable cold storage operations.
Market Context: Why Automation Matters in Cold Storage
Cold Storage Market Highlights & Drivers
Rapid growth: From USD 174.28 billion in 2025 to USD 620.38 billion by 2033.Key type segment: Refrigerated warehousing dominates vs cold-chain logistics.
Top application segment: Food & beverages lead, followed by pharmaceuticals and chemicals.
Regional trends: North America currently leads (~35% share in 2024) due to mature infrastructure, but Asia-Pacific is growing fast through urbanization, rising incomes and e-commerce demand.
Major drivers: Online grocery and prepared-meal demand, increased regulatory scrutiny for food safety, growth of biologics and pharma requiring strict cold chain monitoring, emerging markets’ infrastructure build-out.
Restraints: High operational costs (energy, refrigeration, maintenance), initial CapEx for cold-storage modules.
Cold Storage Facilities Face Unique Pressures
High energy costs (cooling and insulation), labor safety (workers in sub-zero environments), space constraints (due to rising land/building costs) and high expectations for uptime.
Automation Offers Multiple Benefits
Maximizing storage density (thereby reducing building footprint), reducing manual exposure in harsh temperature zones, improving throughput and minimizing spoilage or human error.
HEGERLS Cold Storage Automation Focus
HEGERLS brings a full suite of automation technologies tailored for cold-chain environments, including:
Four-Way Shuttle Systems capable of navigating multi-directional aisles and optimized for freezer temperatures (e.g., –22 °C or lower).
Stacker Crane Systems with high precision and reliability in low-temperature zones, enabling retrieval and replenishment in high-rise cold bays.
Rack-Supported Warehouses and Mobile Racking to compress footprint, reduce aisle space, and optimize insulation volume.
Rack-Supported Warehouses
Mobile Racking
Proprietary software platforms: CC-WMS (Warehouse Management System) and YUNTU-WCS (Warehouse Control System), which orchestrate material flow, monitor environmental conditions (temperature, humidity), manage task scheduling and enable real-time analytics.
CC-WMS
YUNTU-WCS
Together, these components allow HEGERLS to deliver turnkey cold storage automation solutions—designed for high-density, high-throughput and certified reliability in extreme conditions.
Cold Storage Warehousing Automation in Action
Recent HEGERLS deployments illustrate how the combination of hardware + software is making a difference:
A major Indian cold-chain operator engaged HEGERLS to install a freezer storage facility rated at –22 °C, with 6,000 pallet positions using four-way shuttle automation — significantly boosting usable volume while improving retrieval speed and reducing labor reliance.
For pharmaceutical warehousing, HEGERLS systems enable secure tracking of temperature-sensitive products, with CC-WMS managing slotting of high-priority SKUs, YUNTU-WCS controlling retrieval sequences, and embedded sensors triggering alerts if temperature variance is detected.
Key Trends Shaping Cold-Chain Automation
Multi-temperature zoning: Facilities increasingly support both chilled (+2-8 °C) and deep freeze (–40 °C) zones in one building, requiring automation systems to handle wide temperature ranges.
Sustainability & energy optimization: Cold storage facilities now emphasize reduced power consumption, better insulation design, and automation that minimizes open-aisle time and maximizes occupancy.
Hybrid human-robot workflows: Automation handles bulk movement and retrieval, while human operators (supported by pick-to-light, wearables) focus on value tasks like quality checks and specialized packing.
Data transparency & compliance: Sensors monitor environmental conditions, software logs every movement for traceability (critical in pharma), and digital twin simulations optimize layout and throughput.
Modular expansions & retrofit: Many facilities grow incrementally—starting with a freezer zone or stacker lane and expanding later—automation must support phased rollout without disrupting operations.
Why HEGERLS Stands Out
Engineering for sub-zero environments: HEGERLS systems are designed for reliable operation in cold zones, considering lubrication, material resilience, frost mitigation and sealed drives.
Holistic automation stack: Rather than offering only individual components, HEGERLS provides an integrated ecosystem: hardware + racking + software + control.
Global project experience: From cold-chain deployments in India to industrial parts warehouses in Russia, HEGERLS brings cross-industry insight to cold storage design.
Service & lifecycle support: For cold storage clients, uptime is critical. HEGERLS supports maintenance planning, monitoring dashboards and upgrade pathways to ensure long-term reliability.
As the cold chain infrastructure evolves rapidly, now is the time to prepare for next-generation warehousing. Explore how HEGERLS can help you design, implement and scale a fully automated cold storage facility — optimized for density, speed, energy‐efficiency and long‐term performance.
Contact HEGERLS today to request a demo, download a technology brief or schedule a consultation.
Contact Info
Website: https://www.hegerlsstorage.com/
Email: hegerls1@hegerlsstorage.com
Phone: +86-311-87240955
