Imagine the level of rigor required to refrigerate and store tons of potato seeds. A slight temperature deviation is enough to compromise months of work and discard an entire crop.

In South Africa, a refrigeration company has earned national recognition precisely because it does not tolerate failures when it comes to quality. Pro Freeze specializes in the development of complete solutions for refrigerated storage systems and serves a wide range of industries. Within this broad portfolio, one stands out due to the complexity and responsibility involved: the storage of potato seeds.

A company with this profile, focused on quality, efficiency, and continuous improvement, could only rely on solutions with worldwide acknowledgement. Thus, Pro Freeze chose Full Gauge Controls and the Sitrad management software for the control and automation of its projects.

“Potato seeds remain stored for months at specific temperatures before planting. Therefore, it is essential to keep them below a certain temperature limit, preventing premature sprouting and ensuring they remain suitable for use,” explains Etienne Pienaar, Sales Manager at Pro Freeze.

To meet this requirement, Sitrad was installed in existing cold rooms, allowing Pro Freeze technicians and their clients (potato-producing farms) to monitor temperatures accurately and receive alarms whenever established limits are exceeded. In new installations, Sitrad is integrated into the solution from the very beginning of the project.

“We needed a temperature monitoring system with a good cost-benefit ratio, that could be offered even to small entrepreneurs. It was also critical to have an app that could be setup not only on a desktop computer, but also in cellphones, allowing owners and collaborators to access it at any time. Sitrad is exactly what we needed,” reveals Pienaar.

Another highlighted point is technical support. “Working with Full Gauge’s distributor in South Africa, AB Controls, has been extremely positive and efficient,” he says.

AB Controls is another important partner of Full Gauge Controls on the African continent, with a broad and complete product inventory, in addition to being fully technically qualified.

Operating since 1964, Wesgrow is the oldest potato breeding company in South Africa, and has more than 6,000 hectares of cultivated land.

Wesgrow has 16 cold rooms with outdated refrigeration units. All of them were replaced with new condensing units equipped with Full Gauge Controls controllers, with a focus on greater energy efficiency. Subsequently, Sitrad was implemented for the management of temperature, pressure, and voltage.

At this farm, new condensing units were installed operating with Full Gauge Controls rack controllers, connected to Sitrad Inbox for complete and remote management through Sitrad

“As a standard we use Sitrad for monitoring temperature and voltage. Normally, Sitrad Inbox is connected to the client’s internet, but in some cases, communication is carried out via network towers using antennas,” explains Etienne Pienaar.

In this project, new controllers were also installed in existing control panels, such as MT-512E Log and the RCK Line, all connected to a new Sitad Inbox. This configuration enabled precise temperature management in the older cold rooms.

After a fire destroyed their cold room, Belle Rive Farm relied on Pro Freeze to build a new facility. The project included new condensing units and a control panel equipped with Full Gauge Controls MT-512E Log and RCK-862 controllers, connected to Sitrad for system monitoring and management.

All condensing units used by Pro Freeze are manufactured by Cubicool International, a long-standing partner of Full Gauge Controls. Cubicool is a leading manufacturer of high-quality modular refrigeration systems for commercial and industrial applications, recognized for its energy efficiency, advanced technology, and excellence in products and services.