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Logix Unveils Quantum Leap in Frost Detection

April 2010 - Logix has announced the release of the Logix® IntelliFrost™ Automatic Defrost System. IntelliFrost™ directly measures frost accumulation on an air unit's fins and initiates a defrost sequence only when the frost level reaches a user-defined limit. The frequency at which an air unit actually needs to defrost can vary by a factor of ten or more over the course of a year due to the ever-changing factors that affect ambient humidity in the refrigerated area. The rate of frost accumulation on an air unit's fins is directly related to the moisture in the air surrounding it. Unfortunately, the variability of air moisture level factors such as seasonal humidity, product moisture content, and plant personnel activity make the frost level estimating techniques of current defrost methods energy inefficient and costly. Intelligent frost measurement with the Logix® IntelliFrost™ provides substantial opportunity for energy conservation by eliminating unnecessary defrost cycles.

Click Here (pdf) for an illustrative case study.

SnoTemp Cold Storage Opens Energy Efficient Facility in Albany, Oregon

April 2010 - SnoTemp Cold Storage announced the opening of a 100,000 square foot frozen storage warehouse at its Albany, Oregon, location featuring a Logix® refrigeration energy management control system as the cornerstone of its efforts to reduce energy consumption. The state-of-the-art facility was designed and built according to the highest energy efficiency standards, reducing energy consumption by 50 percent - the equivalent annual energy use of 150 homes. The addition brings total capacity of SnoTemp's Albany location to 375,000 square feet with temperature options ranging from +60°F to -18°F.

“The majority of our environmental impact comes from our energy use. We made large investments in our energy efficiency efforts in order to limit our environmental impact,” according to Jason Lafferty, general manager. Efficiency measures include: state-of-the-art Logix® refrigeration energy management control system, 50 percent additional insulation for freezer walls and roof, high-efficiency florescent lighting controlled by occupancy sensors, variable frequency drives on motors, and refrigeration system efficiencies achieved through oversized components.

Located in the agricultural heart of the Willamette Valley, SnoTemp Cold Storage serves a large spectrum of frozen food processors and retailers, including dairy, poultry, beef, seafood, and fruits and vegetables. SnoTemp (formerly Eugene Freezing & Storage) has been family owned and operated for over 50 years. In early 2010, Eugene Freezing & Storage brought its Eugene and Albany facilities under the same name, SnoTemp Cold Storage. Combined, the company offers 550,000 square feet of temperature-controlled warehousing at its two locations.

VersaCold chooses Logix for Energy Management at Port of Tacoma

April 2010 - VersaCold has again selected Logix to provide a refrigeration energy management system for its new refrigerated storage and distribution center in the Port of Tacoma. The 196,600 square foot facility will feature cooler, freezer, ice cream storage, refrigerated dock area as well as office space. The facility will service seafood, agriculture and food manufacturing companies that rely heavily on the availability of cold storage infrastructure and services in this market.

With a keen focus on conservation of energy, VersaCold is “working on many energy incentive measures,” according to Dave Fisher, Director of Engineering. Energy conserving features include the refrigeration system, the Logix refrigeration energy management control system, VFDs on motors, energy efficient lighting, roof and wall insulation thickness, roofing type and color, freezer door types, truck dock doors types and selections of dock boards, to name a few.

The Logix system will manage refrigeration energy demand and efficiency, maximizing facility operations. VersaCold chose Logix because Logix products have saved energy and improved productivity at several other VersaCold storage facilities in the U.S. and Canada.

VersaCold is a leading provider of temperature controlled warehousing and logistics services in the U.S. and in the world with 123 facilities in the U.S., Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Argentina. VersaCold's operations provide approximately 586 million cubic feet of global refrigerated storage capacity to a diverse group of food producers, processors, and wholesale and retail distributors. Versacold also provides fully integrated refrigerated distribution services.

Colombia Crest's Cabernet Sauvignon Columbia Valley Reserve 2005: Wine Spectator's WINE OF THE YEAR

December 2009 - Long-time Logix customer Columbia Crest took highest honors in Wine Spectator's 2009 Top 100 Wines in the World. Selected from more than 17,000 wines tasted by editors, and scoring an impressive 95 on the magazine's annual roundup of the year's most exciting Top 100 wines list, this impressive award underscores the outstanding achievement of Columbia Crest's winemaker, Ray Einberger. Says Wine Spectator, "Wines this good generally cost much more [than $27]; the average price for a 95-point wine reviewed this year is $144."

Founded in 1978, Columbia Crest is part of Ste. Michelle Wine Estates and has been a Logix client since 1998. The winery consistently produces excellent moderately-priced wines. Over the past twelve years, Columbia Crest has appeared on Wine Spectator's Top 100 list 14 times. According to Columbia Crest's website, “equally noteworthy is that Columbia Crest is the first wine produced in Washington state to fill the top spot in Wine Spectator's annual Top 100 wines of the world ranking.”

For the success of the Cabernet Sauvignon Columbia Valley Reserve 2005, Einberger credits the six independent vineyards from which he selected the grapes for this blend of cabernet sauvignon with 5 percent Merlot and 4 percent Cabernet Franc. Einberger told Wine Spectator: “You get a range of character from these different vineyards. We have been homing in on which vineyards have the stuff to make the best wines.”

Einberger has broad experience in the wine industry including Bordeaux's Mouton-Rothschild, Clerc-Milon, and Opus One. In 1993 he established the reserve program at Columbia Crest, and in 2002 was promoted to chief winemaker. He is an enthusiast of the winery's state-of-the-art Logix Winery Control System and the benefits it affords.

Logix proudly pays homage to the skill and art of winemaker Ray Einberger for this accomplishment and industry recognition.

Bellingham Cold Storage chooses Logix again

April 2009 - Bellingham Cold Storage recently chose Logix to supply a refrigeration energy management system for their Roeder Avenue facility - the largest dock-side cold storage and processing facility on the West Coast.

BCS required that the refrigeration energy management system efficiently control equipment and meet their stringent product quality, output and safety objectives, while also limiting peak energy demand without impairing their high value-added freezing operations. This requirement was no small feat as the sprawling Roeder Avenue facility includes 11 warehouses with over 50 evaporators, six blast tunnels, eighteen blast cells and 30 compressors in multiple engine rooms.

The Logix system is now managing refrigeration energy demand and efficiency, with no interruption to their critical blast freezing operations. BCS’ choice of Logix was based on their recent energy management success with Logix at their Orchard St. facility

We thank the staff at Bellingham Cold Storage for their confidence in Logix and look forward to their ongoing success.

Founded in 1946, Bellingham Cold Storage has always been a cold storage and food processing innovator that has earned a reputation for quality by leading the industry in adopting warehouse and processing technologies.

Recent additions to the Logix team

March 2009 - Lee Trautman, Director of Sales

A native of Portland, Oregon, Lee started his 32-year career as a refrigeration contractor at Western Engineers and has worked for two other refrigeration contracting firms that specialize in ammonia refrigeration. Over the course of his career, Lee has been an active member of Refrigerating Engineers and Technicians Association (RETA), and has served on the national board and as a vice chair for three national conventions. Lee has actively promoted ammonia safety training throughout the Pacific Northwest over the last thirteen years and has enabled over 1,000 people to attend ammonia safety training, an accomplishment for which he has received numerous awards. This year, Oregon Dairy Industries (ODI) sought Lee’s help to build attendance at their annual conference, and to establish an annual trade show to complement the conference. ODI named Lee “Volunteer of the Year” for his outstanding efforts in helping achieve these goals.

Bringing more than thirty years of refrigeration experience to the Director of Sales position, Lee is very excited to join the Logix team. As a contractor, he always viewed each project from an energy standpoint. “The prospect of working with industrial refrigeration users to design and implement tailor-made control system solutions that achieve optimal energy and productivity efficiencies is very gratifying.” says Lee. “My experience has led me to work for the company I saw deliver the best results time and again – Logix.”

We are very pleased Lee has joined the team at Logix. Feel free to contact Lee anytime to explore what Logix can do for you.

March 2009 - Troy Chertok, Senior Project Engineer

As a Pacific Northwest native, Troy enjoys much of what this area has to offer – hiking, coffee, UW Huskies, and so forth. In practice, he’s a design engineer with 24 years of experience developing software and solutions in R&D, manufacturing, quality control, and service. “My exposure to both small and large company cultures makes me truly excited to join the Logix team and a business environment that allows me to work more directly with and for customers,” says Troy. While he will primarily focus on development and solutions engineering, he believes his ultimate satisfaction will come from seeing that Logix products and services are meeting our customers’ needs.

Troy brings valuable engineering depth and experience to Logix. We are already benefitting from his contributions and look forward to what his future efforts will yield.

Logix Announces OPC Data Access Server

August 2008 - Logix is pleased to announce the debut of its OPC Data Access Server, which provides a high degree of interoperability between a Logix control system and OPC client applications that may be supplied by different vendors in the process control industry. An OPC client has complete access to all monitored control points and status information available in the Logix Energy Management System.

OPC, an open standard, provides greater interoperability between automation/control applications, field systems/devices, and business/office applications. For more information, contact Logix.