Building Resilient Supply Chains With More Warehouse and Distribution Centre Space
A custom built warehouse or distribution centre can help you build resiliency into your supply chain.
Recent global events have highlighted the weaknesses in supply chains for many businesses. For decades, operating on lean supply chains was seen as an advantage. Now, the coronavirus pandemic, along with the potential of looming trade barriers between different nations, have shown that employing multiple channels of supply may be a better approach despite higher costs.
Along with shortages resulting from manufacturing plants shutting down due to COVID-19, there has also been a surge in online shopping as local retailers complied with social distancing closures. All of this has driven demand for warehouse and distribution centre space as companies seek more local solutions such as re-shoring or near-shoring to increase the efficiency and resiliency of their supply chains.
Solving Your Warehouse Needs
The options to meet this surge in demand involve:
renting available warehouse space in existing storage facilities,
renovating or retrofitting vacant or under-used facilities,
or constructing entirely new buildings.
With a rented facility you may be sharing a building that is divided up among other businesses. This could make access to parking and loading docks more of a challenge. It may also limit your ability to expand should your warehousing needs grow.
When it comes to a renovation or retrofit, you may find yourself in a situation where the best use of the existing space means you have to settle for a solution that only partially fits your needs. You may also discover other issues to deal with during the retrofit such as hazardous materials or structural concerns. Such things can force delays and have the potential to drive up the cost of your project.
Build-To-Suit Warehousing and Distribution Centre Capability
Of the three options, constructing your own building has the biggest up front cost in terms of time and investment required. But it may be the most attractive long-term solution as you can custom build your warehouse or distribution space to meet the specifications unique to the products you deal in.
Building a new warehouse or distribution centre also affords you the advantage of being able to plan all aspects of your space including the truck yard to determine traffic flow, access to loading docks, and the ability to drop trailers to assist with peak volumes. In addition you can determine parking and accessibility for visitors and employees.
When you build a warehouse, you can choose the building shape and footprint. This gives you the opportunity to design for the optimal flow of goods from receipt to outbound shipping. You can also choose your building height, something crucial to maximizing the use of your footprint when it comes to storage capacity. If overhead cranes, over-sized doors or loading dock capacity are required, you can plan ahead and ensure the best placement for these systems.
Why Bel-Con is Your Best Choice to Build or Retrofit Your Warehouse in Eastern Ontario
Additionally, your choice of builder can have a tremendous impact on the successful completion of your warehouse project. With over 45 years of experience in the construction industry, Bel-Con have completed numerous new builds, renovations and retrofits for manufacturers, shipping companies and other commercial ventures in Bay of Quinte and Eastern Ontario.
Best of all, our status as a Butler Builder® gives us an advantage over many other builders. Butler Manufacturing's pre-engineered building solutions have been in use throughout North America for over 100 years. Their building systems have been carefully designed and rigorously tested for durability and efficiency.
As a Butler Builder® we can maximize your building’s performance with a complete Butler® system solution, including:
Innovative structural, wall and roof systems that are precision-engineered for seamless integration.
Tested assemblies to ensure you a more accurate estimate of long-term energy consumption to lower total cost of ownership.
Daylighting options which help create natural lighting for your facility and reduce costs.
An exclusive partnership with Konecranes to help you choose a crane system that integrates with Butler's building system.
Whether you're looking to build long-term storage space or quick turn packing and shipping facilities that support high-volume supply chain operations, Bel-Con Design Builders is here to help you. Contact us today to discuss your warehouse or distribution centre project needs.
It isn't everyday that we are given an opportunity to make a change in someone's life, but what if you were?
Recently, members of the Bel-Con team were given a tour of the facilities at Belleville General Hospital (BGH). As part of the Quinte Health Care system, BGH exists to provide quality medical care to the over 160,000 people in our region. We were especially blown away by our tour of the diagnostic imaging department, which includes a CT Scan machine as well as an MRI and other equipment. The department does diagnostic imaging for virtually all patients who are at BGH for, among other things, the early detection and treatment of cancer.
The hospital is working to bring more cancer treatment services to BGH to save people from having to travel outside the area. One of the things we learned on our tour is that the current equipment is becoming obsolete and is periodically out of commission for servicing. The cost of a new CT scanner and additional equipment that the hospital requires is in the millions. Equipment such as this are NOT funded by the government, and so there is a need to turn to our community for support.
The hospital continues to fulfill its purpose and is able to improve and expand the level of care provided through the fundraising efforts of the BGH Foundation. Bel-Con’s history with BGH can be traced back to our original founders, Barry Brown and Bill White. We contribute an annual sponsorship to the BGHF Gala and chose to make an additional donation this year to their campaign for new equipment.
Apart from making the hospital more efficient in its delivery of quality care at an improved level of service, an additional benefit of purchasing new, modern equipment is that it helps to attract top talent. You'll agree, we're sure, that supporting our hospital is of value to ourselves, our employees and our entire community.
We'd like to encourage others to support the Belleville General Hospital Foundation in its fundraising efforts at whatever level possible. By doing so, as BGHF President Bob Doyle says, "You can change a life. You can save a life. Right here in Belleville, in Quinte."
