The Bel-Con Blog

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.

Loading docks on the exterior of a warehouse.

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.

Interior of a warehouse space built using Butler's Widespan Building System.

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.

For more information download our Warehouse and Distribution Centre flyer from Butler Manufacturing.

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The Bel-Con Blog

My roof leaks…..now what?

roof structure during roof replacement with outer roofing material removed during repo

For most people, their commercial / industrial flat or low slope roof is “out of sight, out of mind” and only comes to the forefront when it begins to leak. It’s at this point where Bel-Con are often called in to investigate the cause. If the leak is minor, irregular or relatively new, we are looking for a method to repair the roof. If the leak is major, constant or ongoing, we are tasked with looking for longer term solutions including possibly re-roofing the facility.

We start with a physical inspection of your roof

In order to determine a course of action, we start by visiting your site and conducting a review of the facility. Our review is more than simply having a look at your roof. It also includes the following:

Review of the inside of the facility to find any evidence of leaks. This often helps to pinpoint a number of common ‘roof’ issues; e.g., roof penetrations, transitions on roof heights or systems, etc. Sometimes condensation is the issue and there actually isn’t a roof leak.
A discussion with the occupants of the building to gather additional information such as when, how often, or if the leak(s) occur under specific conditions.
Armed with this information, we undertake a thorough physical inspection of the roof.

There are many types of industrial, commercial and institutional roofing, but the main systems are asphalt/tar and gravel, single ply membranes including PVC and EPDM both ballasted and fully adhered, modified bitumen and metal systems (both through-fastened and standing seam). Where applicable, our inspection looks at the following for each of the above noted roof systems:

Overall appearance
Surface condition
Roof profile
Drainage systems
Parapet wall conditions
Mechanical units mounted on roof and penetrations from these units
Skylights
All other roof penetrations for vents, services, etc.
Utilities and services mounted on roof
Transitions between roofs
Seams, joints and connections in roof materials
Damage from ice, snow and extreme weather
Other outside influences that affect the roof, e.g. overhanging trees, birds, etc

The above items are examined in combination with the knowledge gained in the interior inspection of the facility to determine the cause of the roof issue(s). At this point, we establish a plan to implement the required repairs or, in more extreme cases, a replacement plan is formed. The further along in the life cycle of your roof, the more likely multiple factors could be the cause. The older your roof the more likely a roof replacement is going to be the best and, in some cases, only solution.

What causes your roof to leak?

Workers work on repairs to a commercial flat roof.

Generally speaking, most leaks are the result of one or more of these factors:

Poor detailing – one of the main elements in all roof systems that causes failure is movement. All roof systems expand and contract to some degree with temperature changes; if this movement is not dealt with properly, then leaks will occur.
Lack of maintenance – as noted above, roofs tend to be out of sight and out of mind for most building owners and consequently roof maintenance is often over-looked. Consistent reviews will help find simple issues that need attention (drains plugged with leaves are very common!). If the minor issues are attended to regularly, then major issues and/or leaks can be avoided.
General wear and tear – all roofs have a life cycle and, depending on the system, that life can typically vary between 15 and 40 years.

One of the things we often see is the use of the wrong materials to make a repair, resulting in a short term fix but compounding the problem for the future. To avoid this, the key factor (whether it be annual maintenance, finding the cause of a leak and/or repairing a leak) is to have this done by a person familiar with the roof system. This person will know how your facility’s roof should be detailed and how it should be maintained; in other words contact a professional!

We’re always happy to help. Please get in touch if you would like us to perform an inspection of your building’s roof. Our service area is GTA to Kingston, north through to Peterborough. This includes the Quinte region (Belleville, Trenton, Picton and surrounding area) as well as Port Hope, Cobourg, and Napanee.

In our next blog post we will review options for repair and replacement of metal roofs.

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