Industrial site selection is more complicated than it might seem. Simply picking the tallest possible building with the best possible proximity to major interstate highways and a rail spur isn't enough to guarantee the right location. Instead, you'll want to look at multiple details to get the perfect space for your needs.
Choose the Right Height
It's a simple geometric fact that taller buildings offer larger cubes than smaller buildings. However, that extra height is only valuable if you can use it. While high ceilings can be suitable for operations that store large pallets of relatively low weight, a 36-foot clear height is overkill for shipping and receiving areas that generally operate at a more human scale. Given that older stock with lower ceilings frequently rents at a discount, those buildings could end up being a much better option for your company.
Sweat the Small Details
Seemingly small details can make a big difference in the efficiency of an industrial site. If you, for instance, have racks with 8 foot beams, 30 foot column spacing will leave you with a great deal of wasted space. Other factors that can greatly impact the suitability of a given location can include the amount and type of power available to the building and the ability of the floor to support loads. Lighting and HVAC systems are also important to consider in your site selection process, since if a building has too little (or too much) of either it could end up either not being able to support you or could leave you with unreasonably high occupancy costs.
Check the Ins and Outs
Ingress and egress both from the building and from the lot are crucial. As a part of your site selection process, look at factors like whether or not there is enough room for your trucks to turn around and whether you have adequate parking to stage them. The location and type of the doors on the building are also important. Having them in the right place can save hundreds or thousands of hours of labor annually.
Go Beyond Road And Rail
When your business is centrally located and primarily regional, national or even contained within North America, road and rail connections might be all that you need. Just about everywhere is two day's drive from St. Louis, for instance. However, even smaller businesses can be global in our interconnected economy. Working on that larger scale means that your site selection process has to take into account access to alternate modes of transportation -- like air and ocean shipping. Alternately, you can look to find a nearby and convenient multi modal facility that can make it easier to move shipments between the ground and the air or water.
Find YOUR Best Location
Some experts will tell you that the best place to locate a distribution center in the Northeast is the I-78 corridor between Harrisburg and Lehigh Valley in Pennsylvania. It offers great road and rail service, a location that is more than close enough to Boston, New York, Philadelphia and Washington, DC, and reasonable pricing. However, if your products come in as finished goods via air at JFK and you primarily sell in the five boroughs and Long Island, space in Queens is probably a much better option. Your site selection process should be based on your specific supply chain needs, rather than on what the so-called experts tell you, and your broker should help you to determine this.
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