Picking the location of your warehouse is an essential factor whether your operations will be efficient, which in turn will affect the profit of your business. Strategically placing your warehouse in the right location can enhance your company’s ability to serve your customers well and be competitive.
Hence why it’s important to take the time to think it over. Go over all the necessary details and available options. Here are the important things to consider in deciding the location of your warehouse:
Your consumer base
Keep tabs of where your target consumer bases are. Choosing a location in close proximity of your target customers offers you convenience when it comes to cutting shipping and/or delivery time and shipping costs as well. Having those in your favor will highly likely earn your company more loyal customers.
Proximity to carriers
Make sure that your warehouse is also near the main modes of shipping. You will want to be as close to the carrier service that matches the kind of products that are stored in your warehouse. For example, if you’re selling or manufacturing sets of items, then you will need access to trucks. Explore facilities that provide access to carriers like roads and keep in mind the other variables that can affect the carrier travel time like traffic speed and peak hours of traffic.
Labor costs and workforce availability
To a great degree, geographics influence the workforce and other important factors it entails. Consider what kind of skills your workers must possess to qualify because not every location will have the people with that skillset. Weigh up the supply and demand of workforce availability. Low availability and high demand will drive your operating costs up, while high availability and low demand drive it down.
Do research on the workforce demographics of your target location. Say you decide to lease a Kansas City warehouse, then you have to understand its workforce to ensure you can make the best of what you are about to spend on labor.
Storage and longevity
Without question, the primary reason you decide to purchase or rent a warehouse facility is always key. Plan ahead. Keep in mind the progress your business will make. Save time and resources by roughly calculating your projected growth so you can have an idea of the storage space you will need.
Choose accordingly to the items you will store. Make sure that whether the items are flammable or fragile or whatever possible hazard is present, your warehouse location will be able to accommodate them.
Environment and market
Having your warehouse near the major suppliers and producers can also benefit your business well. It will help decrease transportation costs and enhance responsiveness.
Another important factor is the environmental aspect of the area. This includes weather conditions and pollution. Is your warehouse at risk of flooding? Is the air around the area clean?
Cost
Determine how much money you have to put out of your pocket to pay for your new warehouse. The cost of rent or purchase will vary per location. In addition, take notice of government regulations regarding taxes.
In closing, a good chunk of planning is needed to choose the right location for your warehouse. Being in the right place can bring forth more income and it would certainly help your business to be at the right (delivery) time too.