BY ART VAN BODEGRAVEN AND
KENNETH B. ACKERMAN
basictraining
The ageless facility
IF YOU’RE FAMILIAR WITH OSCAR WILDE’S ONLY NOVEL,
The Picture of Dorian Gray (ourselves, we read the Classic Comics version), you know it tells the story of a portrait that aged, while its subject remained youthful in appearance. Our theme is the facility that
superficially ages, while its functionality remains viable. (We will
omit any parallels with the debauchery that permeates the book.)
OLDIES BUT GOODIES
Ultimately, the only thing that can completely wipe out the utility of a
warehouse or DC is a very bad floor. In parts of Texas, for example,
untreated soil can shift and render floors unusable. A poor-quality floor
can also pose hazards to sanitation systems. For that reason, special care
is required to have good floors in the “meadow-lands” (i.e., swamps) of
New Jersey. In other parts of the world, quality shortcuts can result in
floors that are able to swallow forklifts whole.
Absent floor problems, however, facilities can have a long useful
life. For instance, a Philadelphia company that has
been in business since the 1830s still uses a number of
buildings that pre-date the Civil War as store-rooms
and mini-warehouses. Constructed by immigrant
Moravian craftsmen whose only experience was in
building churches, the buildings are paragons of quality and are strangely beautiful, with arches, windows,
and vaulted ceilings.
Dependable Distribution Centers in Los Angeles is
located in a five-story, 1. 5 million-square-foot building that dates to the 1970s. It is the largest public storage facility under one roof in the United States.
Richmond, Va.-based Cockrell Distribution Systems operates public
warehouses that are 40 and 50 years old. Even though their clear heights
are low by today’s standards, the well-maintained (and paid-for) buildings offer both quality and very flexible pricing in competitive situations.
But that’s not to say things always work out so well. There are, sadly,
cases in which an older facility is not suitable for warehousing and
distribution. These often involve functional mismatches that should
never have been attempted in the first place.
We recall the home goods importer and distributor that stored pallets and filled retail orders from within the labyrinthine maze of a
low-ceilinged former textile mill, with many small rooms and narrow
passages. The owner could not—and cannot to this day—get past the
notion that the building was practically “free,” no matter the cost of
its manifold inefficiencies.
Then, there was the uncommonly thrifty grocer that attempted both
manufacturing and distribution from a 19th century “plant” that
would have made sweatshops look good by comparison. Even though
inbound and outbound trucks clogged narrow and twisting city streets
for endless blocks, the grocer couldn’t resist the lure of a “free” facility.
But cases of mis-application and failing floors
aside, older buildings don’t have to be abandoned
or razed. Repurposing, creative process design,
and practical technology applications can all help
keep ageless facilities useful. In an ever-more-green supply chain universe, recycling and
reusing buildings seems timely and appropriate.
Selected and targeted technology can help keep
older buildings relevant. Vertical reciprocal conveyors (VRCs) can replace elevators in multistory facilities, reducing cost and risk, and
improving speed and reliability.
Robotics can be game-changers in ageless facilities. Automatic guided vehicles (AGVs) can “see”
To be honest, which we sometimes try to be, the absence of
complex technology can also help
the ageless facility stay in the
game. An empty room offers
enormous flexibility when it
comes to potential applica-tions
and uses.
Granted, yesterday’s pallet-in/pallet-out storage facility might not be suitable for conversion into a high-volume retail
fulfillment center. But it could be very useful for
storage—either primary or overflow—and low-to moderate-volume transaction processing. It’s
really all a matter of finding the right role for
the building in the greater scheme of things.
And understanding the difference between
problem-solving technology and gee-whiz shiny
new toys.
Remember, even the aged Inuit who is only
good for chewing leather into a useful state of
pliability is pro-viding societal value while others
go out to hunt seals.
Art van Bodegraven, practice leader at S4 Consulting, may be
reached at (614) 336-0346 or avan@columbus.rr.com. You can read
his blog at http://blogs.dcvelocity.com/the_art_of_art/. Kenneth B.
Ackerman, president of The Ackerman Company, can be reached at
(614) 488-3165 or ken@warehousing-forum.com.
