Straight Talk for Selecting a Distribution Site

Overview: The slowdown of the country’s economy has produced dramatic changes in how companies conduct business and analyze their space needs. Site selection influences customer service, operating profitability, future growth, and employment potential. Selecting the appropriate site for distribution centers has always been important to improve the corporate bottom line, and in some cases has now become mission-critical to the survival of the business. Since logistics costs tend to stay constant, a decline in sales will trigger an increase in logistics costs as a percentage of sales. The management team will look to one to contribute to the bottom line immediately, perhaps this quarter or the next. The corporation is searching for tangible results to highlight successes for the public and enhance the company’s value — and one may be their ace in the hole. A detailed site selection process puts the team in a position to make a winning location decision, evidenced by the successful start of operations in the new distribution center and benefits to the company’s bottom line. The ability to control the implementation process by maintaining competitive leverage in the following phases will be the driving factors for final success: real estate acquisition, facility design and construction etc. Every company has different levels of resources. Once one understands the steps that comprise site selection, analyze the resources one has that can help make the process successful.

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Format: HTML | Date: Aug 2002 | Pages: 1