Natural Selection

Overview: The science of site selection is all about making sure that one is in the right place at the right time. Selecting a distribution center site is one of the most important and far-reaching strategic decisions that the management of a growing fulfillment company will make. Companies that use more intuitive and subjective processes in selecting their distribution center sites will suffer by comparison. Regardless of how one arrives at a decision on where to locate, getting it right the first time is of critical importance. Many companies have placed too much importance on incentives such as free land or low-cost labor, only to find that these benefits were short-term and ultimately insignificant when included in the overall scale of operating costs. Since most companies will probably be required to choose a new facility site only a few times in their history, those who participate in this decision-making process should be both experienced and competent. Checklists used for moving through the site selection process generally include hundreds of considerations to evaluate prior to selecting an optimum location. Once one has identified the preferred site, he should employ a qualified real estate attorney to establish a suitable contract for the acquisition of the land, building, and equipment.

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