At a time when the demand for warehouse space is extremely high, it could be worth considering a short-term storage solution as part of a long-term growth plan.
The boom in online shopping, combined with the chaos in global supply chains, has put pressure on warehousing more than at any other time we can remember. Discarding the just-in-time strategy in favour of stockpiling, to ensure there is enough inventory available, is one thing but throw in a severe shortage of lorry drivers, as well as a lack of staff to keep goods moving in and out of the warehouses, and the limited space available is being significantly squeezed. What’s more, a cumbersome planning system means businesses cannot build new warehouse space fast enough to keep up.
Many businesses right now are looking for high-quality, yet flexible space and mostly on a short-term basis. Inevitably this often turns in to a longer-term arrangement, but with so much uncertainty in the industry, it appears that businesses are only looking a few months ahead. A temporary building solution is seen as the best way to buy some breathing space or to keep a business operating while new solutions are applied to existing warehouses.
With traditional bricks and mortar, a five-year lease is not long but many businesses don’t have the money to commit to those timescales or the certainty that they can fix themselves to one specific location. Timing is critical, but our structures can be deployed quickly. Canopies can typically be designed, installed, fully functional and operational within 8 weeks of ordering. Once delivered, a small or medium-sized canopy can be erected on an existing concrete base in a matter of days.
Manufactured off-site to avoid any disruption to your daily operations, these high-performance warehouse solutions can be fully bespoke, designed to integrate with existing systems and they can be modular to enable an expansion or reduction in size at any time if your business needs change. They are also lightweight and easy to remove or relocate to new premises. However, this does not mean that they are weak. Our structures are built using strong, corrosion-free, galvanised steel frames that are engineered to last and covered with a heavy-duty, flame retardant PVC-coated polyester fabric, which offers complete protection from arduous marine conditions as well as heavy wind and snow loadings. A 10-year guarantee comes as standard, although many are still going strong after 20.
For businesses looking to build resilience and flexibility into their logistics management plan, a prefabricated warehouse could be the best tactical solution for now. It is a more affordable and viable alternative to a rigid, constrained property market and one that’s proven to be effective time and time again, no matter what circumstances threaten to destabilise our supply chains.
