Supply Chain Warehouse & Office Construction
Supply Chain construction can be a big project consisting of warehouse or office construction. We have all been there! You are excited to build a new warehouse or add on to an existing warehouse and then the process of design build begins. This can be an all consuming task if preparation, support and planning are not in place first.
We have assisted in building freezers, coolers, office space, buying land for future endeavors for companies but the most compelling project was changing construction companies midstream on a project that just seemed to be going down the wrong path. Wow! That was stressful.
What do you do? How do you know that things are not going well? When do you decide to make the change? How did you prepare the contract so that a change was possible? Why do these types of things happen?
Believe it or not, not every supply chain construction company knows everything about your business or what you need. The best companies are the ones you have experience with or your competitor had a good experience with. Sometimes all the stars don’t align and you have to find a new supply chain construction company. This may be because the one you used 10yrs ago was bought out or ownership changed. You are left with a new opportunity to create a new relationship with a new design build company.
Calling references, seeing projects they have built and really making sure you understand their capabilities is essential. In this field, it is common to have many LLC’s with similar names in other markets but all entities are working together under one brand. Make sure the company you selected is showing you work that they actually did and not one of their sister affiliates.
The contract needs to be pushed back upon the construction company to ensure you have the appropriate out clauses or review clauses during the design and construction process. This is not easy, can cause stress, take time, is an investment in legal review costs, but if something does go wrong you just saved millions of dollars by having a fairly weighted contract.
Red Flags:
- Certain aspects of the design seem costly or overkill for your needs based on your experience as well as working with other subs to get their independent thoughts.
- GeoTech – The earth under your site does not seem to be getting the attention it needs. Knowing the sub soil by talking with your city officials is important.
- Drawings and designs are not accurate or lack detail through the design process.
- Unusual pressure to start construction or to accept change orders rapidly.
- Cooling equipment not aligned with racking layout or door placement not aligned with truck yard turn radius.
- There are many other flags, these are just examples.
We can not expect our construction companies to know everything about every industry and every warehouse requirement. This is why there are a wide range of construction companies out there. Each having their skill set in a specific market and typically there aren’t many that market themselves as a provider for every industry.
We can help you understand your construction project, do a gap analysis to provide insights into potential issues, and work with you to ensure that you get the outcome you desire. Supply Chain Strategy & Consulting
We could place several links of companies here. Gray construction, Wehr Construction, etc. But… by far our favorite company is ARCO National, St. Louis. They have helped us on a project where we had to make a mid stream change for the right reasons. They do work with Sysco and other big name fortune 50 companies as well as privately held companies.
https://www.arconational.com/st-louis/
Another is in Cincinnati, CR architecture & Design. They have a mission of listening before acting, so they really understand the values, culture and vision of the customer to design the right space. As an alternative we have chosen this company as a “go to” as well. They are a large company with many offices through out the U.S..
https://cr-architects.com/about/
We hope this post was helpful. Congratulations on your new construction project! The investment will last a lifetime. Thank you for reading this post.
