Enhance Supply Chain Efficiency with a Fabric Warehouse Building

Globalization and the era of rapid technological advancements have inexplicably impacted our world in a swift period. Consequentially, global trade and e-commerce have become powerful forces in the economic sphere. The coordination of communities, corporations, and companies has led to a complex, competitive environment for commercial transportation and logistics – supply chains are more dynamic and fluid than ever with the integration of air, sea, and land shipment. Companies must continue to optimize their operations to keep up with consumer demands and market preferences. Investing in a fabric warehouse building is one method for storage efficiency and space maximization.

Optimize Your Warehouse Building’s Cost-Efficiency

Arguably one of the most important factors to consider, fabric warehouse buildings provide cost economy compared to traditional brick-and-mortar construction. Fabric structures require a lower upfront investment and save owners money throughout the building tenure. Further, shorter construction times ensure expense reductions on labour, site excavation, and delays. The rapid deployment of fabric buildings further allows for a reduction in operational downtime.

Regarding maintenance and operational costs, fabric structures save money by reducing the need for artificial lighting (due to their 16-19% translucency) and heating (due to our non-conductive high-density polyethylene fabric). Thereafter, traditional buildings require annual maintenance like painting and staining, in addition to re-roofing, re-shingling, or re-tarring. More money is spent on materials and labor time especially if you live somewhere with cold or wet seasons. Since fabric buildings do not have screws or nails, moisture entry is mitigated, thereby reducing leaks, rust, and corrosion.  On average, repair costs can be as low as $2 per square foot for fabric buildings, whereas replacement steel can cost up to $7 per square foot.

Flexibility and Scalability for Supply Chain Management

The scalability of fabric structures makes them ideal for growing logistics companies or those with fluctuating inventory levels. Fabric structures can be customized to meet specific size and layout requirements, whether you’re expanding warehouse capacity or adding new distribution centers in strategic locations.

For example, say a logistics startup experienced rapid growth in its e-commerce fulfillment business; instead of investing in permanent structures, they opted for fabric warehouses that could be easily expanded as their business scaled, providing them with the agility needed to stay competitive in a dynamic market. Thereafter, due to the wealth of free-span space, you can create additional workspaces with quick rearrangements to the spatial layout. This rearrangement is largely impossible without costly renovations in traditional buildings due to structural posts, pillars, and beams.

Structure Integration into Existing Logistics Set-ups

Another advantage fabric warehouse buildings provide is their easy integration into existing logistics setups. Due to their portable nature and ease of erection, these warehouses can be moved, packed away, expanded, or butted against an existing building without complications. The design of fabric structures provides you with unique capabilities not easily matched by traditional structures; for example, traditional warehouses cannot be conveniently and quickly rearranged on a site or transported to another location.

 

A Study of New Co-Op: Missouri River’s New Logistics Asset

Since the 1930s, companies, and farmers relied on fertilizer barges along the Missouri River, including near Blenco, IA; however, since the early 2000s, no barges have stopped there, halting vital exports and imports.

Desolate and still, the land remained untouched until 2019, when the NEW Cooperative Inc. purchased the 34-acre site. Over the next two years, New Cooperative built and polished its operational prowess by developing a floating dock to support six barges and constructing a 20,000-ton fabric warehouse building – becoming the farthest upstream grain loader on the Missouri River.

As their flagship location for their debut into world commerce, the cooperative exports various grains (like soybeans, corn, etc) to the Gulf of Mexico and acts as an import hub for fertilizer.

NEW Cooperative looked to Greenfield Contractors, a Calhoun dealer, and Calhoun’s engineering experts to customize a fabric fertilizer building poised to meet the customer’s specific needs, which included a three-foot-tall concrete stem wall, a Sackett-Waconia overhead tripper belt conveyor, a customizable leg height and installed an off-centered conveyor to increase useable space.

This case study illustrates how Calhoun can deliver a customized, efficient fabric warehouse building.

To learn more about the Missouri River revitalization, click here.

To read more about the specs of their 20,000-ton fertilizer facility, click here.

Key Takeaways

Fabric structures are revolutionizing the logistics sector by offering unmatched flexibility, cost-effectiveness, and scalability. As logistics companies navigate an increasingly complex and competitive landscape, embracing innovative solutions like fabric structures is essential for staying ahead of the curve.

Are you interested in learning more? Check out our other ports-focused blog!