If you are looking for a warehouse, you may think larger is better. However, when it comes to finding the right third-party warehousing partner, there are more important things to consider.
Is a Large Warehouse Necessary?
When is it time to find a larger warehouse for your supply chain? Ultimately, this will depend on numerous factors, primarily the current state and probable future development of your enterprise. Industry-professionals call for finding a “goldilocks range” of square footage. The issues with finding too small a warehouse for day-to-day operations are obvious. Small warehouses lead to overcrowding and difficulty in stock retrieval, and eventually might run-up costs due to ineffectiveness.
Even worse, you might eventually have to expand to numerous small warehouses, decentralizing your stock and making your network far more complex than necessary. On the other hand, renting too large of a warehouse has its own issues. The primary one is that every square-foot of unused space during your lease is essentially an unnecessary cost that you be spent elsewhere.
Where are the Largest Warehouses in Canada?
Unsurprisingly, most large warehouses are located within, or just-outside, major urban centers like Toronto, Montreal, and Ottawa. The current largest warehouse was completed by UPS in 2018, at around 850,000-square foot. This warehouse is located just outside north Toronto is Caledon, and cost 200 million to complete!
Of course, it is unlikely that any private enterprise would realistically need that amount of space. The "goldilocks range" for most smaller and medium companies – accounting for upscaling – is within 50,000 to 100,000 square footage. If your current or realistically-estimated output will exceed that, then it might be time to look for larger options.
Choosing The Right Warehouse Size
The Canadian market has seen a huge need for warehouse space with the rise of eCommerce. More and more businesses are relying on third-party logistics to render their services.
If you are one of these businesses looking for a warehouse, your best option will likely not be to reach-out to these warehouses individually. Instead, rely on a third-party that represents a large network of warehouse, like the Canadian Warehousing Logistics Affiliated, that can help connect you to the most appropriate warehousing option for your company’s needs.
The CWLA is a community of like-minded warehousing & supporting companies. We can help you generate leads, stay informed with industry news, regulations, & upcoming events. The CWLA is open to all warehousing, trucking, co-packing, or fulfillment providers. Please contact us if you have any questions.
