A warehouse is to be established in San Diego, CA, for distributing consumer products manufactured by your company at its main factory in the Portland, OR, area. As project manager to establish the facility, you will have to develop the overall distribution plans under which the facility will be established and operated in the San Diego region. This plan will include the estimated numbers of customers’ companies, the names and locations of potential customer facilities, and the estimated sales volume.
While looking to secure a suitable, existing building to lease, you can concurrently prepare for the initial stocking of the warehouse with products from the factory in Portland.
Securing a building will involve establishing facility requirements, searching for suitable building candidates, and negotiating a lease.
After the lease is signed and you take possession of the building, you will need to establish the facility operations. Any modifications necessary for your company's particular operational needs will have to be made. You will have to secure the items needed to make the building into an operational distribution center. Establishing facility operations will include securing and installing operating items that include fixtures (like shelving), materials handling equipment (like forklift trucks), and a telephone system. The computer system for ordering and inventory control is being handled by another project team.
To prepare for stocking, you will first have to establish the regional product plan that includes specific product types and volumes for the region to be served from the warehouse (for both initial limited operation and future full-scale operation). Then, orders must be prepared and submitted to get the initial stocks of required products delivered from the Portland factory. After taking possession of a building and submitting the orders, over a period of time you will receive products from Portland that will comprise the initial stock for the warehouse. The products will have to be unloaded from trucks and placed in the appropriate location within the warehouse.
With the warehouse stocked, you will operate it for a three-month period of time taking limited orders in a controlled systems test to check out operational procedures before turning over a fully operational facility to the company's sales, marketing, and physical distribution group. Once the initial stock of product is in place, reorders and additions to products for the warehouse will be handled by standard company operational procedures already in place. Establishing transportation systems for the new distribution center is being handled by another project team.