Expert Viewpoint The Rise of the Mega Warehouse By Rolf Fabricius, President, North American Steel www.naseco.ca N orth American Steel Equipment Company, a 100 per cent wholly owned and oper- ated company, is a leader in the pallet racking and industrial storage industry in Canada and across North America. 2022 marks 50 years of operation under the Fabricius fam- ily’s ownership. Over the past five decades, through visionary leadership, the NAS Group has facilitated continuous innovation and growth to the company through various acquisitions and expansions. Over the past few years, one industry trend that has been driving North American Steel to new heights is what we call “The Rise of the Mega Warehouse” – which has been sparked by the sheer number of large warehousing and man- ufacturing facilities occupied by a single tenant. Since the start of the pandemic, North American Steel has experienced a record-setting number of large racking projects in Canada, with demand to fill hundreds of thousands of square feet of stor- age space in a single facility. With companies in various sectors, including e-commerce, automotive, food and beverage, and medical supply, growing at such a rapid pace due in part to the shift in consumer demand over the past couple of years, it is important to understand the evolving needs of the storage facilities which these growing companies rely on. North American Steel has had the privilege of working with many top industry leaders on large expansion projects since the onset of the pan- demic, introducing innovative ways for them to maximize their storage capacities while streamlin- ing their logistic operations to facilitate continued growth. In this article, we will overview a few of these companies and how NAS was able to meet their storage requirements. Lowes Canada – Calgary, AB Industry: Home improvement Warehouse Size: Approx. 1.23 million sq. ft. Lowes Canada is one of the leading home im- provement retailers in the country. To optimize their distribution network to better meet the ex- pectations of their in-store and online customers, Lowes Canada consolidated three satellite distri- bution centres in the Calgary area into one large 1.23 million sq. ft. facility. North American Steel worked with Lowes Canada to de- sign and integrate a roll-formed bolted (knockdown) selective racking system, accommodating over 45,000 pallet positions, to meet the growing needs of their storage and distribution opera- tion. As a one-stop-shop racking operation, NAS also completed all the warehouse labelling and safety guarding. Hershey Co. – Brantford, ON Industry: Food and beverage Warehouse Size: Approx. 520,000 sq. ft. Hershey Co., one of the largest chocolate man- ufacturers in the world, recently completed the construction of their newest Canadian warehous- ing facilities in Brantford, ON. Thanks to the wide array of product lines that North American Steel manufactures, the design and engineering team was able to customize a structural double-deep pallet racking system for Hershey that provided storage density for over 60,000 pallet positions, while providing the durability and abuse resis- tance required in a high-traffic distribution centre. Rolf Fabricius multiple types of racking and shelving systems to ensure all storage requirements could be met within a single facility. From bespoke design and en- gineering to manufacturing and installation, including all the stor- age labels, North American Steel provided a complete storage solution. Also included were roll- formed selective pallet racking, very narrow aisle racking, struc- tural cantilever racking and even a three-level widespan shelving pick tower covering 70,000 sq. ft. to handle small parts storage in one section of the new facility. Medline Canada – Terrebonne, QC Industry: Medical Supply Warehouse Size: Approx. 138,000 sq. ft. Medline manufactures and distributes quality med- ical products around the world. Medline Canada’s new Terrebonne, QC distribution facility was built to serve the medical supply needs of Quebec residents. Due to increased demand, the new distribu- Kubota Canada Ltd. – Pickering, ON Industry: Automotive Warehouse Size: Approx. 565,500 sq. ft. (future expansion to one million sq. ft.) Kubota Canada Ltd is a world-leading manufac- turer of a variety of agricultural machinery and construction equipment. It is also well known for its tractors and other industrial farming vehicles. Kubota became a great example of what the mod- ern mega warehouse could be when they decided to combine their four separate warehouses previ- ously located in Markham, ON. This consolidation resulted in a single large-scale head office facili- ty custom designed to handle all aspects of their operations. While traditional warehouses have used one or two types of storage systems in a facility, North American Steel worked with Kubota to custom de- sign a complete storage system across their large warehouse to meet various operational require- ments. From large part storage to bulk palletized loads and small parts handling, they integrated tion centre doubled the square footage of Medline Canada’s former Montreal-based facility, thus in- creasing available storage capacity and allowing for more diverse storage requirements to be met in a single facility. North American Steel worked with Medline Canada to outfit this new expanded facility with roll-formed selective racking. This option offered ease of access to all palletized loads, as well as a widespan shelving system which offered safe storage and quick picking of smaller items. As we look to the future, it appears that in Canada and across North America, the mega warehouse is a trend that will continue to grow. With changes in the supply chain across numer- ous industries, the size and complexity of the modern warehouse will require the involvement of highly experienced racking experts such as North American Steel. With our talented team of designers, experienced engineers and technical sales representatives, supported by our exten- sive manufacturing capabilities, it is evident that North American Steel should be your number one choice for your racking and warehousing needs. SUPPLY CHAIN CANADA • ISSUE 1 2022 • 21
