How Short Term Warehousing Keeps Industrial Projects on Schedule

When construction schedules compress and delivery schedules slip, temporary warehousing acts as the buffer that enables work to continue. Short term warehouse facilities allow working crews to receive, secure and stage heavy supplies and not interfere with job site area. Done properly, this minimizes lost crews, premium charges, and rework, allowing operations to be performed on time and on budget.

What Is Short Term Warehousing?

Short term warehousing is a short-term flexible warehousing and handling operation designed for weeks or a few months not years. It is the buffer between manufacturers, transportation companies, rigging crews and job sites. Basically, the goal is to have staging of equipment, so the installations do not clash with cranes, permit and outage planning.

• Typical services include receipt of inbound materials, inspection and staging of inventory for upcoming projects.
• Facilities may render cross-docking services when materials must rapidly move from inbound trucks to outbound rigging.
• Operators enter serial numbers, conditions and packing information in order to protect warranties and chain of custody.
• Value added handling operations – such as hardware kitting or pre-labeling prepare materials for rapid installation.

Handling of Project Delays

Even the best schedules get bent out of shape: utility shutdowns are delayed, cranes are delayed due to weather, or unavoidable permits are still in limbo. Instead of affecting progress, the project teams put deliveries into a short-term warehouse to stop the clock with no risk of damages. This keeps suppliers on their shipping schedules, while the project pursues its own timing needs.

When every receiving specification, such as photos, special tags, and status notes are followed, materials can be staged for the project, so the right skid comes out first when the site is ready. Also, this specification reduces excess costs for driver waiting and detention by giving a known drop site close to the site for all carriers.

Protecting Valuable Equipment

Even temporary storage must meet high standards due to the high value of sensitive manufacturer equipment. Dust, moisture, and rough handling will lower the value of sensitive production machinery. This will happen if a strong warehousing program is not in place with environmental, security, and documentation controls in place before anything is placed on the floor.

• Climate controlled warehousing prevents moisture problems (condensation), corrosion, and gasket hardening.
• Security measures such as access logs, cameras, and controlled access fenced areas reduce the risk of pilferage and tampering problems. Click here to know more about security controls.
• Blocking, cribbing, securing devices such as desiccants, and wrap-cutting prevent damage due to shock and dust entry.
• Photograph records, accident reports, and condition reports of incoming equipment provide backup to warranties, insurance, and vendor claims.

Storage and Rigging Coordination

Storage makes sense only when it meets the mobilization plan. Coordinated planning provides the warehouse picklists and crane operating windows, rigging routes, and installation phases. Labels for the movement match the incoming load lists, rack planning coincides with the P6 schedule, and electronic dashboards show clearly what is staged, shipped, or unloaded.

Teams that integrate warehousing with industrial relocation services greatly reduce the scramble time, hours charged for crane service and decrease double handling. Many teams are using scanners to capture bar-coding of each piece for asset tracking conveniently linked to the major lift plans so that pick lists, rigging lists for gear and for securing loads are linked together for both capabilities and records.

Real Project Samples

Each plant and project teach a lesson. These photos give an overview of how temporary storage solved problems that otherwise could have developed into disasters for overall schedules. It is interesting to note how the planning, protection, and getting them to site quickly worked together to lessen risk and cost.

• Turbine retrofit, power generation: Components were scheduled to arrive before the next planned outage, and the warehouse staged the components per planning by lift area. When the crane arrived, then the loads rolled in sequence, lessening the time in hook and eliminating premium costs on weekends.
• Bottling line upgrade, food & beverage: Sensors (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sensor), and various servo packs, etc., were staged in a controlled warehouse area, which time was allowed for the curing of the operator floors. Personnel kitted the cylinder heads and the servo valve hardware and firmware were checked, making it possible for same-day commissioning after equipment set-up was ready.
• Data center build, tech field: The new generators and switch gear were kept in monitored purposeful storages. Items were given just-in-time delivery along with the delivery of the machinery. This assured proper access to aisleways and free access by electricians and rigging teams to make installations effective and compatible timewise.

All of these jobs produced considerable cutbacks in time wasted, rewrites of change orders, and holding paths of critical areas intact producing successful RES schedules.

Conclusion

Short duration storage areas are more than a parking point. It is an active area for productive control of all items from schedule to material quality to cost objectives. With the right group to assist urban destroys have the flexibility in the area of change absorption technologically capable of protecting their equipment and keeping personnel productivity levels maximized.