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For Dow Building Products, the best warehouse solution was to think outside the box – literally.
This business unit of Dow Chemical Company supplies builders of commercial and residential buildings with a wide range of insulation products. The sturdy characteristics of the products allow them to be stored in an “outside warehouse” at KANE’s 224-acre logistics campus in Scranton, PA.
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Challenges of an Outside Warehouse
The key advantage of this unique solution is cost savings. SURPRISE: it costs less to store inventory outside.
But capitalizing on this advantage wasn’t a piece of cake. For example, paving of gravel lots was required. Since KANE owned the land, this step was quickly taken – a step that may have been difficult, or impossible, if the land was leased. KANE also ordered special equipment, such as rugged forklifts that operate well during cold, Northeast winters.
This outside warehouse services solution suited Dow’s needs perfectly, as did the location of KANE’s Scranton campus, which provides economical distribution to Dow’s Northeast Region customer base.
Dow ships inbound to KANE via intermodal rail and needed a facility close to an intermodal ramp. KANE’s 3PL warehousing campus is less than 2 miles from the Norfolk Southern-operated intermodal terminal in Taylor, PA, enabling the cost and sustainability advantages of a rail solution. KANE’s fleet handles the dray back to the northeast distribution campus, relieving Dow of this task.
Not a lot of products allow for storage of inventory outside. But when that is possible, there are significant cost advantages.
