[norsemagik]

Rob, I believe you are right on but I wonder how often you are able to sell it. There are additional advantages in addition to those you mentioned in thinking outside of "the" location. Choosing a port site may offer no more opportunities than you mentioned, howerver in a larger country you may have several DC's.

Moving away from the chosen site may offer lower costs because of real estate value; lower wages; and lesser distribution cost in the form of lower transportation cost. The question in my mind is, "can it be sold". I was in a position to help one of several warehouses land a rather large client in Oklahoma City a few years ago. There was one warehouse with software and computers in place but it did not have the space.

Time was allowed to convince one of the other warehouses to computerize to no avail and the company seeking the warehouse wouldn't supply the computers even though the costs would have paid for the computers in the first months savings from transportation costs for delivery. Another site was chosen in another state.

Currently one of the companies I do work for could save cost by moving away from the DC Wareouses they are using to a parallel location in another state and still have equal distance to their delivery points; actually closer in most instances and further in a few with the few being the smaller customers. The "move to" location is presently in what I call a consumer area; "more freight in by truck than out by truck".

With this company I work with the outbound, Managers and although I get no argument from suggesting a move might be looked at I am told they have a whole department for DC costing. A warehouse in the area that would be beneficial is having no luck getting any additional goods for storage and distribution.

I like that the articles I've read here, people are thinking for themselves and working things out through discussion. It seems to me that many of the larger companies or corporations here in the US are and have been into playing follow the leader for quite a few years now and comparison costing is a lost art or perhaps to argue costs against the masses must be trickery.

That's the long way of saying, "believe you're right".

Thanks for the discussion and thought,