Siggins blog

How Much More Time Do I Really Have in this Warehouse?

Is it Time to Move or Start Fresh?

Starting from scratch with a new warehouse sure sounds exciting – new building, new systems, clean slate. But new space is expensive, and the cost of moving can be high (and disruptive).

Sometimes you need a fresh start and that’s all there is to it. But very often, you can find ways to make smarter use of what you already have. Knowing when to move and when to stay is one of the most important decisions you’ll make for your business.

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The Case for Retrofitting: Squeezing More Out of Your Current Footprint

Retrofitting is about upgrading or reconfiguring your warehouse to boost performance without blowing out walls or moving out.

Signs retrofitting is the right move:

• Your facility is underutilized (high ceiling space, poor slotting, inefficient pick paths).
• Your core workflows still support your business needs, but you can’t find enough people to meet your customer demand.
• Your throughput challenges are caused by flow issues, not fundamental design flaws.
• You have moderate volume growth (less than 8-10% year over year).

Retrofit strategies might include:

• Installing mezzanines, pick modules, or high-density goods to person systems.
• Optimizing conveyor routing or controls without re-laying the whole floor.
• Re-slotting inventory for faster picks.
• Adding automation to labor intensive bottlenecks (like picking or order consolidation).

👉 Key Point: Retrofitting is usually lower cost, lower risk, and faster to implement. It’s ideal when your basic space and structure still have life left in them.

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The Case for Moving: When the Warehouse Can’t Keep Up

Sometimes, no amount of tweaking will save you. If the bones are bad, or the business is growing too fast, it may be time to start fresh.

Signs it’s time to move:

• Your warehouse has outgrown the building’s layout, ceiling height, dock capacity, or zoning.
• You’re constantly short on storage space, even after aggressive slotting.
• Material flow is fundamentally inefficient (like needing three or more touches to ship a single order).
• Major changes to your business model — like increased direct-to-consumer shipments – have rendered the existing flow less than ideal.
• Retrofit costs are inching toward the cost of building new or relocating.

What a redesign might involve:

• Completely re-imagining process flow, from receiving to shipping.
• Designing long-term expansion and scalability into the base layout and systems.
• Integrating automation at the structural level, not as an afterthought.

👉 Key Point: Starting over can seem costly, but sometimes it’s the only way to unlock real growth and avoid throwing good money after bad.

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How to Decide: The Checklist

Before making the call, ask yourself:

• What’s my true operational constraint? (Space? Labor? Throughput? Flexibility?)
• Can my current building support my 5-year growth plan with smart retrofits?
• Will retrofitting allow flow to improve, or just patch over existing bottlenecks?
• How does the cost and timeline of retrofitting compare to starting fresh?
• Am I fixing today’s problems or investing for tomorrow’s opportunities?

If you find yourself thinking mostly about your needs for the short-term, the more likely it is that a retrofit is in order. If you’re thinking more long term, a strategic redesign might be the smarter investment.

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Bottom Line

Retrofitting and redesigning aren’t just construction decisions, they’re strategic moves that can either bottleneck your future or unlock it.

The most successful businesses don’t get locked in on one approach right away. They stay clear-eyed about what the operation really needs for both the short and long term. Then they invest where it makes the most sense

If you’re not sure which path is right for you, don’t confine your questions to just a real estate professional or a builder. Talk to a partner who can counsel you on both the cost and impact of improving your distribution technology, warehouse flow, and operating efficiencies – and make sure it’s a partner who will be unbiased in assessing when it’s time to start fresh (and when it’s smarter not to).