A Warehouse Redesign That Unlocked 11,000 Additional Pallet Positions

The challenge

A consumer products company in the Pacific Northwest moved into a 260,000 square foot warehouse with a short-term plan to use floor stacking for overflow inventory. At first, the space and strategy seemed like a workable stopgap.

Then the business changed fast. Within two months of moving in, the company won a major retail distribution opportunity that added new SKUs and a much larger volume of merchandise. It was great news for their business, but it also meant the original storage plan no longer worked. The company needed a solution to accommodate the additional inventory volume or otherwise faced added costs, complexity and space limitations.  

The team needed far more pallet positions, and it needed them quickly. The customer also needed to keep the warehouse operating while the redesign was planned and implemented. On a tight timeline, a move to another long-term facility was not viable; the solution was to create more capacity in the building they already had while keeping warehouse activity moving.

The solution

Prologis Essentials worked with the customer to redesign the facility around their new storage demands without disrupting operations. Rather than approaching the project as a basic racking installation, the team evaluated the building layout alongside the company’s product profile to determine how the warehouse’s physical constraints limited capacity. That included a large L-shaped wall that cut into usable storage space.

The solution included:

• Storage system design and engineering
• High-pile permitting support and structural calculations
• Demolition of an obstructive interior wall that limited storage capacity
• Lighting and egress improvements
• Electrical modifications
• Project management and coordination across vendors and permitting teams

The team also optimized the rack design to fit the product profile. Using 12-foot beams instead of 8-foot beams allowed more pallets per bay and reduced the number of uprights needed. The Essentials team worked with the customer to reduce costs by using a mix of used and new racking, and phased the installation around live operations so the customer could keep working while the project moved forward.
 

The results

The customer had initially estimated their facility could support approximately 12,000 pallet positions. After working with Prologis Essentials to redesign the layout, remove physical constraints and optimize storage system, the final design increased capacity to more than 23,000 pallet positions.

Key outcomes included:

• Nearly doubled storage capacity within the existing facility footprint
• Created room for new inventory associated with a recently awarded retail distribution program
• Managed project costs through a more efficient rack design and a mix of new and used racking
• Coordinated layout design, permitting, demolition, lighting, electrical work and racking installation through one comprehensive project plan
• Helped the customer transform a short-term storage solution into a facility capable of supporting long-term growth

Why Prologis

The customer needed a strategic design for growth, not just a racking provider. The project required demolition of an interior wall, permitting support, lighting upgrades, electrical modifications and coordination across multiple vendors without disrupting warehouse operations. Prologis Essentials brought those workstreams together under a single project plan, helping the customer almost double capacity while managing cost and project complexity.

Looking ahead

What started as a stopgap floor-stacking strategy for overflow inventory became a long-term storage solution capable of supporting a rapidly growing business. By adding more than 11,000 additional pallet positions within the same building, the customer gained the ability to meet growing demand while reducing pressure to expand beyond its existing footprint.