A report from ProLogis, a global provider of distribution facilities, entitled Network Reconfigurations - Springboard for Supply Chain Efficiency, discusses long-term trends in how companies have redesigned and reconfigured distribution networks and individual distribution facilities to adapt to changes in the economic environment and reduce overall distribution costs.
Highlights in the report include:
• Optimizations to distribution networks have led companies to occupy fewer distribution facilities than they previously used. However, the new facilities are much bigger.
• The average size of distribution facilities has more than doubled during the past 15 years - growing from 124,000 square feet in 1994 to approximately 300,000 square feet.
• Higher fuel prices are unlikely to result in major large-scale revisions because many companies have already optimized their networks to accommodate transportation costs.
