Goodman Group, Australia's largest listed industrial property group, announced that its wholly owned North American subsidiary, Goodman Birtcher, has launched development of a $150m logistics center at Rancho Cucamonga in the Inland Empire West market of Southern California.

An automated, 150,000-square-foot fulfillment center is planned for Ontario in the second quarter, according to eBay Enterprise.

Analyst Insight: Facility location planning is a six-dimensional balancing act encompassing long-term facility commitments with need for agility, predictable demand patterns with seasonal and spiky demand surprises, material handling investments with facility flexibility, return on investment with immediate operations effectiveness, cutting-edge technology with common sense, and operational efficiency and cost reduction with technology investment. Consequently, the best FLP results are those that design in the most needed capabilities, leaving space to accommodate the flexibility that drives location success. - Robert Sabath, Principal Essentialist SCM, TRISSENTIAL

Companies that successfully rode out the recession are now looking for better times ahead, but they should be cautious, says a report from Jones Lang LaSalle, which identified five operational issues that companies should remain focused on as the economy continues to strengthen.

The Miami-Dade Aviation Department (MDAD) convinced LAN Cargo to build its first U.S. maintenance facility at Miami International Airport. The $23.9m project is expected to create more than 300 jobs in the first five years.