Issue link: https://nebusinessmedia.uberflip.com/i/1382333
24 HARTFORDBUSINESS.COM | JUNE 14, 2021 WE FOCUS ON YOUR FACILITIES— SO YOU CAN FOCUS ON YOUR BUSINESS. The company that builds and installs the critical systems in virtually every type of facility is the same company you can rely on to maintain them. For over over 50 years, our clients have trusted us to deliver end-to-end facilities solutions, so they can focus on their core business. We design, install, and maintain systems in: Industrial, Manufacturing, Commercial, Higher Education, Healthcare, and Pharmaceutical facilities. 860.871.1111 Toll Free: 800.741.6367 nemsi.com MECHANICAL | ELECTRICAL | PLUMBING | SHEET METAL | BUILDING AUTOMATION | FACILITIES SERVICES License #'s: E1-0125666 S1-302974 P1-203519 F1-10498 SM1-192 MC-1134 NEMSI HBJ_QtrPg Ads_201221.indd 3 NEMSI HBJ_QtrPg Ads_201221.indd 3 12/21/20 5:09 PM 12/21/20 5:09 PM people are also ordering groceries online, and companies are responding to that with projects like the 12-story, 250,000-square-foot Stop & Shop frozen foods warehouse under construction in Plainville. Stop & Shop's parent company, Ahold Delhaize, also signed a 975,000-square-foot lease last year at a sprawling Manchester warehouse — known as the Winstanley Logistics Hub at 1339 Tolland Turnpike — as part of a $480-million investment to broaden its supply chain into a fully-integrated, self-distribution model. High bays As customers' expectations for quick delivery have risen, companies renting distribution space have new needs, Duclos said. For example, buildings charging the highest rents need more and taller delivery bays and enough space outside to facilitate multiple trucks arriving and leaving at the same time. Prospective tenants are looking for ceiling heights between 32 and 40 feet, higher than in the past, he said. "That's what we're generally seeing; [demand for] higher bays, deeper buildings, and much more loading capacity," Duclos said. Ceilings at the forthcoming Agri- Mark facility, which Winstanley Enterprises is building, will be 33 feet high, Winstanley said. It will also have a loading dock area with no columns, LED lighting and electric vehicle chargers, Winstanley said. But even though the market is hot now, Winstanley said he predicts demand will peter out over the next three years. "Companies … are building out their [distribution] networks, and once those networks are built out, the opportunities are going to start to sunset," Winstanley said. "They're just not going to have a need for more space." For the time being, though, demand for distribution property is in full swing, as is work within the occupied buildings. Warehouse to doorstep To get a package from a FOCUS: Logistics & Distribution Veritiv employee John Cultrera explains how a scanner gun directs him where he needs to place inventory in the Enfield distribution center. HBJ PHOTO | STEVE LASCHEVER warehouse to a customer's front door or office, requires many steps and a well-organized logistics operation often intertwined with technology, and sometimes even robots and artificial intelligence. When an inventory order arrives at the Enfield Veritiv facility, warehouse employee Bill Scagliarini scans a barcode to see what's supposed to be included. After he verifies all the toilet paper, cardboard boxes, cleaning chemicals and whatever else Veritiv ordered is there, Scagliarini uses his scanner gun to enter everything into the inventory database, and create a "license plate" barcode. Later on, John Cultrera drives up on a forklift and scans the license plate, which tells him what products are on the pallets, and where they should be stored. Fast-selling products go in the front, slower items toward the back. During the night shift other workers prepare orders that get shipped to Veritiv's customers by placing outgoing products by specific loading bays. Barcodes in the staging areas identify where products should be placed and where pickers can find them. "We're running 24 hours a day," said Veritiv Operations Manager Scott High.