After the chaos of the past few years, it’s no secret to any American that our supply chain, while robust and effective during most years, is vulnerable to considerable interruption. Logjams at our ports, pandemic restrictions, and a seemingly endless number of international economic disruptions have hindered the once-smooth and resilient global supply chain, leading to higher wait times and prices for the everyday consumer.
Of course, a primary culprit is the fact that 40% of America’s imports enter the country through a single port. It doesn’t take a logistics & supply chain genius to see that that’s an Achilles heel best solved sooner than later if the country wants to avoid repeating our past mistakes.
So, how can American businesses that depend on the global supply chain better temper the risks of its potential disruption? The answer might be simpler than you think, locating your inventory and products in a Midwest warehouse.
While “flyover country” has always served an important role in the nation’s transportation of goods thanks to its central location and robust network of roads, railways, airports and waterways, the Midwest has recently experienced a significant surge in demand for warehousing, with at least 1 billion square feet of new warehousing space needed to meet that demand.
What makes the Midwest ideal for warehousing?
First and foremost: location, location, location. Storing goods in the center of the country is an incredibly easy way to save both time and money on shipping, all while boosting delivery reliability. Reducing the distance your product has to travel to reach your customer helps mitigate the risk of weather or shipping disruptions, adding a welcome measure of dependability to the last-mile shipping piece of your logistics puzzle.
And then there’s the region’s large and well-established transportation infrastructure. Long a crucial transportation and logistics hub, the center of the country boasts a wealth of transport options, reducing the limitations inherent to choosing just a single option. High connectivity between rail, road, air and water transit hubs means more efficient transportation for goods moving to and from the Midwest, without the risk of the delays that have so recently plagued logistics hubs on the country’s coasts.
At WSI, the benefits of warehousing in the Midwest aren’t a surprise, as we have a long and proud history operating in the region. WSI was started in northeast Wisconsin, and our rich tradition of partnerships with the lumber, pulp, and paper businesses is why we still consider the paper industry our legacy business.
And with our biggest hub of facilities still located in the Badger State, we’re ideally positioned to take advantage of the many upsides of Midwestern warehousing for our clients. If you’re interested in learning more, just click here to get in touch with a warehousing expert today!
Or dive in deeper and check out all our Midwestern Warhouses.
