This client distributes abrasive materials. Most of the materials are sand, glass, and metal for industrial use like sandblasting.

They operate out of the Midwest and use regional warehouses to supply local customers.

Tampa is one of those regional locations.

They had under 30 days to replace their existing warehouse and keep everything moving.

From first call to shipping truckloads into of our building, it took 18 days.

This wasn’t a slow transition.

• Multiple full truckloads (53’ dry vans)
• All inventory moved over a 3–5 day window
• Freight arriving while orders still needed to go out

We handled the receiving side: unloading, organizing, and getting inventory into position as it came in.

If you’ve been through a warehouse move before, you already know:

This is where things usually fall apart.

The product is simple, but hard to handle well.

• 50 lb bags stacked on pallets
• Heavy, dense loads
• Bags tear if handled poorly
• Pallets can break down if you move them too much

On top of that, the operation required:

• 100 pallets in storage
• 1–3 inbound shipments per month
• 3–10 outbound orders per week
• ~75% full pallets
• ~25% partial pallet picks and rebuilds
• About 50% customer pickups (will call)

And the big one:

Orders needed to be ready within 24 hours

Nothing complicated. Just done right.

Inbound

• Trucks received and unloaded at set appointment times
• Inventory received and entered within 1 business day
• Pallets putaway to storage locations so they’re easy to access later

Storage & Handling

• Minimize unnecessary movement
• Watch for weak or defective pallets early
• Only reconfigure or restack when needed

Outbound

• Orders submitted → ready next business day
• Full pallets staged clean
• Piece pick and build mixed and partial pallets
• Clear expectations: Standard turnaround of 24 hours and Rush processing available for additional cost

Pickups & Flexibility

We regularly load:

• Dry vans
• Flatbeds
• Hotshots
• Sprinter vans
• Pickup trucks

About half of the orders for this client are customer pickups, so the ability to load many vehicle types matters more than most warehouses think. You never know what kind of vehicle a customer may pickup with.

We kept it simple and built a process that we could repeat every time.

The move happened without disruption.

No missed shipments.
No customer issues.
No downtime.

Today:

• They’ve been with us 4+ years
• They support 8–12 steady customers in the region
• Their volume is consistent
• They’ve become more efficient with storage over time

It wasn’t about the product.

It was about execution.

Most warehouse issues come from:

• Slow response times
• Poor communication
• Inconsistent handling

Fix those, and most operations run smoothly.

If you’re running a distribution operation, your warehouse is part of your customer experience.

If it breaks, everything downstream feels it.

This type of setup works best if you:

• Store 20–200+ pallets
• Ship pallets or cases regularly
• Need consistent turnaround times
• Have customers picking up or receiving regularly