Know the Costs of Moving a Warehouse

Browsing facilities, equipment, and other supplies for your new warehouse is a lot of fun (and a little overwhelming), but what does the warehouse move really cost? Moving into a warehouse is time consuming, complex to plan, and requires many resources. It involves a lot of work with many different stakeholders and parties over months or longer. A warehouse move adds a lot of work for the current staff on top of their existing workload, so outsourcing the work or hiring more employees may be necessary to meet goals and deadlines.

With so much work to move a warehouse and so many stakeholders involved, it is no surprise that the costs to move a warehouse are difficult to calculate. This article identifies the costs that impact the total costs of moving your warehouse.

How much does it cost to move a warehouse?

The total cost to move a warehouse is unique for each move based on many potential factors. Some potential factors include, but are not limited to: geographic location, your in-house capabilities and resource availability, improvements at the new facility, repairs at the facility you are moving out of, and types of goods and equipment you must move.

To calculate your cost to move a warehouse, the moving costs are organized into 3 categories that identify the stage of moving that costs are incurred during.

Answer these questions to calculate your warehouse move costs

• How much does it cost to start in the new warehouse?
• How much does it cost to move out of your old warehouse?
• How much does it cost to move warehouse inventory, supplies, and equipment?

How much does it cost to start in the new warehouse?

The costs of possessing, opening, and running the new warehouse are the most critical warehouse move costs. These costs often have the most uncertainty since the facility is not yet selected, and the geographic region may not even be known yet. Adding to the importance, some of these new warehouse costs are recurring monthly expenses for the entire term of the lease so they directly impact the future costs of running the business.

Evaluate your warehouse move to determine which of the below new warehouse costs apply to you. Then estimate each of the applicable costs to the best of your ability based on the currently defined criteria of the new warehouse. As the criteria is refined or altered, continue updating your new warehouse cost estimates.

Common new warehouse costs include, but are not limited to:

• Move-in cost of facility
  • Security deposit
  • 1st month rent
  • Cleanup and improvements
  • If applicable, new construction costs
  • Security system and/or on-site security staff
• Utility setup fees and deposits
• Insurance fees
  • Minimum, General Liability and Property insurance
  • If applicable, Warehousemans Insurance
• Equipment, materials, and supplies
  • Racking and/or shelving
  • Office furniture
  • Hygiene and cleaning supplies
  • Signage
  • Forklifts or similar equipment
• Extra dumpster pickups for additional trash disposal

How much does it cost to move out of your old warehouse?

The costs of moving out of your current warehouse are often overlooked, but these costs can add up significantly depending on many factors of the move out. Notably, most move out costs are only one time expenses. Some of the factors impacting the costs of moving out of your current building may include: any damage done to the building during the lease term, the types of equipment and materials to be removed from the facility, and how much time you have to move out of the facility.

Identify all of the potential move out costs that apply to your situation so you can calculate the cost to move out of the current warehouse. It is helpful to review the lease agreement of the building you are moving out of to identify any special conditions or requirements regarding the condition you must leave the facility and to identify any potential landlord fees regarding move out and facility condition.

Common warehouse move out costs include, but are not limited to:

• Equipment and materials disassembly and uninstallation
  • Racking and/or shelving
  • Oversized and bulky items that cannot be moved in their current condition
• Cleaning and additional dumpster emptying costs
• Repairs to any facility damages done
• Equipment, materials, and supplies for move
  • Packing materials
  • Moving boxes and blankets
  • Rolling carts, dollies, and similar
• Final utilities and other vendor costs

How much does it cost to move warehouse inventory, supplies, and equipment?

The cost of transporting inventory, supplies, and equipment from the old facility to the new warehouse can quickly drive up the cost of moving. The more loads of goods there are to move, the more costly moving is. Some of the factors impacting the cost of transporting goods between facilities include: the distance between warehouses, how much stuff needs moved, how easy (or hard) it is to move the goods, if the items needing moved have special transportation requirements, and the geographic location.

Identify all of the goods, equipment, and supplies that you are moving into the new warehouse from the old one. Figure out if any of the items are difficult to move or have special requirements for moving. You will need to estimate how many loads you expect it to take to move everything to the new warehouse. This requires thinking about how everything is packed for the move, how it is loaded and unloaded during moving, and how business is impacted by moving from one warehouse to another.

Common costs of moving equipment, supplies, and goods from one warehouse to another include, but are not limited to:

• Transportation/trucking costs
• Labor costs
  • Consider outsourcing to professional movers or using a staffing agency to get temporary laborers
• Special equipment or materials if applicable
• Business downtime costs during move

Bringing it all together

The cost of moving into a new warehouse is challenging to calculate and is unique for each warehouse moving scenario. While there is no one size fits all solution to calculate the cost to move a warehouse, easily estimate the cost to move a warehouse by referencing the list of common costs covered here and estimating each cost for the warehouse move at hand. By estimating all costs associated with 1) moving into the new warehouse, 2) moving out of the old warehouse, and 3) transporting the goods and equipment to the new warehouse we can calculate a total estimated moving cost.

Contact Us if you need an outsourced warehousing solution along the way.