Right Location, Right Mission Are Paramount

When asked about the current and future demand drivers for industrial space and how has that changed in the last 15 years in celebration of GlobeSt.com's 15^th anniversary, Adam Mullen, head of supply chain services at CBRE, says that flexibility and proximity rule the world now and will continue to in the future. “The right location and right mission are paramount,” he says.

Mullen point out that demand drivers for industrial space remain unchanged over the years—growth enablement, service, business continuity, cost avoidance, M&A, etc. But what has changed, he says is how these drivers are weighted and used to define the business case for change. “For a growing eCommerce business, service and growth enablement are critical demand drivers.” 

Growth requirements will help in sizing and defining the right level of storage, he adds. And “service will help determine the right location as well as the right level of automation within the operation—to receive and order and have on a truck in 60 minutes is a different answer than within 24 hours.”

And for a mission critical business like hospital supplies and pharmaceuticals, for example, Mullen says that business continuity may be the most critical driver—back-up facilities and the ability to deal with natural disasters and not impact business. Other important drivers will be M&M and cost avoidance, he adds, depending on the economic cycle (consolidation, deconsolidation, duplicity, etc.).