Maybe warehousing is not the most exciting topic we teach in OM (see Chapter 9). But giant warehouses are springing up across the country as surging online sales send retailers scrambling to find space to house products destined for delivery to customers’ homes. Much of the construction is happening in the South, writes The Wall Street Journal (June 9, 2016), where land and labor are cheap. New warehouses can top 1 million square feet and contain hundreds of thousands of different types of items. Here is an interesting graphic.
Classroom discussion questions:
- What is driving the growth?
- What company is leading the way?
