The location mistake - the most expensive of all
A bad location is a mistake that costs money for the entire life of the asset - 15, 20, 30 years. Higher transport costs, recruitment difficulties, limited supplier access - each of these translates into real costs every month for decades. And yet many companies choose a site primarily based on land price - the least important parameter in the location equation.
The key location criteria are: transport access (motorways, junctions, borders), the labour market within a 30km radius (unemployment rates, wage levels, availability of forklift operators and warehouse workers), energy and utility costs, distance from key suppliers and customers, economic zones and investment incentives, flood risk and natural hazards. Land price is one of the less significant factors in total operational cost.
Before buying a site, commission an independent location analysis - comparing at least 3-5 alternatives against hard operational and financial criteria. Drone surveys and orthophotomaps give an objective picture of each location without multiple site visits.
Three questions worth answering before choosing a site:
- What does the annual cost difference in transport access between location A and B actually amount to?
- Is there a sufficient labour market within 30km for the planned headcount?
- What is the potential for expanding the facility by 30-50% over 10 years?
Layout design mistakes
A warehouse layout is a decision the company lives with for the entire life of the asset. Every order, every picker route, every minute of downtime at a bottleneck - these are costs generated by the layout. A poor design on 20,000m² can mean dozens of zloty wasted on every order picked.
Designing without turnover profile analysis
The layout must flow from SKU rotation data (ABC/XYZ analysis). The most frequently picked products should be closest to the picking zone. Designing without this analysis guarantees unnecessary kilometres of picker travel every day.
Oversized zones for current volume
Inbound or dispatch zones that are too large freeze surface area and impede flow. Zones that are too small become bottlenecks from the first peak day. Zones must be designed around forecasts, not current state.
No room for growth
A warehouse designed for today's volume will be misfit in 3-5 years of growth. A good layout allows for zone expansion, adding racking, and reconfiguring the flow without taking operations offline.
Ignoring ergonomics and safety
Narrow aisles, crossing forklift and pedestrian routes, no buffer zones - these are sources of accidents, downtime, and labour inspection issues. Ergonomics also affects productivity and staff turnover.
Wrong racking system selection
Conventional, drive-in, push-back, narrow-aisle - each has different applications and breakeven thresholds. Wrong selection means suboptimal space use or operational constraints for years.
Layout designed without WMS integration
Zone and location layouts must be designed together with WMS logic. A layout that doesn't work with the system's slotting and picking logic generates errors and inefficiencies that can't be eliminated without physically reconfiguring the facility.
Automation selection mistakes - oversizing and underestimating
Warehouse automation pays off at the right volume, repeatability, and operational stability. Installing a sorter, AutoStore system, or pick line at too low a volume is an investment that will never reach breakeven - equipment runs below designed capacity while maintenance and depreciation costs are fixed.
Equally costly is the opposite mistake: underestimating the required automation level. A warehouse designed today should account for volume growth over 5-10 years of operation. Adding automation to a live facility is several times more expensive and requires downtime or reduced operations.
The key is an independent ROI analysis for different automation scenarios - including pessimistic and optimistic volume cases. And independent vendor selection: an automation integrator will always sell you the solution that earns for them, not the one that optimises your ROI.
Typical automation mistakes
- Buying automation for peak volume when baseline is low
- No TCO (Total Cost of Ownership) analysis across the full system lifecycle
- Selecting a vendor purely on tender price, without evaluating maintenance costs
- No plan for system expansion with volume growth
- Ignoring in-house competence to maintain automation after the integrator leaves
The coordination gap - nobody owns the whole
A Greenfield project engages dozens of parties simultaneously: developer, general contractor, racking supplier, automation integrator, WMS vendor, recruitment firm, H&S consultants, electrical installation supplier, and many others. Each focuses on their own scope and optimises within it - not necessarily with the full picture in mind.
The result is predictable: delays from unsynchronised phases, problems at the interfaces between different vendors' scopes, decisions in one area that block another, and coordination costs pushed onto the project owner. Statistics show that 30-50% of delays in construction-logistics projects stem from inadequate coordination.
The solution is a single point of accountability across the whole project - a partner who understands all areas and coordinates them into a coherent whole. Not as a construction general contractor, but as a project manager from a logistics-operational perspective.
Planning a logistics investment? The earlier you engage an experienced partner, the more costly mistakes can be avoided - especially at the site selection and layout stage.
Discuss your project →No launch plan - and no optimisation budget after go-live
A common mistake: the investor puts all their attention into the construction project and equipment procurement, treating the operational launch plan as something that will sort itself out. But commissioning a warehouse is a project in its own right: system testing, training, recruiting and onboarding dozens or hundreds of people, configuring the WMS against real data, and validating processes. Underestimating the time and budget for launch is one of the most common causes of operational readiness delays.
A Greenfield project doesn't end on the day the keys are handed over. It ends when the operation reaches its target KPIs - picking throughput, error rate, cost-per-order. The first months after launch are a period of intensive optimisation, process correction, and resource adjustment. Without a plan for this phase, the company is improvising at precisely the moment when every day of delay costs money.
Launch plan essentials
- Launch schedule - who, what, when, what resources
- Recruitment and training plan for the team, at least 6-8 weeks in advance
- System testing and WMS integration plan before goods are received
- Pilot data for slotting and WMS picking configuration
- Operational procedures ready before day one
- Escalation plan for failures and issues in the first weeks
- Launch KPIs with weekly review schedule
How to avoid these mistakes - a practical checklist
Most of the mistakes described in this article can be avoided through the right sequencing and the early engagement of an independent partner.
- Independent location analysis comparing at least 3 alternatives before purchasing a site
- Masterplan with rotation analysis, ROI calculation, and volume scenarios
- Independent selection of racking, automation, and WMS vendors - without conflicts of interest
- A single partner coordinating the whole project from a logistics-operational perspective
- Launch plan with timeline, recruitment, and system testing milestones
- KPIs defined before start - not after
- Budget for post-launch optimisation - the first 3-6 months are a period of intensive refinement
FAQ - frequently asked questions
How long does a Greenfield project take from site to launch?
A full project from pre-investment analysis to full operational readiness typically takes 12-24 months, depending on the scale of the facility, automation level, and construction pace. Design and masterplan alone: 4-10 weeks. Construction phase: typically 9-15 months. Launch and reaching target KPIs: another 2-4 months.
When should you involve an advisor in a Greenfield project?
As early as possible - ideally before selecting the site. An advisor's influence on project cost is greatest at the start: location choice, masterplan, and automation decisions determine operational costs for an entire decade. Engaging an advisor after the construction contract is signed means the most important decisions are already made.
How do you select a warehouse location?
Location should result from a multi-criteria analysis: transport access, labour market (availability and cost), distance from customers and suppliers, energy costs, expansion potential, environmental risk. Land price is one of the less important parameters in the total operating cost calculation. It's worth commissioning an independent comparative analysis of several locations with hard data before making a purchase decision.
Is it worth investing in automation in a new warehouse?
It depends on scale, volume, and operational stability. Automation pays off at sufficient and stable volume - typically above 500-1,000 picks per hour. Below that threshold, the investment generates a higher cost-per-order than a manually operated warehouse with a well-designed layout. The key is an independent ROI calculation for different volume scenarios, including full lifecycle maintenance costs.
What is the most common mistake in Greenfield projects?
No single point of responsibility for coordinating the whole project - this mistake most often translates into delays, budget overruns, and facilities that have built-in inefficiencies from day one. Each vendor optimises their own scope; nobody is responsible for overall coherence. The second most common mistake is choosing a location based on land price rather than total operational cost analysis.
Planning a logistics investment?
Vologis manages Greenfield projects from pre-investment analysis to operational launch - combining location advisory, masterplanning, technology selection, and construction coordination. The earlier we're involved, the more mistakes we can prevent.
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