Business, at its core, is about “supply and demand.” With corporate supply chains experiencing never-before-seen pressure, it has never been more challenging for businesses to get the first half of that equation, supply, right.Supply-Chain Kinks: A Perfect Storm in North AmericaTechnology is changing traditional retail models. Vendors previously had to operate out of brick-and-mortar facilities, which meant large inventories had to be kept onsite. Yet the Internet-with its instantaneous global communication, online shopping and drop-shipping-has turned this model on its head.Today, expanding a business’s market reach is easier and more affordable than ever. Third-party logistics companies (3pls) are part of an entire industry that helps businesses, large and small, to ship, transport, track and warehouse inventory.In an effort to raise their bottom lines and stay ahead of the competition, many North American retail businesses are contracting 3pls to help increase and manage their inventories. Although this might seem a daunting concept for some small business owners, as this article will show, such expansion is not as complicated or risky as it might sound.12 Factors to Consider When Acquiring Warehouse SpaceMost real estate agents and bean counters will say ‘price is king’ when acquiring new warehousing facilities. Obviously, price is an important factor, but focusing on it can also make a business lose sight of other important requirements for its long-term health. There’s usually a reason why a property is so cheap, and, consequently, the savvy executive should consider the following factors when planning warehouse acquisitions:1. Size2. Layout3. Truck accessibility4. Trailer storage5. Turning lanes6. Freeway access7. Cubic Capacity8. Flow9. Possibility for material-handling equipment integration10. Staging11. Proximity/distance to customers12. Overall locationCaveats to Warehouse SeekersMany companies hire consultants to help them determine the best places to locate their warehouses. This is often in addition to hiring brokers and real-estate agents who help locate the best value in a given market.However, these out-of-house professionals might have their own agendas. And, unless you have a general understanding of these sub-contractors’ fields, it is impossible to tell if they’re doing their job properly.For example, many consultants and real-estate agents hired to find warehouse locations often over-prioritize proximity to consumers. Not only can this lead to higher property cost, but, as Los Angeles’ history will show, it can ultimately inhibit your business processes.Consumer Proximity Doesn’t Make the Ideal Warehouse Location: Take Los Angeles Over the last several decades, many businesses have chosen to locate their warehouses near Los Angeles ports, believing such locations are ideal. And, according to conventional wisdom, such locations would seem to minimize drayage costs, thus lowering overall processing overhead.And yet, Los Angeles traffic congestion has long been notorious, and the above-mentioned rise in truck traffic has only added to this issue. Theoretically, Los Angeles might seem the ideal port because it imports goods straight from Asia and is in relatively close proximity to many North American business’s customers. But, while seemingly logical, these assumptions overlook key details about Los Angeles’ realities.Because of the city’s overwhelming traffic congestion, even short-distance trucking between one of the city’s ports and a nearby warehouse can be expensive and time-consuming. In many instances, trucking to and from a warehouse in a more distant location can require less gasoline. And it can also require less time-important when considering payments to trucking companies-if shipments are not constantly idling on the L.A. freeway.What’s more, surrounded by parks, Los Angeles suffers from unique zoning laws that limit the city’s expansion. Consequently, real estate prices and property taxes in the greater-Los Angeles area are the highest in the United States. According to CBS Los Angeles (Nov 2013), Malibu, California boasts the absolute highest U.S. real estate prices, with the average home selling for $2.1 million.Warehousing and Distribution – Looking to CanadaThese two factors alone should be reason enough to persuade many businesses to disregard common wisdom and locate their warehouses elsewhere. Less active are Canada’s own Pacific ports and the Great Lakes ports on both sides of the border. As Collier’s reports, one regularly overlooked trend is the shift toward the Great Lakes’ ports, which now account for 25 percent of U.S. GDP growth from shipping.Locating warehouses farther from even these areas, then, might seem counterintuitive, but it can offer several advantages if coupled with increased inventories. For one thing, overall drayage costs can actually be lower for far-removed warehouses. After all, as fuel costs rise, it is better for trucks to make one trip, rather than several, through a congested area.Consider, after all, that a business with warehousing in a congested area must not only hazard lost efficiency when its warehouse receives inventory shipments; the business is also losing ground from the same traffic congestion when it ships from its distribution hub. It is bad enough for incoming inventory to sit in L.A. traffic, but the costs can become astronomical if outgoing fulfillment does so as well.The paradoxical drayage savings of locating a warehouse in Canada, then, only add to such a warehouse’s lower property-tax and lower real estate-price savings. But, again, location and price are not the only factors to consider. Additionally, anyone concerned with acquiring more warehouse capacity should consider availability in Canada for following reasons:1. Because of lower demand for property, Canadian warehouses can be larger and offer more space.2. Though not in the United States, Canadian warehouses are still in close proximity to/are a short distance from the majority of customers.3. Larger warehouse capacity and lower ship- and highway-traffic congestion mean the number of shipments, in containers, a Canadian warehouse must receive and ship annually can remain comparatively low.Considering these factors, it’s no wonder why so many U.S. companies are choosing to warehouse in Canada.