Cerebus Inventory Report: Lake Erie Warehouse

DAVE FISHER:

Dave Sim asked me to forward you a report of his inventory stock that has been in a warehouse a couple hundred km from Kitchener in preparation for a move to Kitchener. The boxes have been stored at the warehouse for over 25 years, and funnily enough Sim had never visited or viewed the site. He asked me to make a road trip and report back.

Cerebus Inventory Report:
Lake Erie Warehouse

January 26, 2015

The Cerebus inventory stock is stored in three separate sections of the warehouse. Most of the stock is stored on skids (wooden pallets). Whereas most shipping skids come in a standardized size, these skids are variable -- small-sized, regular size and oversized, making calculations somewhat tricky.

A) The first section is stored indoors and heated to room temperature.

There are boxes stored two-deep on shelves. Many of these boxes are open and partially filled. Boxes can be cut down for easier shipping. There are additional stacked boxes on pallets. Some boxes overlap pallets and will need to be re-stacked.

Estimated number of skids: 5-6

B) The second and biggest section is in cold storage on lower level.

Many skids have boxes wrapped in plastic. Ideally, all boxes stored on skids require secure stable re-stacking and should be wrapped in plastic.

Estimated number of skids: 18-22

C) The third & last section is located upstairs, in cold storage .

Section includes a pair of skids of empty folded shipping boxes. The Cerebus inventory boxes on these skids overlap and will require re-stacking. The boxes are not stacked high, possibly for distribution control, but also possibly to not stress the floor. It's like an old barn and does not appear to be structurally strong, so the boxes may have been spread out on skids to evenly distribute the weight. Notes:

• Boxes can easily be stacked higher for shipping. I'm uncertain whether they should be stacked upstairs or stacked & wrapped downstairs after they've been moved to the loading dock. The loading dock is semi-sheltered, but is outside.
• Warehouse has a forklift & elevator system to get those skids to the lower ground level. For shipping, all boxes on skids should require wrapping in plastic to stabilize them. It will need to be determined if those upstairs skids will need to be wrapped upstairs or down on the loading dock.
• Another factor, the boxes should all be shipped on the skids, but will require a hand-jack (or forklift) at the destination end to unload, whether the storage facility has one or the truck rental. As far as I know, the new storage facility in Kitchener has trolleys, but I don't know if they have a hand-jack or forklift. (Need to investigate.) (Perhaps one can be rented?) If we don't have a jack at the destination end, it will require hand-bombing the boxes off the truck onto a small trolley, which is a pain in the arse that right now we don't want to contemplate. That's a worse-case scenario.

Estimated number of skids: 8

SUMMARY:

• Total number of estimated skids: 30-36.
• This is going to require a serious transport truck.
• And/or might require a few shipments.
• Recommendation: upstairs cold storage pallets (Section C) should wait until at least spring time before coming downstairs.