FORT WAYNE, Ind. (WFFT) -- Sweetwater Sound now has the ability to ship more than twice the capacity of their previous warehouse space.
Doors opened to the new $52.5 million warehouse at Sweetwater’s campus on U.S. 30 Monday morning.
Sweetwater Expansion
The new warehouse is part of the major expansion plan announced in October 2018.
“At the end of the day it gives us the ability to service our customers at a higher level,” said Jeris Noye, Sweetwater Senior Vice President of Logistics. “Sweetwater’s levels, to begin with, were pretty darn high. We look to even exceed that.”
The new warehouse space will feature:
- Nearly 480,000 square feet of usable space
- A footprint of almost 7 acres
- 1851 feet of conveyors
“Measurable growth is going to be in the ability to service our customers at an even higher rate,” Noye said. “Historically we have been able to ship 95 to 96 percent of our orders out the same day. We expect that number to go up another 3 or 4 points.”
The technology used in the new space was custom-built by Sweetwater’s Information Technology team.
“Jason Johnson’s team has really dove right in and right from the beginning sought to understand the business,” Noye said. “By asking good probing questions we were able to develop a really good picking user interface.”
The custom-built technology will allow orders to be processed and filled faster, resulting in shorter delivery times.
Continuing with the expansion plan, Sweetwater will break ground on a new conference center this July.
The $31 million project will provide meeting space for the company and community.
The conference center is expected to be complete in Summer 2021.
Additionally, Sweetwater is planning over $20 million of construction and renovations that will occur between April 2020 and February 2021.
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