Pros and cons of aluminium temporary warehouses

The decision to use a temporary warehouse can often be forced by the hand of speed. A commercial growth and improvement opportunity may rely solely on getting more on-site space quickly. However, if you have time to consider the options, understanding the pros and cons can give you a broader understanding of whether an aluminium temporary warehouse suits your business and circumstances.

Aluminium temporary warehouses are engineered with an aluminium frame instead of steel. This means they’re a much lighter building and don’t require traditional foundations. Instead they can be anchored down to existing hard ground; a process that is extremely quick (often a week) and economical. And, just as easy to do in reverse, creating relocation and re-use opportunities.

Because of the speed benefits, businesses often turn to aluminium temporary buildings when they have an unforeseen short-fall in storage space; often associated with growth. The ability to capitalise on this growth can lie in the hands of temporary warehouses.

Cost

Cost savings can be achieved from multiple angles:

• Modular construction means fewer components to produce.
• Modular design produces an easy installation process that requires minimal equipment.
• Fast, simple installation needs fewer on-site staff and crew.

These points also reduce disruption to your business – massively.

Impact

A long and disruptive construction project can impact operational efficiency, staff moral and ultimately, customer loyalty. The short installation period needed for a temporary warehouse, combined with low labour and equipment, keeps disruption to a minimum.

Waste

Any building that can be classed as ‘prefabricated’ and manufactured in a factory, scores on the green credentials. Much of this is based around waste reduction from systems that continually work to improve economies of scale. The repetition and auditing procedures also help.

Quality

A factory environment can keep quality on an upward trajectory with regular and controlled inspections and quality control methods.

Speed

The speed a temporary warehouse can be installed on your site often ensures a quicker return on investment – and a healthy one stemming from the initial low investment.

Flexibility

Global politics and climate concerns impact right down to grass-routes level; your business. To survive the 21st century, businesses need to be dynamic and flexible.
Temporary warehouses score highly here. The lightweight properties and build process allow easy dismantle, relocation, re-use and re-purpose. This means you can expand and contract your warehousing quickly and affordable – in-line with our volatile and unpredictable world.

Size

Choosing a more traditional building over a temporary warehouse means the option of size becomes almost unlimited. Although aluminium temporary warehouses can cover vast sq meterage with the ability to link buildings together and unlimited length options, they are never going to reach the scale of an Amazon warehouse.

Design

Most temporary warehouses tend to be boxes. If you wanted a different shape or configuration the options are there, but more limited than designing a traditional building from the ground up.

Aesthetics

The design options for aesthetics, overall comfort and functionality are fewer than traditional buildings. However, this might only become an issue for large public facilities as opposed to warehouses.

Planning

Temporary warehouses often need planning. Avoiding this with the ‘temporary’ label is a misconception. Many temporary warehouse suppliers offer a planning service as part of their product offering, which can negate this problem.

Roofing

One of the standard roofing systems for a temporary warehouse is an industrial grade PVC (fully insulated hard roof systems are however available). It’s a hard wearing, functional and very economical system that can offer varying levels of insulation.

Despite this, some people just prefer the visual appearance of a more traditional hard roof. Additionally, the precision temperature control achieved with a solid roof on a traditional building is indisputable.

Adaptability

With less design flexibility a business might need to adapt operations around the temporary warehouse. A traditional building can be built completely in context with the specific user requirements. But, don’t forget, this comes with a cost.

Summary

The decision to use a temporary warehouse can often be forced by the hand of speed. A commercial opportunity for growth and improvement may solely rely on getting more on-site space quickly.

However, if you have time to consider the options, understanding the pros and cons can give you a broader understanding of whether an aluminium temporary warehouse is right for your business and circumstances.