Racking and conveyors running before peak season
Northfield signed a contract that started in October. The building, the racking and the conveyor line all had to be working by then.
At a glance
- Client goal: Operational by October
- Delivery deadline: Peak season start date
- Site constraint: 20-week lead time on steel
Materials that take longer to arrive than to install
Structural steel, dock doors and the conveyor line all had lead times longer than the build itself. Waiting for final drawings to order them would have missed October.
We ordered steel and doors from early drawings, tracked every shipment weekly, and lined up a backup fabricator in Edmonton in case the first one slipped.
Ordered early, installed once
Deliveries were staged by the order they would be installed, so crews never waited on material and nothing sat in the yard through a hailstorm.
Key milestones
- Steel ordered / Week 0 / Placed from early drawings, before the site was cleared
- Building enclosed / Week 28 / Roof and walls up before the first frost
- First trucks / September 2026 / Racking and conveyors live two weeks early
Loading trucks two weeks early
Northfield started its contract early, with the racking loaded and the conveyor line tested well before the first peak-season order came in.
By the numbers
- 480,000 / Square Feet / Warehouse, offices and 64 dock doors
- 2 Weeks Early / Operational Date / Ahead of peak season
- 11 Months / Groundbreaking to Go-live / Steel ordered on day one
Building on a hard deadline?
When the opening date is fixed, the order dates matter more than the build dates. We can map every long-lead item before you commit. First conversations cover lead times, risks and the real critical path.
