A recent survey by Warehouse Specialists Inc, LLC (WSI) found that 75% of US manufacturers agree their warehouse networks evolved organically over time rather than being designed strategically. Another 73% say their current warehouse model was built for a different operating environment than the one they face today.

Challenges in Warehouse Management

Manufacturing warehousing has always been shaped by control, with products often being heavy, hazardous, high value, temperature sensitive, or difficult to handle without specialized equipment and trained labor. For decades, these requirements reinforced the idea that warehousing belonged close to the production floor and, often, under internal management.

However, this self-reliant model has advantages and disadvantages. It gives manufacturing leaders direct visibility into inventory, tighter coordination with production, and more control over processes that can carry real compliance or customer risk. But it also leaves companies managing infrastructure that may no longer match where their customers, suppliers, labor pools, or cost pressures now sit.

Reshoring and Trade Volatility

Reshoring and foreign direct investment continue to add new manufacturing activity in the United States. The Reshoring Initiative reported that 244,000 US manufacturing jobs were announced in 2024 through reshoring and FDI, with more than 2 million jobs announced since 2010. Manufacturing construction spending remains elevated as well.

Trade volatility is also adding pressure to warehouse strategy. Deloitte’s 2026 manufacturing outlook reported that 78% of manufacturers named trade uncertainty as their top concern, with expected input cost increases averaging 5.4% over the next year.

Warehousing is where many of these pressures physically show up. Tariff uncertainty can lead companies to front-load inventory, while supplier diversification can change inbound flows. Reshoring can move production closer to US customers but farther from existing storage.

Original reporting: El Paso News (HLL/CB) — read the source article.