BendPak has opened its third U.S. distribution center, this one in Milford, Connecticut, extending the car lift and garage equipment manufacturer's delivery reach into New England, the Mid-Atlantic states and parts of the Great Lakes region. The company says the move rounds out a three-hub network designed to get products to customers faster across most of the country.
According to BendPak, the Milford facility joins existing regional hubs in Santa Paula, California, and Theodore, Alabama, forming a network the company says can now reach 92% of the U.S. population with delivery in two days or less. The Santa Paula hub serves the western half of the country, while the Theodore hub covers most of the Midwest and South, leaving the new Connecticut facility to handle the Northeast corridor. Together, BendPak says the three hubs provide next-day or two-day shipping to 40 states and Washington, D.C.
As reported by Traction News, BendPak announced the new facility on October 22. Specifics about the Milford site's building size, staffing levels, opening-day operations or product-stock counts were not disclosed.
Decentralized Inventory and Predictive Stocking
BendPak says it is using decentralized inventory storage and predictive stocking algorithms across all three hubs, an approach the privately held company says reduces order fulfillment and shipping transit times while cutting down on secondary shipping emissions and regional delays, per the company's own statements. Derek Burns, BendPak's director of distribution center operations for the East, described the Northeast distribution center opening as a milestone for the company. Burns said the expansion is redefining reliability for dealers and end-user customers, and reiterated that the network now reaches 92% of Americans within two days or less.
Jeff Kritzer, BendPak's president and CEO, said the Northeast expansion is the latest step in the company's long-term logistics-network plan and that BendPak is positioned to outpace a faster-moving marketplace. Over the last nine years, the company says it has aggressively expanded its product portfolio and geographic footprint, rolling out brands including Autostacker, JackPak, ErgoChair and Apex, along with Octaflex and AP Series two-post lifts, Mobi-EVS Series EV battery lifts and Coolee portable air coolers.
Growth Beyond Connecticut
The Milford opening follows a string of facility expansions elsewhere in the country. BendPak expanded its Santa Paula manufacturing and distribution center twice over the past nine years, bringing that facility to more than 400,000 square feet, and established a new global headquarters in Agoura Hills, California, during the same period.
In Alabama, BendPak grew its operations from a single distribution center in Theodore into a multi-building campus. Earlier this year, the company completed Phase 1 of its Donald R. Henthorn Industrial Complex in Mobile County, which includes a 261,600-square-foot logistics and distribution center, according to Trailer/Body Builders. That outlet reported the Alabama investment is intended to support continued growth and changing customer demand, and that the facility combines warehousing, product distribution, quality control, sales and service operations to support BendPak's Southeast operations and improve fulfillment across Eastern North America.
The Theodore hub itself traces back to a smaller footprint. BendPak's own account describes the original Alabama site as a 100,000-square-foot distribution center located near the Port of Mobile, expected at the time to become fully operational within 60 days of its announcement and intended to enable same-day or next-day delivery to more customers in the eastern half of the country.
