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ust-in-time delivery has not killed the warehouse business, but logistics managers who specialize in storage said their industry has been transformed into a service that handles products as they pass quickly through distribution centers.

Pallet loads of goods no longer rest untouched for weeks on end, they said. Instead, the modern distribution center is supposed to be a place where logistics employees add value to products by boxing or unpacking them or performing last-minute assembly work.

“One of the most general trends today is that people are trying to orient warehouses less around storage and more around moving product through,” said David Vernon, director of supply-chain solutions for third-party logistics provider APL Logistics of Oakland, Calif. They do this, he said, “so there’s not a black hole for money to disappear into.”

While the size of many warehouses has diminished — a typical warehouse might be 75,000 square feet today, as opposed to 150,000 square feet in the past — the activity inside them has become more complicated, said Carol Havis, director of engineering for Menlo Worldwide Logistics.

For the full story, see the May 17 print edition of Transport Topics. Subscribe today.