Five Workplace Property Inefficiencies Worth Fixing This Spring

Five Workplace Property Inefficiencies Worth Fixing This Spring
 

When you operate from the same industrial property every day, it is surprisingly easy to stop noticing the things that don’t work particularly well.

The awkward vehicle access everyone has learned to navigate. The maintenance issue that has been on the list for months. The warehouse layout that made sense five years ago but no longer reflects how the business operates. The storage area that is barely used. Or the small property-related frustrations employees simply work around because they have always been there.

None of these necessarily feels significant enough on its own to trigger a major property decision.

But collectively, property inefficiencies can create unnecessary cost, operational friction and disruption for a business.

Spring is a useful opportunity for industrial occupiers to take a fresh look at their premises and ask a simple question: is this property making it easier or harder for us to do business?

Here are five areas worth putting under the microscope.
 

Maintenance Issues You’ve Learned to Live With

There is a significant difference between a cosmetic imperfection and a property issue that begins interfering with business operations.

Maintenance problems can be easy to defer when they don’t initially prevent a business from operating. But the longer they remain unresolved, the greater the potential impact. The same applies to repeated patch-up jobs, a short-term fix may solve the immediate problem, but if the underlying issue isn’t properly addressed, it can lead to recurring maintenance, greater disruption and a significantly more expensive repair down the track.

Roof leaks are a good example. What begins as a relatively manageable maintenance issue can quickly become a much larger problem once it starts affecting a tenant’s stock, equipment or ability to use part of the premises.

For an occupier, the Spring-clean question should therefore be broader than “What needs fixing?” Consider what is creating disruption, presenting a potential risk or requiring your team to continually compensate for a problem with the building.

Where responsibility sits with the landlord under the lease, raising these issues early and maintaining clear communication can help ensure the underlying problem is properly addressed rather than allowing a manageable repair to develop into something more significant.
 

A Layout That No Longer Reflects How the Business Operates

Businesses change considerably faster than buildings.

A warehouse configuration that worked when you first moved in may be considerably less effective after several years of growth, new equipment, different stock requirements or changes to how goods move through the business.

The signs aren’t always dramatic.

Employees may be walking unnecessarily long distances between work areas. Goods may move backwards and forwards across the warehouse. Storage could be occupying valuable operational space. Dispatch and receiving might compete for the same area. Office space may be underused while warehouse space is increasingly constrained.

Over time, these workarounds become normal. That is exactly why they are worth reviewing.

Rather than immediately assuming the business needs more space, consider whether the existing footprint is being used as efficiently as it could be. Sometimes a relatively simple reconfiguration can improve the way the premises support the operation.
 

Access That Is Slowing the Business Down

For many industrial occupiers, what happens outside the warehouse can be just as important as what happens inside it.

Truck access, loading areas, parking, circulation space and surrounding roads can all affect how efficiently a business operates from a property.

Rutherfords’ team identified site access, nearby freeways and major arterials, surrounding facilities and the local road network among the characteristics influencing the desirability and performance of an industrial property. Narrow surrounding streets, for example, can create an inherent disadvantage for some types of industrial users.

An occupier should look at these factors through an operational lens.

Are deliveries taking longer than they should because access is difficult? Are vehicles competing for limited loading space? Is employee or customer parking creating problems? Does the location still make sense for suppliers, customers and the way goods move through the business?

Some of these characteristics can’t be changed. But understanding where the friction exists helps distinguish a manageable inefficiency from a more fundamental limitation of the property.
 

Space You’re Paying for but Not Really Using

More space isn’t always better space.

Industrial businesses can accumulate underutilised areas over time: excess storage, obsolete equipment zones, offices that no longer reflect working arrangements or sections of a warehouse that aren’t being used effectively.

At the same time, another part of the premises may feel cramped.

That is why looking purely at the total square metres occupied doesn’t necessarily tell you whether a property is the right size.

Instead, consider how much of that footprint is genuinely contributing to the operation. Where are the bottlenecks? Where is there excess capacity? Which areas are being used differently from what was originally intended? And could reorganising the existing footprint delay or remove the need for a more substantial property move?

This is particularly useful when reviewing premises because it turns the conversation from “Do we need more space?” into “Are we making the best use of the space we already have?”
 

The Workarounds Nobody Questions Anymore

Perhaps the most revealing part of a workplace spring clean is identifying all the things your team does because “that’s just how it works here.”

It might be moving vehicles several times to complete a delivery. Storing stock somewhere inconvenient because the preferred area is full. Avoiding part of the warehouse because of a maintenance issue. Using temporary storage because the existing configuration doesn’t work. Or adapting a process around a limitation of the property.

Individually, these workarounds can seem insignificant.

Repeated every day across a team, however, they can represent a meaningful amount of lost time and productivity.

Your employees can therefore be one of the best sources of information when reviewing an industrial workplace.

Ask the people using the property every day what slows them down, what frustrates them and what they would change about the premises if they could.

The answers may identify opportunities that aren’t obvious from a floor plan or property inspection.
 

Not Every Inefficiency Means You Need to Move

Identifying problems with a property shouldn’t automatically lead to a relocation.

In fact, one of the strongest themes is the importance of landlords understanding reasonable tenant requirements and, where appropriate, allowing modifications that help the premises better support the tenant’s operations.

That creates an important opportunity for occupiers.

If the property fundamentally works for the business but particular aspects don’t, there may be value in speaking with the landlord or property manager about what could realistically be improved.

The solution might involve maintenance, alterations, a different use of an existing area or another relatively straightforward change.

The objective is to determine whether the inefficiency can be fixed before deciding the entire property no longer works.
 

Know the Difference Between a Fixable Problem and a Property That No Longer Fits

Of course, not every limitation can be resolved.

You can reconsider a warehouse layout, but you can’t change the location of the property. You might improve loading arrangements within a site, but you can’t widen the surrounding streets. You can reorganise storage, but eventually a growing business may simply need more capacity.

That distinction is important.

A workplace review should help occupiers separate temporary or fixable inefficiencies from the fundamental property characteristics that could constrain the business over the longer term.

Industrial demand continually evolves as business and economic conditions change. The requirements placed on a property can change with them.

The property that was right when you signed the lease won’t necessarily remain the perfect fit indefinitely.
 

Take a Fresh Look at the Workplace You See Every Day

A spring clean doesn’t have to mean clearing out the storeroom.

For an industrial occupier, it can be an opportunity to step back from the day-to-day operation and look critically at the property supporting it.

What maintenance issues have become normal? Where is your team losing time? Is the layout supporting the way the business actually operates? Are you making effective use of the space you’re paying for? And which property limitations are simply being worked around rather than addressed?

Small inefficiencies have a habit of disappearing into the everyday operation of a business.

Spotting them is the first step towards deciding what can be improved, what should be discussed with the landlord and what may eventually require a bigger property decision.

If you’re reviewing how well your current industrial premises are supporting your business, the Rutherfords team can help assess your property requirements and provide insight into the options available across Melbourne’s industrial market.

Share this case study

• f
• p
• l