Clearing a Warehouse Space in the Coffee Industry

Acquisitions often require complex operational adjustments, and many don’t realize that they can also mean major physical work, as the businesses undergo substantial changes.

When Farmer Brothers purchased the Boyd’s brand last year, the Texas-based coffee distributor turned to Omega Morgan’s Portland office for assistance. They needed help in removing more than 200 heavy pieces of equipment and 550 tons of recycled metals and waste from a warehouse, and clearing out the space needed to happen in a very short time period.

Farmer Brothers had purchased the coffee brand and equipment, but Boyd’s retained ownership of the building. That meant clearing out this major space within 10 weeks, to avoid substantial potential penalties for lost rent.

Fortunately, the Omega Morgan millwright team was up to the task.

The Project: A Major Millwright Job on a Tight Timeline

Omega Morgan was slated to provide all labor, equipment, materials, and services to Farmer Brothers in order to completely clear their warehouse in Portland, which would ultimately be retained by the Boyd’s Family. The warehouse was filled with:

• More than 200 pieces of equipment, equivalent to 12 truckloads, that would be saved for re-use by Farmer Brothers. Equipment pieces ranged from blenders, coffee grinders, carton erectors, and food bagging machines to a number of other pieces commonly used in the coffee industry.
• Approximately 400 tons of recycled metals from obsolete equipment, mezzanines, and ducting.
• Approximately 150 tons of office and warehouse waste to completely clear out.

Any equipment left in the warehouse on January 1, 2019 (10 weeks after the start of the job) would result in Farmer Brothers needing to pay Boyd’s a penalty for lost rent. Along with an already tight timeline, Omega Morgan also navigated a changing scope which made the job even more complex, as the building had to be modified as a result of the equipment no longer existing in that space.

The Process: Close Cooperation and Simultaneous Work

Despite the deadline and the changing scope, the Omega Morgan team worked quickly and diligently. The warehouse space was divided up into multiple spaces, which allowed Omega Morgan to send in multiple crews and work simultaneously to remove equipment and load the trucks. This included removing the equipment in pieces that were as large as possible to minimize the overall effort and potential delays in the field.

The team also developed a system of tagging, cataloging, and tracking so that all items would be saved, transported, and scrapped to optimize efficiency. The actual move occurred with the help of 20K and 8K forklifts as well as scissor lifts, man lifts, torch sets, industrial cranes, and a variety of hand tools.

Finally, Omega Morgan worked closely with Global Electric for any wiring needs, ensuring the safety of the staff and the equipment throughout the job. Omega Morgan also leveraged its partnership with Rivergate Scrap Metal, which ensured that the recycled materials would go to the scrapping facility as efficiently as possible.

The Solution: A Clean Warehouse, Ahead of Deadline

As a result of the comprehensive clearing system and close partnerships, Omega Morgan successfully completed this job. Omega Morgan cleared the warehouse four days ahead of schedule, ensuring that Boyd’s could rent out the facility and Farmer Brothers would not need to pay a penalty.

The job was completed despite the changing scope and remained on budget, a testament to the experience of the Omega Morgan Portland crew. The tagging system created, and the ability to work simultaneously in multiple areas of the warehouse, were absolutely essential in getting the job done right and ahead of time.

Omega Morgan stepped in to help ensure that the physical warehouse space would not complicate the acquisition process. With the physical warehouse space cleared out, the Boyd’s family and Farmers Brothers can move forward successfully, and both parties met the terms of their agreement.