• Turn 14 Distribution is a performance warehouse distributor that caters to niche vehicle markets, along with stocking its partner manufacturers’ full product lines for quick order fulfillment.
• Robust technology, online inventory tracking, efficient forecasting, and a dedicated customer support team all helped define Turn 14 Distribution as an industry leader.
• Its latest 600,000 sq ft distribution center (DC) in Whiteland, Indiana, widens our 1-day shipping coverage area and provides inventory support for our ever-growing line card.
• Ahead of PRI 2024, we pull the covers back on this massive DC and what it means for our customers.

Even though we’re nearly a year on from Turn 14 Distribution’s latest warehouse expansion in Indianapolis, it feels like we only made the announcement yesterday. The reasons for pulling the trigger on this mammoth space are plentiful, but at the core, it boils down to a basic principle: offer T14’s customers more access to performance parts in both automotive and powersports spaces. Crucially, this access must also be paired with efficient fulfillment, and ultimately, choosing Indianapolis as our new home helped widen our 1-day shipping coverage area substantially.

“Our new facility outside of Indianapolis “The Racing Capital of the World” is the perfect addition. It will help us further realize our continued goal to serve our partners better, reduce transit times, and improve inventory,” said Erin Robbins, President and Chief Operating Officer of Turn 14 Distribution.

The Whiteland, Indiana DC will also be a jumpstarter for the local economy. As part of its ongoing commitment to recruit and hire local talent, Turn 14 Distribution will create 250 new positions at the facility by the end of 2027.

BIGGER AND BETTER

Our announcement alluded to the Indy DC’s footprint—a massive 589,852 square feet when measured precisely. The tally means we’ve effectively doubled our inventory space, which is no small feat. Still, a near 600,000 figure is tough to comprehend until you’re actually there. These photos were taken shortly after we moved in while the DC was still getting up to speed. They don’t necessarily show the hustle and bustle that goes on there today, but it’s vastly different now that every shelf has been stocked, the conveyors are running full-time, and literally thousands of packages are outbound on a daily basis.

INTERVIEW WITH JACOB PODSTAWA

Ahead of PRI 2024—which is conveniently hosted 13.1 miles away from our Whiteland, Indiana distribution center—we sat down with Jacob Podstawa, Turn 14 Distribution’s Director of Warehouse Operations, to get his perspective on this massive expansion project and what it’s really meant for our organization.

Hi, Jacob, thanks for spending some time with us! To start, what major benefit(s) did adding the Indianapolis DC have for Turn 14 Distribution?
There were a lot of things, but the biggest way the Indianapolis distribution center helped Turn 14 Distribution was by readying us for significant growth in the upcoming years. The square footage is a massive figure—600,000—which has virtually doubled our storage space. This allows us to increase inventory levels all around and be flexible to ingest a myriad of product offerings across genres at the same time.

I love that T14 is built to constantly look ahead instead of being reactive. So, given its proximity to the racing hub in the US, is the Indianapolis DC’s inventory biased towards racing components? If not, talk to us about how we are strategically utilizing this center to consciously benefit our customer base.
This [motorsport support] was not explicitly part of the original planning, but we are enjoying being in the epicenter! In terms of our inventory distribution, we strove to stock Indianapolis similarly to our other three locations. That means an even distribution of inventory, but products themselves can vary.

To make sure this actually happens, we are incorporating a stock transfer process that will continuously adjust stock levels. It’ll do this intelligently, too—each DC will uniquely support specific regional markets, as well as local specialization. This gives our organization the ability to adapt to customer demands over time, cut down on waste [in dead storage], and reduce overall transit times.

Wow, the ability to recognize regional needs is a game-changer. While we’re talking tech, is there anything else that has been integrated or tested at the Indianapolis DC?
Absolutely. Indy’s conveyor system has been modeled in tandem with the Hatfield, PA expansion. The conveyor is the first in the industry to provide a singular line to transfer all of our product—at 36″ wide—improving the conveyable product width by 20%. The [Indianapolis] building has expanded our capacity and tripled our daily inbound throughput rate.

That is massive. Outside of our own innovations, I know we’ve onboarded a same-day delivery service, Roadie, and even more recently widened that delivery radius at all of our DCs. Can you talk about how this has helped us?
Roadie has been great for us so far. It supports same-day requirements without the complexity of a customer needing to meet certain regular purchasing requirements to build a fleet-style system.

Customers can select the service directly through our website, select the carrier, and receive order updates just as any other carrier. Even within our current Hatfield radius, customers have already used this service to get their hands on components weekly. In Whiteland, Roadie is currently able to service customers with a delivery address of 30 miles from our DC within three hours. Our goal is to expand up to a 100-mile radius with delivery within four hours. This is not only a benefit for local accounts, but also e-commerce fulfillment delivering to a consumer! This is a HUGE opportunity for us.

A 100-mile, same-day delivery radius is really impressive. Let’s shift the conversation—what learning lessons did we take home after the Indy DC was up and running?
Good question. This was a large-scale project, and I think with every large-scale endeavor, we’ve learned a lot. Not because we’ve made mistakes, but because we were operating with the best information we had at the time. That will naturally evolve as we build better practices.

This was the first build since Arlington, where we began with a full new staff, from associates to the building managers. We were able to use this start-up as a roadmap to build a strong, more comprehensive training structure that we plan on supporting our standardization of processes and procedures across all four DCs.

WHEN IN ROME

As you can see, our newest Indy DC means there’s a lot to be excited about going into 2025. For any customers who are attending PRI and want to get a tour of this 600,000 sq ft addition to our arsenal, please contact your preferred Turn 14 Distribution representative. See you in Indianapolis soon!

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