If you missed the plant tour at Lineage Logistics you missed a very cool tour and you can take the word both ways. The Santa Maria Manufacturers Association was the coordinator for the event and we had 40-45 people for a 7:30am start time. The thing you have to know about Santa Maria is they tend to start earlier than most SLO groups.
The building is 225,000 square feet and it is actually much larger than the footprint would indicate. I spent 16 years working in the foodservice industry so I am no stranger to this sort of facility but I must admit to being in awe of the 40 foot ceiling. Other facilities I have worked in were closer to 25 feet and that was considered state of the art in those days.
They took us through the warehouse and there is something special about walking into a room that is 100,000+ SF with minus 40 degree air. It has been a long time since I have experienced that temp and in some ways I miss it – however I quickly got over it. I suspect that more than a few people that are acclimated to the mild central coast felt this was way cool in both senses of the words. Those that showed up in shorts probably regretted that morning’s wardrobe selection.
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This is a shot of the front of the building and by this point the group had spent a few minutes in sub-zero warehouses so they were enjoying the warmth even if it was a brisk morning by local standards.
This picture of the forktrucks gives you some idea of the scale of the building. Those forklifts run up to 40 feet and weigh in at about 8,000 pounds with an average lift of 2,000. Needless to say they must have very well trained staff.
I love how they paid attention to the little details. Note in this picture that the signs are printed two ways. One is inverted so it reads properly in the mirror of the truck when they are backing up to the dock. Truck can back up and seal to the building and then open the door on inside so they do not compromise the temperature of the storage area. The facility has open dry storage at a very balmy 38 degrees and some office space so if you are looking for that sort of thing give them a call.
I do not know about everyone else but I really enjoy plant tours and would like to thank the Santa Maria Manufacturer’s Association for putting these types of events on. Santa Maria has lots of very interesting businesses and they have a warm welcome even at the very cool places.
Tag: Open House
Update July 2014
If you missed last night’s Open House hosted by our friends at IQMS then you missed a great networking opportunity. We got an insider’s peek at their new building on the growing IQMS campus. This is a beautiful building thatIQMS is working hard to fill with professionals that will support their growing customer base of Manufacturers.Randy Flamm, CEO of IQMS, gave us an update since our last visit and his long term vision of a six building campus. There is no doubt that IQMS is a world-class organization that competes at a global level, while living on the Central Coast. Softec would like to wish Randy, Nancy, and the entire IQMS team continued success.
Nicole Smith from IQMS gave us a tour of the building and explained the logic in the design and a little bit of insight into the IQMS culture. There is a reason that they are so successful and it starts with their team and their culture. Softec had the privilege of an open house when they opened their first building and now we are looking forward to buildings 3 & 4.
The building was designed by RRM Design group and is a perfect fit for the mission and culture ofIQMS. I have had the privilege of seeing several projects by RRM and they do truly create environments that people enjoy and the newIQMS building certainly exceeds that standard.I would like to give Nicole Smith a big shout out on this event because she is the person that did most of the heavy lifting and like most of her work – it was flawless. Nicole has been a Softec Board Member for several years and serves as our VP of Marketing. Nicole brings to us innovation, creativity, and a get-er-done approach to our communications. We appreciate her efforts on this and other events and deeply appreciate IQMS supporting her service on our board.
Softec welcomes a new Partner Level Sponsor
MINDBODY is one of the leading technology businesses in the region and so we are excited to announce that they are now a Partner Level Softec Sponsor – our highest level of sponsorship. Their support, and the support of our other sponsors, makes it possible for Softec to advocate for the technology industry and pursue our mission of creating Softec Moments. The Softec Board takes the responsibility of putting the support we receive to work in our community building and growing the technology industry as our primary mission.
Josh Erdman. Softec VP of Beer & Snacks, from Tektegrity is working on the next Tech Brew. It will be an update from Tim Williams, CEO of Digital West, on the State of Fiber in SLO. Since high speed communications is critical to our tech businesses we are looking forward to this update. Remember the 2nd Monday at Pappy McGregors for a great networking event. The event is free and the connections you can create are priceless.Save the Date: September 29, 2014
Softec has been an advocate and sponsor of the local robotics teams since 2004 when we helped with the formation of the 2nd local robotics team – the AGHS Eagle Robotics. Robotic team competitions are the single largest item on the Softec budget. Last year we donated $5,000 to 9 different teams from Paso to Santa Maria and many of our members added to that. We believe at our core that mind-sports like Robotics are important to getting young minds excited about careers in technology. As a society we get what we celebrate. As an industry we chose to celebrate technology and what better way to do that than Robotic Competitions! Personally, I will be very happy when local robotics team competitions draw a bigger crowd than a Friday night football game – but that is just me – or is it?
Sincerely,
Bob Dumouchel
President