Cardinal Health has unveiled plans for a nearly 249,000-square-foot distribution center in Walton Hills, Ohio, as it continues to its strategy of modernizing its U.S. operations and increasing warehouse capacity.
The facility, which is slated to be operational by spring 2025, will be more than 30 percent larger than the location in nearby Solon, Ohio, it will replace.
Intended to support Cardinal Health’s U.S. Medical Products and Distribution business, the warehouse will integrate new technology solutions, deliver operational efficiencies and provide expanded capacity in the Cleveland area.
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The future distribution center will rise in the Forward Innovation Center East industrial park, a 1 million-square-foot, 111-acre property that was the site of the former Ford Motor Co. Stamping Plant. The campus borders Interstates 271 and 480, has access to the Northern Southern Columbus & CSX North Baltimore rail line and is less than 18 miles from Cleveland Hopkins International Airport.
Cardinal officials said Northeast Ohio is a major health-care hub and critical market that the company’s medical products and distribution business has serviced for more than 25 years.
Expanding and modernizing
The Walton Hills site is one of several new locations Cardinal Health has been investing in over the past several years as it grows its footprint and modernizes its distribution capabilities.
In April, the company broke ground on a 575,000-square-foot medical distribution center in Columbus, Ohio, at the Rickenbacker Global Logistics Park. The property is about 10 miles from downtown Columbus.
Last year, the firm opened two new distribution centers in Central Ohio, one supporting the U.S. Medical Products and Distribution business in Groveport and a second property in Grove City handling products for the at-Home Solutions business. The facilities total more than 782,000 square feet.
Cardinal also opened a new medical products replenishment center last year in Montgomery, N.Y., which strengthens on-hand inventory levels and the ability to rapidly restock its distribution network.
And, later this year, Cardinal will celebrate the opening of a new nearly 317,000-square-foot distribution center in Boyleston, Mass., near Boston. That facility will provide expanded warehouse capacity and specialized handling capabilities for products requiring refrigeration.