The Value of End-to-End Services and Long Standing Relationships: Ginkgo Bioworks
Headquartered in Massachusetts, Ginkgo Bioworks is a pioneer in the field of synthetic biology.
The Initial Need: Warehousing and Transportation
Ginkgo actively supports a number of COVID-19 response efforts, including: community testing, epidemiological tracing, vaccine development, and therapeutics discovery.
As part of these efforts, they experienced a rapid ramp-up of a substantial
amount of capital equipment and consumable materials. They required a
company with a flexible warehousing and transportation solution that could accommodate this massive influx of materials, manage the inventory, and schedule deliveries on an as-needed basis to their production facility, as well as their labs and offices.
The Solution:
Their Director of Facilities Planning and Site Services, had a relationship of over 10 years working with Sterling through a prior employer. Once the scope of Ginkgo Bioworks’ needs became evident, they were quick to call us in. From their experience, they knew we would be responsive and provide the complete solution and customer service they needed for a number of reasons:
- The availability of short and long-term warehousing in close proximity to their facilities.
- Our capacity as a provider of logistics services and high value product transportation for both substantial regular shipments of consumables as well as large, sensitive laboratory equipment.
- Sterling’s proprietary Warehouse Management System (WICS); a feature-rich tool for monitoring the storage and movement of inventory.
Sterling is able to provide the sensitive transportation they require, storage in our climate-controlled, secure warehouses, and coordinate the flexible scheduling critical for receiving items on their tight timetable.
Accommodating Growth
The Need: Providing Moving Service to a Growing Company
Services Required:
- Long and Short-Term Warehousing
- Inventory Management
- Logistics
- High Value Product Transportation
- Moving Services
- Laboratory Equipment Placement and Installation
Prior to the pandemic, Ginkgo was already a rapidly growing company and the leader in organism engineering. With the addition of vital efforts to battle COVID-19, came the need for increased infrastructure, predominantly in the creation of new labs, and re-organizing existing space to optimize their efforts.
After successfully meeting their initial requirements, they realized Sterling could be a valuable partner to help them carry out these next goals.
They reached out to their Logistics Project Manager at Sterling, who brought in the Office Services Division. After reviewing the project requirements and objectives, they received an in-depth plan that would achieve all their goals and accommodate the future growth they anticipated.
The solution:
- Warehousing – In addition to the consumable materials, Sterling receives and manages the warehousing of capital equipment for new labs and offices.
- Logistics – To date, we have delivered new equipment for over 300,000 square feet of existing space, in addition to equipment for two new lab facilities.
- Moving – Relocating existing equipment for reorganizational elements of the moving project.
- Installation – The predominant portion of the installation involves new lab equipment, ranging from small benchtop equipment to large standalone fixtures.
Next steps:
- Continue to warehouse capital equipment and consumable materials and provide inventory management.
- Continue to engage the Office Services Division for new lab rollouts and routine in-house moving needs to accommodate new and updated space requirements.
- Manage the receipt of new equipment such as lab benches, and provide storage and installation in both new and updated labs.
The Sterling Advantage:
Professionalism – We are committed to every customer’s needs and offer our quick, responsive service. Last-minute additions, changes, and tight timelines are responded to promptly by our support team.
The Perfect Team for Crucial Tasks – With the specialized nature of their delicate lab equipment, having a company that can readily provide personnel possessing the specific skills they require is critical.
Efficiency – Having every service under one umbrella saves time. With dedicated project managers who know Ginkgo and how it works, every question or need is quickly addressed and met.
Cost Savings – “Bundling” all their service needs with one company, creates a significant cost reduction over multiple vendors. Having them all with Sterling means they achieve this cost savings while receiving unmatched customer service.
Project Management – The customer makes one call to their Project Manager and provides the details of their current need. We then communicate, engage, and set forth a plan of execution, ensuring that all requirements are fulfilled and met, allowing them peace of mind, knowing everything is in good hands and will be done to their satisfaction as usual.