Bedford, Mass.-based F.W. Webb Co. held a grand opening celebration for its new 408,560-sq.-ft. “state-of-the-art” distribution center on a 42-acre site in Amherst, N.H. The facility consists of 330,840 sq. ft. of high bay pallet rack storage, 63,520 sq. ft. of parts storage and 26 loading docks for shipping and receiving. It also includes 14,200 sq. ft. of administrative offices and several large conference rooms. The wholesaler expects to maintain $14 million of its $81 million inventory at the center.

The new distribution center is “paperless,” utilizing bar coding for all shipping and receiving transactions. With most vendors, purchasing is done using electronic data interchange. Also, most vendors will use vendor-managed inventory for controlling inventory requirements.

F.W. Webb, which opened its first supply house in 1866, operates more than 60 branch locations throughout New England and New York.

Pro Con Construction of Manchester, N.H., was the construction manager for the $11.5 million design/build project and PCI Architecture was the project architect.