As the drone industry faces mounting pressure to build domestically and reduce reliance on foreign —especially Chinese — components, a new warehouse facility in Long Beach, California, marks a shift in how critical hardware logistics are managed domestically. Created by Cofactr, which is a source-to-pay and logistics platform that already operates a similar warehouse in New York, the new 10,000-square-foot facility is designed specifically to support drone and aerospace manufacturers on the West Coast.

A warehouse tailored for drones and aerospace

Traditional warehouses can often fall short when it comes to handling the kinds of sensitive, high-value parts used in drones such as semiconductors, printed circuit boards and avionics systems. These components require more than just shelf space. They demand climate control, electrostatic discharge (ESD) protection, full traceability and a system that can prevent miscounts and misplacements that might stall production.

Cofactr’s new Long Beach site joins its existing New York facility to create a bicoastal warehousing infrastructure. And while Cofactr is one of many companies trying to reimagine logistics for high-tech manufacturing, this facility stands out by demonstrating what modern, domestic warehousing might look like for an industry under geopolitical and regulatory scrutiny.

Supporting Buy American — and proving it

Increased tariffs and national security concerns are rapidly reshaping drone supply chains. New U.S. regulations, like Section 889 and NDAA procurement restrictions, limit the use of components from certain foreign vendors — particularly those from China. In this environment, traceability and compliance are not just nice-to-haves; they’re requirements for doing business.

This new warehouse aims to fill a critical gap in the physical infrastructure supporting those compliance efforts. Cofactr’s system tracks parts down to the stock lot level, records country-of-origin data and archives certificates of conformance and other compliance documents. That level of visibility helps drone manufacturers identify and eliminate prohibited parts before they enter production.

“Section 889 compliance requires manufacturers to have confidence not just in the supplies they ordered, but in what’s actually used and delivered in their projects,” said Phillip Gulley, Cofactr’s Chief Strategy Officer, in an interview with The Drone Girl. “Cofactr’s physical infrastructure and digital software are tightly integrated to ensure that all parts drone manufacturers use are vetted and traced throughout the supply chain.”

That distinction is more important than ever as lawmakers and agencies scrutinize how defense and commercial drone projects are sourced.

And Cofactr said it can actually help drone companies better source American suppliers.

“For commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) components, we connect manufacturers with pre-vetted U.S. suppliers so they have full traceability into their supply chains, while maintaining regulatory compliance and processes,” Gulley said.

Cofactr also recently acquired hardware sourcing solution Cogbase, giving them the ability to allow manufacturers to streamline domestic vendor discovery and find suppliers that meet their technical, quality and compliance requirements.

“So rather than spending months manually researching options, manufacturers can work through Cofactr to identify and connect with pre-vetted U.S.-based suppliers that meet their technical and regulatory requirements,” Gulley said.

Why Long Beach?

Adding a second warehouse in Long Beach is due in part to the fact that the New York warehouse just isn’t big enough to support the demands of Cofactr’s growing customer base anymore.

The location of the Long Beach warehouse — near the Port of Los Angeles, Long Beach Airport and major freeway routes — is not coincidental. Many drone startups and aerospace suppliers are clustered on the West Coast. That includes Skydio in the San Francisco Bay Area and A2Z (known for its delivery drones) in Los Angeles.

For companies on the West Coast, having physical infrastructure closer to operations allows for faster procurement cycles and reduced delivery times.

And already, drone companies are using the Long Beach facility. That includes Neros, which is focused on the defense side of the drone industry. Neros is one of a new generation of U.S.-based manufacturers who may not have the capacity — or desire — to build in-house logistics systems. Cofactr and similar platforms are stepping in to fill that role, essentially functioning as outsourced logistics departments with tighter tolerances and higher regulatory standards than legacy third-party logistics providers (3PLs).

How Cofactr’s facilities stand out

Cofactr differentiates itself by its integration of software with physical operations. The company’s proprietary ReceiveAI technology automatically scans, tags and cross-references incoming components with purchase orders and supplier data. The result is a real-time digital twin of the physical inventory, which can be accessed via API and integrated into clients’ existing inventory and compliance systems.

” From the moment a component enters one of our warehouses, it’s tracked and handled according to strict protocols designed to prevent errors and ensure traceability and reliability,” Gulley said.
“Our intake process verifies every component received — flagging discrepancies such as receiving 98 parts when 100 were ordered — and resolves them directly with the distributor.”

While Cofactr’s tools are proprietary, the broader implication is clear: for drone manufacturers to remain compliant, nimble and competitive, their warehouses need to become as smart as their flight controllers. The Long Beach site is one attempt to show what that looks like in practice.

Looking ahead to the drone industry: more decentralization, more transparency

As the drone sector continues to wrestle with sourcing constraints, export controls and rising customer demand, the role of supply chain infrastructure is moving from backstage to center stage. Warehouses aren’t just about storing components anymore —they’re compliance tools, traceability engines, and risk mitigation platforms.

If Cofactr’s model proves successful, it may signal a larger trend: the return of highly specialized, domestic logistics networks built not for retail or bulk freight, but for the precision demands of 21st-century hardware. And for drone makers trying to balance speed, cost and compliance, that shift may be overdue.

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