The research into the individual tools and techniques used within each of the steps was
undertaken both from the literature and from the warehouse design companies. It was found
that the literature provides useful tools for some steps but does not appear to cover all of the
steps involved. This is supported by Rouwenhorst et al. (2000) who concluded that the
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existing literature tends to concentrate on a small numbers of specific areas within the total
warehouse design problem, with areas such as conventional equipment solutions and staffing
calculations being largely neglected.