The authors investigate the optimal storage assignment policy for a multiaddress warehousing system using a dedicated storage discipline and aisle captive, man-aboard vehicles performing item retrieval. A modeling scenario is presented which is designed to reflect warehousing practices emphasizing short-order picking cycle times and integrated operational control. Two theorems and proofs that are useful for finding optimal warehouse layouts based on a mathematical model of order picking costs for the case of aisle captive, multicommand order picking cycles are introduced. The results reported indicate one means for potentially decomposing the integrated warehousing problem to obtain locally optimal warehouse layouts for fixed inventory levels.
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