Public health emergency preparedness planners in the state of New York needed to design a warehouse to store medical supplies that would be delivered from a stockpile if a large-scale bioterrorism attack occurred. In particular, besides the usual building construction issues, they needed to determine the location in the warehouse and layout for three areas (receiving, storage, and shipping) and make sure that each area had enough space for the expected supplies. Suggest a separation of this design problem that makes the design process easier.