Question

1. An electronic manufacturer must expand by building a second facility. The search is narrowed to four locations, all of which are acceptable to management in terms of dominant factors. Assessment of these sites in terms of seven location factors is shown in the table below.

Location factor	Factor weight	Location
		A	B	C	D
Labour climate	20	5	4	4	5
Quality of life	16	2	3	4	1
Transportation system	16	3	4	3	2
Proximity to markets	14	5	3	4	4
Proximity to materials	12	2	3	3	4
Taxes	12	2	5	5	4
Utilities	10	5	4	3	3

Calculate the factor rating score for each location and identify the best location.

Answer 1

Location factor	Factor weight	Factor weight (normalized)	Raw score				Weighted scores
			A	B	C	D	A	B	C	D
Labour climate	20	0.20	5	4	4	5	1.00	0.80	0.80	1.00
Quality of life	16	0.16	2	3	4	1	0.32	0.48	0.64	0.16
Transportation system	16	0.16	3	4	3	2	0.48	0.64	0.48	0.32
Proximity to markets	14	0.14	5	3	4	4	0.70	0.42	0.56	0.56
Proximity to materials	12	0.12	2	3	3	4	0.24	0.36	0.36	0.48
Taxes	12	0.12	2	5	5	4	0.24	0.60	0.60	0.48
Utilities	10	0.10	5	4	3	3	0.50	0.40	0.30	0.30
Totals	100	1.00					3.48	3.70	3.74	3.30

So,

The weighted scores for A, B, C, and D are 3.48, 3.70, 3.74, and 3.30 (out of 5).

So, the best location is C.