Problem:
Daniel Tracy, owner of Martin Manufacturing, must expand by building a new factory. The search for a location for this factory has been narrowed to four sites: A, B, C and D. The following table shows the results thus far obtained by Tracy by using the factor-rating method to analyze the problem. The scale used for each factor scoring is 1 through 5.
Site Scores
Factor Weight A B C D
Quality of labor 10 5 4 4 5
Construction cost 8 2 3 4 1
Transportation Cost 8 3 4 3 2
Proximity to markets 7 5 3 4 4
Taxes 6 2 3 3 4
Weather 6 2 5 5 4
Energy cost 5 5 4 3 3
a) Which site should Tracy choose?
b) If site C's score for Energy cost increases from 3 to 5, do results change?
c) If site A's Weather score is adjusted to a 4, what is the impact? What should Tracy do at this point?