Purpose: In recent years, numerous companies have moved their manufacturing plants to\udChina to capitalize on lower cost and tax. Plant location has such an impact on cost, stocks, and\udlogistics network but location selection in the company is usually based on subjective preference\udof high ranking managers. Such a decision-making process might result in selecting a location\udwith a lower fixed cost but a higher operational cost. Therefore, this research adapts real data\udfrom an electronics company to develop a framework that incorporates both quantitative and\udqualitative factors for selecting new plant locations.\udDesign/methodology/approach: In-depth interviews were conducted with 12 high rank\udmanagers (7 of them are department manager, 2 of them are vice-president, 1 of them is senior\udengineer, and 2 of them are plant manager) in the departments of construction, finance,\udplanning, production, and warehouse to determine the important factors. A questionnaire\udsurvey is then conducted for comparing factors which are analyzed using the Analytic Hierarchy\udProcess (AHP).\udFindings: Results show that the best location chosen by the developed framework coincides\udwell with the company’s primal production base. The results have been presented to the\udcompany’s high ranking managers for realizing the accuracy of the framework. Positive responses of the managers indicate usefulness of implementing the proposed model into\udreality, which adds to the value of this research.\udPractical implications: The proposed framework can save numerous time-consuming\udmeetings called to compromise opinions and conflictions from different departments in\udlocation selection.\udOriginality/value: This paper adapts the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) to incorporate\udquantitative and qualitative factors which are obtained through in-depth interviews with high\udrank managers in a company into the location decision.
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