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, or 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 of cost |
8 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
1 |
| Transportation costs |
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 Costs |
5 |
5 |
4 |
3 |
3 |
a) Which site should Tracy choose?
b) If site D's score for Energy costs increases from a 3 to a 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?