Track: Supply Chain Management

Abstract

The Chinese heavy equipment market and demand are experiencing a considerable increase in North America. It is supported by competitive product prices and better product quality. This paper aims to provide the best results in selecting the ideal location from among the other 50 states in the USA to develop a strategic, effective, and more competitive manufacturing facility. The case study is applied to a multinational Chinese company that already has a manufacturing site in one of the Midwestern states in the USA. The company also brings in material supplies and pre-assembly unit parts from South America, apart from China. Materials shipping from South America to the existing location are still quite far. The company has also set out localization strategies to target new markets in several states with the highest demand at a low cost, so shipping and location placement must be considered. Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) is carried out to obtain the best location assessment criteria weights. Technique for Order of Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS) is used to get the final score assessing each alternative location. Research obtains six criteria and 29 sub-criteria for selecting one appropriate state. Region Properties and Market Economy (R.M.) hold the priority concerning location selection for a manufacturing facility in one of the U.S. States, followed by Transportation and Optimum Distance (TO) and Cost and Capital Investment (CC). Results depicted state A as the most suitable state for the forthcoming facility location.