Facility Location decisions are typically long-term and are crucial in terms of a firm's profitability and success. In the last two decades, due to the opening of economies, the end of cold war and communism, reduced trade barriers, the proliferation of trade agreements, and advances in communication technology, markets have become global and the number of multinational firms has increased tremendously. Globalization of markets and businesses has necessitated the locations of manufacturing plants and distribution centers globally, in order to obtain advantages of customer proximity and low labor costs, reduction in transportation and distribution time and costs, and other benefits.
Many companies have spread a variety of their operations such as fabrication, assembly, warehousing and distribution to different parts of the world, creating a network of operations, which is now commonly referred to as the global supply chain. Consequently, location decisions, an integral and.
