Multiplant Location Involving Resource Allocation

Abstract

Recently, a multisource, raw material allocation form of Weber's classic single-facility location problem was rediscovered and recognized for its significance in contemporary planning and decision-making. This variation of the Weber problem investigates the location of a production plant while permitting the selection of each required raw material source. This article reviews the Weber problem with an emphasis on its extension to incorporate multiple facilities. The only formulated multiplant Weber problem involving resource allocation remains unsolved due to its complexity. An effective approach integrating GIS processing (i.e., the Voronoi diagram and vector-based overlay) with the classic optimization algorithm (i.e., the Weiszfeld algorithm) is developed to address raw material sourcing in the process of siting facilities. The implementation relies entirely on open-source Python packages, making the work reproducible, replicable, and expandable. Application findings demonstrate that the utility and computational efficiency of the proposed method to tackle this challenging problem are superior to those of the most advanced commercial optimization software.