We Rescue, Inc., a firm providing nationwide ambulance services,
intends to expand its service range through a new branch in the suburbs
of the mid-Atlantic region. The data were gathered to evaluate three
different possible sites, Suburb A, Suburb B, and Suburb C, for the new
location. The data include factor ratings, minimum satisfactory level, and
importance rankings of each factor (attribute), as shown in Table EX 4.8.
Table EX 4.8
Minimum
Attribute
(factor)
Weights Suburb
A
Suburb
B
Suburb
C
Satisfaction
Level
Importance
Ranking
Contracting
and Land
Cost
0.1 65
* 76 45 70 3
Labor
Availability
and Costs
0.15 50 65 60 65 5
Transportation
and Road
Network
0.15 60 70 75 80 4
Suppliers/
Supporting
Service
Companies
0.13 75 60 65 85 6
Average Time
per
Emergency
Trip
0.22 95 75 70 95 2
Accessibility
to Hospital
0.18 85 80 65 90 1
Employee
Preferences
0.07 60 50 55 75 7
Total 1.00
Average
Revenue per
Patient Visit
50 40 45
Patient
Volume
20,000 20,000 20,000
Fixed Cost 200,000 300,000 250,000
Average
Variable Cost
per Patient
25 18 20
*Factor scores are based on 0–100 points.
a. Decide which location should be chosen for a new ambulance service
on the basis of the alternatives’ maximum composite score.
b. Determine whether any location dominates the others.
c. Choose a location based on the minimum attribute satisfaction
procedure alone.
d. Choose a location based on the most important attribute procedure
alone.
e. Choose a location based on cost-volume analysis.
f. After all the analyses above, which location would you support, and
why?
