Optimum Plant Numbers and Locations for Multiple Product Processing

Extension of John Stollsteimer's one product model to encompass the multiple product case is the primary aim of the paper. Both the one and multiple product models attempt to determine the number, size, and location of plants that minimize combined transportation and processing costs. The multiple product model differs from Stollsteimer's model in that aggregate assembly costs are affected by varying locational patterns as the product dimension is increased and that total processing cost varies both with the number of plants and the combination of products handled at each optimum plant location. A comparison of one and multiple product processing of identical quantities of raw product results in an economic advantage for multiple product processing.