An iterative solution approach to a multi-objective facility location problem

This work presents a novel methodology for solving multi-objective facility location problems (mo-FLPs) with the focus on public emergency service stations. Our study is one of a few studies incorporating the objectives of three well-known problems, viz. the p-median problem (pMP), the maximal coverage location problem (MCLP) and the p-center problem (pCP). Aiming to find a set of Pareto optimal solutions and a compromise solution for all three objectives, we have developed an algorithm which solves each individual location problem sequentially. The proposed approach is mainly based on a combination of the branch & bound and iterative goal programming techniques. The performance of the algorithm is demonstrated with numerical examples. (C) 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.