Lab 6 - Networks: Location-Allocation Modeling

If you have ever wondered how Starbucks, Wawas, Publix, or your local fire station, school, post office (and virtually any other major private or public organization you could imagine) determine where they will place their next shop, then you have considered a major geospatial application: location-allocation. Location-allocation is "an approach used to determine the best location for a new facility, considering not only where patrons or customers reside, but where existing facilities, including competitors, reside" (Morgan). Using ArcGIS's Network Analyst Extension, many location-allocation questions can be solved and answered for choosing optimal store sites. Depending on the demand or needs of organizations/companies, the following problem types can be used to find a most suitable facility: minimize impedance, maximize coverage, maximize capacitated coverage, minimize facilities, maximize attendance, maximize market share, and/or target market share.

In Part A of our lab assignment we conducted an Esri exercise where we chose store locations that would generate the most business for a retail chain based on the premise that people tend to shop more at nearby stores than those farther away. We also solved the analysis by investigating competing facilities around the potential sites, and achieving a target market share of 70%.

In Part B of our lab assignment we performed a location-allocation analysis to re-assign market areas serviced by distribution centers for a trucking company in the U.S, specifically to minimize impedance. The model takes a closer look at the current market area assignment, and uses the ArcGIS's Network Analyst Location-Allocation solver to explore the relationship between customer locations, frequency, and transportation to optimize distribution services. The results create new market area boundaries. My final map product is displayed above.