Selection of establishment place using analytical hierarchy method in furniture industry

The success of an enterprise depends on the decisions made from the beginning of establishment idea and the whole establishment processes being right and on target. For this reason, the decision making regarding the selection of establishment place of the enterprise has a strategic importance in the beginning. Wrong selection of establishment place makes the enterprise face very difficult situations and cause additional cost. For optimal decision for the selection of establishment place, there are various numerical methods. Among those, analytical hierarchy process, based on the multiple criteria decision making principle, is a fairly developed and new method.In this study, optimal establishment place selection problem in furniture industry, one of the subsectors in forest industry, has been investigated. First of all, information is given regarding method used for the selection of establishment place. Later the criteria affecting the problem solving process have been determined. The criteria were as the economy, production, market share and environment. For the establishment place, Amasya, Bayburt, Çorum and Karabük vicinities have been selected. AHP based problem was solved using expert choice (EC) software. The results were compared and sensitivity analysis was carried out. As a result, the economy was determined as the most important factor as 55% and the most appropriate place for establishment was recommended as Karabük.