Operational Research dealing with human values and environmental considerations

There are a lot of techniques which are applicable to the real world location / allocation - relocation problems. Usually the results of those techniques have depended upon a group of criteria that are unique to each problem separately. The traditional way usually uses cost minimization or profit maximization models. Typically, the location-allocation problem concerns itself with the trade-off between the cost of building and operating facilities to meet product demand and the cost of transportation among many others. Surveys made in the past have revealed that the primary factors of site selection in order of importance classification were labour availability, site availability and proximity to the demand sites. In nowadays the situation is changed, factors like environmental consideration, labour quality, availability of utilities and quality of life are the primary location considerations. From the above mentioned it is clearly evident that pure cost minimisation or profit maximization models are no longer as applicable in today's energy andenvironment conscious era. Disregard of factors like life quality, pollution control, preservation of resources and aesthetic parameters could harm the manufacturing capabilities and finally could lead to abnormal results by addition to operating costs much more than tax breaks, low wages or transportation costs subtract.