A systematic analysis of plant location factors is generally made by firms that are searching for a new plant site. The number and types of factors affecting location vary in each case and they sometimes run into the hundreds. However, the breakdown of location factors examined usually includes the following:
Markets
Industrial Site
Labor
Utilities
Raw Materials
Financial Capital
Transportation
The importance of these factors varies widely from one industry to another. Moreover, with changing technology and economic conditions, their role will vary within a given industry and from one time period to another. They are interrelated and interdependent so that the desired location usually requires a compromise among factors. The important factors to a firm’s location decision may be attainable in several places. In these cases, personal factors enter into making the final decision and can be influenced directly by activities of the industrial development committee in promoting their community.