We used weighted factor analysis for facility location in Topic 9. Let's revisit this technique in connection with supplier selection in a purchasing scenario. Consider the following data (available in Excel format on Canvas) in which 10 potential suppliers are been evaluated against 10 criteria as follows: 

1. Assume that a higher score is better. According to the weighted factor method, which supplier should you choose? 

2. How robust is the model recommendation?

Weight Supplier 1 Supplier 2 Supplier 3 Supplier 4 Supplier 5 Supplier 6 Supplier 7 Supplier 8 Supplier 9 Supplier 10 Criteria 1 0.15 81 82 93 97 78 98 57 80 80 93 79 Criteria 2 Criteria 3 Criteria 4 Criteria 5 Criteria 6 Criteria 7 Criteria 8 Criteria 9 0.14 76 68 94 52 76 77 66 90 70 0.13 84 84 84 82 71 56 69 50 65 87 0.12 100 69 84 86 73 72 92 95 96 65 0.11 59 87 60 64 82 62 81 71 79 72 0.10 92 51 59 57 77 66 72 64 52 83 0.08 72 54 80 69 85 75 81 65 51 69 0.07 52 100 87 54 55 56 85 81 81 62 0.06 65 87 86 86 86 75 65 65 99 60 Criteria 10 0.04 99 56 79 93 58 90 72 79 98 83