Integral analysis method – IAM

This paper presents the theoretical foundations of the new integral analysis method (IAM), and its application to a facility location problem. This methodology integrates the cardinal and ordinal criteria of combinatorial stochastic optimization problems in four stages: definition of the problem, cardinal analysis, ordinal analysis and integration analysis. The method uses the concepts of stochastic multicriteria acceptability analysis (SMAA), Monte Carlo simulation, optimization techniques and elements of probability. The proposed method (IAM) was used to determine optimal locations for the retail stores of a Colombian coffee marketing company.