Problems involving the processing of spatial data such as industrial site selection and land use allocation are multi- facetted challenges. Not only they often involve numerous technical requirements, but may also contain economical, social, environmental and political dimensions that may have conflicting values. Solutions for these problems involve highly complex spatial data analysis processes and frequently require advanced means to address physical suitability conditions, while considering the multiple socio-economic variables. Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and Multi-Criteria Decision- Making techniques (MCDM) are two common tools employed to solve these problems. However, each suffers from serious shortcomings. GIS, which deals mainly with physical suitability analysis, has very limited capability of incorporating the decision maker’s preferences into the problem solving process. MCDM, which deals mainly with analyzing decision problems and evaluating the alternatives based on a decision maker’s values and preferences, lacks the capability of handling spatial data (e. g., buffering and overlay) that are crucial to spatial analysis. The need for combining the strengths of these two techniques has prompted researchers to seek integration of GIS and MCDM. Current integration strategies (loose coupling and tight coupling) have their own limitations. Such limitations were successfully eliminated by using Component Object Model (COM) technology to integrate GIS and MCDM. An illustrative example was included to validate the capabilities of the presented integration strategy .

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[20] Zeiler M., Exploring ArcObjects-ESRI, Relands, CA, USA, 2001. Khalid Eldrandaly is an assistant professor of information systems and director of GIS Lab, College of Computers and Informatics, Zagazig University, Egypt. He received his BS degree in civil engineering from Zagazig University, and his MS and PhD degrees in systems engineering. He was a visiting scholar at Texas A&M University, USA, for two years. His research interests include GIS, knowledge-based expert systems, spatial data mining, SDSS, MCDM, and intelligent techniques in decision making. He has been a member of the World Academy of Young Scientists since January 2004. Neil Eldin has over 30 years of professional experience involving teaching, research, professional service and industry positions in construction engineering and management. During his 15 years in academia, he taught the more challenging construction engineering and management courses. He received The-Teacher-of-The-Year Award in 1997, 1998, 1999, 2002, and 2004. He is a faculty senator and the director of the Construction Graduate Program at Texas A&M University, USA. He has an impressive research record of $1.5 million funded research and over 40 refereed publications. His recent research resulted in filing a US Patent No. 60/528,814. His research interest includes cost-schedule integration, environmental assessment of construction materials, and solid waste as construction materials, expert systems, neural networks, GIS, and robotic applications in construction. He is a licensed Professional Engineer (PE), CPC and OSHA Trainer. Daniel Sui is a professor of GIS and holder of the Reta A. Haynes Endowed chair in GeoSciences, Department of Geography, Texas A&M University, USA. His primary research interests include the integration of spatial analysis and modeling with GIS for socio-economic and environmental applications, theoretical issues in geographic information science, urban geography, information ecology, and emerging geographies of the information society. He currently serves as the North America editor for the International Journal of Computers, Environment, and Urban Systems (CEUS). Mohamed Shouman is a professor of operations research and decision support, College of Computers and Informatics, Zagazig University, Egypt. His primary research interests include computerized project management techniques, scheduling techniques, FMS, facilities planning and layout, and intelligent techniques in decision making. He is a member of AMSE and EJEST. His profile is included in the 22 nd Edition of Who's Who in the World. Gamal Nawara is a professor of industrial and systems engineering, College of Engineering, Zagazig University, Egypt. He is the ex-vice president of Zagazig University for Graduate Studies and Research. He has over 40 years of professional experience involving teaching, research, professional service, and industry positions in industrial engineering. His primary research interests include production planning, facilities planning, project management, expert systems, ISO, MIS, and DSS. He is a member of the national Egyptian committee for professorship promotion in industrial and systems engineering.