Scribd
Upload
74 views6 pages

Linear Programming Practice Problems

The document describes four linear programming practice problems involving maximizing profit or minimizing costs given constraints on available resources and production/shipping capacities. The problems require formulating the objective function and constraints, solving the linear program using an Excel solver, and interpreting the optimal solution including shadow prices and how changes to parameters would affect the optimal solution.

Uploaded by

Rubayat Islam
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
74 views6 pages

Linear Programming Practice Problems

The document describes four linear programming practice problems involving maximizing profit or minimizing costs given constraints on available resources and production/shipping capacities. The problems require formulating the objective function and constraints, solving the linear program using an Excel solver, and interpreting the optimal solution including shadow prices and how changes to parameters would affect the optimal solution.

Uploaded by

Rubayat Islam
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 6

Linear Programming Practice Problems

6500:680 Supply Chain Logistics Management


Linear Programming Practice Problems

1. A local company manufactures two lines of rocking chairs called type A and B. Each
rocking chair requires hand-assembled materials. Type A requires 500 pounds of wood
and 40 pounds of nails. Further each A chair is worth $450. Type B requires 150 pounds
of wood, 50 pounds of nails, and each B chair is worth $350. There is a total amount of
3,000 pounds of wood and 800 pounds of nails available. The company would like to
maximize their profit, help them to find the best combination of rocking chairs.

Lbs per Lbs


per
Chair A Availability
Chair B

Woo 500 150 3,000


d

Nails 40 50 1,000

Profit $450 $350

a) What are the decision variables?

b) What is the objective function?

c) What are the constraints?

d) What are the non-negativity assumptions?

e) Find the optimal solution (use the Excel shell provided)


Linear Programming Practice Problems

2. A small manufacturer, which produces 2 types of new perfumes labeled A and B in the
table below, needs to decide how much of each perfume to produce each month to
maximize profit. The profit earned from the sales of perfume A is $30, and the profit
earned from the sales of perfume B is $50. The perfume must go through two steps:
Filling and Boxing. Perfume A takes 30 minutes of Filling capacity per bottle of perfume
processed, whereas Perfume B only takes 20 minutes of Filling capacity per bottle
processed. Perfume A takes 15 minutes of Boxing capacity per bottle of perfume
processed, whereas Perfume B only takes 5 minutes of Boxing capacity per bottle
processed. The maximum Filling capacity is 180 hours per month and the maximum
Boxing capacity is 75 hours per month. The table below summarizes the findings.

Process Minutes per Minutes per Maximum available

Perfume A Perfume B Capacity (hours)

Filling 30 20 180

Boxing 15 5 75

Unit Profit $30 $50

a) What are the decision variables?

b) What is the objective function?

c) What are the constraints?

d) What are the non-negativity assumptions?

e) Find the optimal solution (use the Excel shell provided)


Linear Programming Practice Problems

3. The following report has been generated in excel using the solver.
Linear Programming Practice Problems

The company needs some help to have the output explained to them.

a) What is the objective function optimal value?

b) What are the final values of the decision variables at this optimal value?

c) Explain which constraints are binding and not binding and what does that mean?

d) If you could increase the value of constraint #2 by one unit, what would be the
effect on the objective function?
Linear Programming Practice Problems

4. A manufacturer of steel furniture procures steel from 4 different steel suppliers located in
Cleveland, OH; Charleston, SC; Omaha, NE and Buffalo, NY. There are two furniture
manufacturing plants at Grand Rapids, MI and Chattanooga, TN.

The capacity of each supplier (measured in tons of steel) and the demand for steel at
each manufacturing plant is given in the tables below:

Supplier Location Capacity (tons)


Cleveland, OH 5,000
Charleston, SC 13,000
Omaha, NE 8,000
Buffalo, NY 13,000
Plant Location Demand (tons)
Grand Rapids, MI 15,000
Chattanooga, TN 22,000

The cost to ship one ton of steel between the different supplier locations to the plant
locations is given in the table below:

Grand Rapids, MI Chattanooga, TN


Cleveland, OH 50 55
Charleston, SC 75 50
Omaha, NE 50 60
Buffalo, NY 50 75

Also, current transportation capacity restricts the amount of steel that can be shipped
out from Omaha, NE to Grand Rapids, MI and to Chattanooga, TN at 4000 and 6000 tons
respectively. Current contract terms also require the manufacturer to procure a
minimum of 4,000 tons of steel from the supplier in Cleveland, OH.

a) Formulate the problem as a Linear Program. Clearly write down the decision variables,
the objective function and the constraints.

b) Now open the EXCEL shell and model this problem and solve it to optimality. Generate the
Sensitivity Report. What is the total cost of the optimal plan? Which supplier location does
not utilize all its capacity?

c) What will be the effect on the optimal cost if the capacity of the Cleveland supplier is
increased by one more ton? (Answer this question without resolving the problem). How did
you find the answer to this question?

d) Would the manufacturer benefit if the capacity of the supplier located at Cleveland or
Charleston would increase? For which supplier would they prefer an increase in capacity?
Explain (again without resolving the problem).
Linear Programming Practice Problems

e) Would the manufacturer prefer an increase in demand at their Grand Rapids location or
the Chattanooga location? Why? Explain (again without resolving the problem).

You might also like