Operations Research MBA 334

Christ University Institute of Management

1. State whether the following statements are true or false. (5 x 1 = 5 marks)

(a) In real life, no variable can be unrestricted in sign.

(i) True

(ii) False

(b) For a linear programming problem to be unbounded, its feasible region must be
unbounded.

(i) True

(ii) False

(c) A prerequisite for applying linear programming is that there should be an objective
which is clearly identifiable and which may, or may not, be measurable in quantitative
terms.

(i) True

(ii) False

(d) For an ‘n’ variables linear programming problem, there must be an equal number of
constraints.

(i) True

(ii) False

(e) A feasible solution is one which meets at least one of the constraints of the problem.

(i) True

(ii) False

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 2. A 24-hour supermarket has the following minimal requirements for cashiers.

period 1 2 3 4 5 6

Time of day 3-7 7-11 11-15 15-19 19-23 23-3

Minimum number 7 20 14 20 10 5

A cashier works eight consecutive hours, starting at the beginning of one of the six
periods. Determine a daily employee worksheet which satisfies the requirements with
the least number of personnel. Formulate the problem as a linear programming
problem.

5 marks

Solution:

x1: number of cashiers start at 3am,

x2: number of cashiers start at 7am, …

x6: number of cashiers start at 23:00hr

LPP is to: Minimize Z = x1 + x2 + x3 + x4+ x5 + x6

sub to

x1 + x2 ≥ 20

x2 + x3 ≥ 14

x3 + x4 ≥ 20

x4+ x5 ≥ 10

x5 + x 6 ≥ 5

x6 + x 1 ≥ 7

xi ≥ 0 or x1 , x2 , x3 , x4, x5 , x6 ≥ 0

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3. A manufacturing unit has three products on their production line. The production
capacity for each product is 50, 30 and 45 respectively. The limitation in the production
shop is that of 300 man hours as total availability and the manufacturing time required
per product is 0.5, 1.5 and 2.0 man hours. The products are priced to result in profits of
Rs. 10, 15 and 20 respectively. If the company has a daily demand of 25 units, 20 units
and 35 units for respective products, formulate the problem as LP model so as to
maximize the total profit.
10 marks

Solution:

x1: number of units of product 1

x2: number of units of product 2

x3: number of units of product 3

LPP is: Maximize z = 10 x1 +15 x2 + 20 x3

sub to

0.5 x1 + 1.5 x2 + 2.0 x3 ≤ 300 (time constraint)

Capacity constraints:

x1 ≤ 50

x2 ≤ 30

x3 ≤ 45

Demand constraints:

x1 ≥ 25

x2 ≥ 20

x3 ≥ 35

x1 , x 2 , x 3 ≥ 0

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4. A pharmaceutical company has 100kg of A and 180kg of B available per month. They can
use these materials to make two basic pharmaceutical products, namely 5-10 and 5-5,
where the numbers in each case represent the percentage by weight of A and B
respectively in each of the products. The costs of these raw materials are given below:

ingredients Cost per kg.

A 80

B 20

There is a capacity restriction of the company for the product 5-10, so that they cannot
produce more than 30 kg per month. Determine how much of each of the products they
produce in order to minimize their monthly costs.

10 marks

Solution:

Reproducing the details in a table,

P1(x1) P2(x2) Max availability

Ingredient A 5 5 100kg

Ingredient B 10 5 180kg

Capacity 30kg (Max)

x1: number of units of product 1

x2: number of units of product 2

Lpp is to: Minimize cost, C = 80 x1+ 20 x2

sub to 5 x1+ 5 x2 ≤ 100 ; Ingredient A

10 x1+ 5 x2 ≤ 180 ; Ingredient B

5 x1+ 10 x1 ≤ 30 ; capacity constraint for product 1

x1 , x 2 ≥ 0

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5. An animal feed company must produce 200kg of a mixture consisting of ingredients x 1
and x2. The ingredient x1 costs Rs. 3 per kg and x 2 costs Rs. 5 per kg. Not more than 80kg
of x1 can be used and at least 60kg of x2 must be used. Find the minimum cost mixture
using graphical method.
The company also wants to try whether its cost mixture will have any change if they
increase the requirements of both the ingredients by 10 units. Do you think the new
option is better than the first? Kindly help them out in making a better decision.

10 marks

Solution:

x1 : Ingredient 1 ; x2 : Ingredient 2

(i) LPP is to Minimize cost C = 3x1 + 5x2

x1 + x2 = 200

x1 ≤ 80

x2 ≥ 60

x1 , x 2 ≥ 0

Solving graphically,
x2 x1 = 80

A (0, 200)

B (80, 120)

x2 = 60

x1 x1 + x2 = 200

shaded region (straight line AB) is the feasible region here.

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C at (0, 200) = 1000
C at (80, 120) = 840

Minimum cost is Rs. 840/- when ingredient 1 = 80

(ii) LPP is to Minimize cost C = 3x1 + 5x2

x1 + x2 = 200

x1 ≤ 90

x2 ≥ 70

x1 , x 2 ≥ 0

Solving graphically,

Solving graphically,
x2 x1 = 90

D (0, 200)

E (90, 110)

x2 = 70

x1 x1 + x2 = 200

shaded region (straight line DE) is the feasible region here.

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 C at (0, 200) = 1000
C at (90, 110) = 820

Minimum cost is Rs. 820/- when ingredient 1 = 90

Here, the sensitivity analysis shows that the increase by 10 units in RHS values of
demand and capacity constraints for x 1 and x2 respectively leads to a more optimized
result – optimal cost is decreased by 20 units. Hence this is a better decision.

6. The annual handmade furniture show and sale occurs next month and the school of
vocational studies is planning to make furniture for the sale. There are three wood-
working classes I, II and III year, at the school and they have decided to make three
styles of chairs A, B and C. A preliminary estimation shows that the time (hrs) required
for each chair in each class is:

Chair Iyr IIyr IIIyr

A 2 4 3

B 3 3 2

C 2 1 4

Also, there will be 120hrs available in the first year class, 160 hours in the second year
class and 100 hours in the third year class to produce the chairs. The teacher of the
wood-working class feels that a maximum of 40 chairs can be sold at the show. He also
assumes that the profit from each type of chair will be Rs. 40, Rs. 35 and Rs. 30.

(a) Formulate a linear programming model to determine how many chairs of each type
should be made in order to maximize the profits at the show and sale.
(b) Form the dual of the LPP.

10 marks

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 Solution:

(a)

x1: number of units of type A chair

x2: number of units of type B chair

x3: number of units of type C chair

LPP is to Maximize profit Z = 40 x1 + 35 x2 + 30 x3

Sub to:

Time constraints:

2 x1 + 3x2+ 2 x3 ≤ 120

4 x1 + 3x2+ 1 x3 ≤ 160

3 x1 + 2x2+ 4 x3 ≤ 100

Sales constraint:

x1 + x2 + x3 ≤ 40

x1 , x2 , x3 ≥ 0

(b) y1 , y2 , y3 & y4 – shadow prices

primal is in standard form.

dual is: Minimize Cost = 120y1+ 160y2 + 100y3 + 40y4

y1 , y2 , y 3 & y4 ≥0