LINEAR PROGRAMMING 1

Lesson Learning Objectives

At the end of this lesson, you will be expected to;
1. Define and describe the concept of liner programming.
2. Formulate the LP in the standard format.
3. Solve the LP problem using graphical method/Simplex method.
4. Carry out post-optimality analysis

Introduction
This lesson introduces you to Linear Programming (LP) technique used to allocate resources in
organizations in a way that leads to optimal utilization. In this lesson, you will learn how to
formulate what is referred to as an objective function and a set of constraints. You will learn
about the rules of and assumptions under this technique. Furthermore, you will be taken through
the various methods of solving the LP problems including the graphical methods for two variable
problems and the more complex simplex algorithm which is used whenever the variables are
more than two. Finally, the lesson will introduce you to post optimality analysis that will enable
you to understand how various scenarios can affect your LP solution.
Linear programming is a technique of decision making used by managers to allocate limited
resources e.g. machinery, raw materials and labor in order to minimize costs or maximize
production. Decision variable are the amounts of each product to be made in a given time period.
Linear programming assumes that the variable has a linear relationship.
Definition and Concept of Linear Programming
Linear Programming is a widely used mathematical modeling technique to determine the
optimum allocation of scarce resources among competing demands. Resources typically include
raw materials, manpower, machinery, time, money and space.
The technique is very powerful and found especially useful because of its application to many
different types of real business problems in areas like finance, production, sales and distribution,
personnel, marketing and many more areas of management.
As its name implies, the linear programming model consists of linear objectives and linear
constraints, which means that the variables in a model have a proportionate relationship. For
example, an increase in manpower resource will result in an increase in work output.
Linear programming (LP) has mainly two objectives:
1. To maximize either contribution of profit
2. To minimize costs.

Note:
LP problems are expressed by first stating the objective function, i. the focus in which the
manager would wish to achieve. This is then followed by the constraints.

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In Mathematics, linear programming is a method of optimising operations with some constraints.
The main objective of linear programming is to maximize or minimize the numerical value. It
consists of linear functions which are subjected to the constraints in the form of linear equations
or in the form of inequalities.

Application of linear programming

Production department to decide the quantity of pots to be produced subject to limited resources
(constraints) e.g. labour, power, machine hours, raw materials etc.
Marketing department: Allocation of salesmen to different sales regions subject to their expected
performance.
Human Resource: Scheduling personnel’s work hours and job description to either maximize
production or minimize cost.

Assumption made in linear programming

Assumptions that are made to solve these types of problems are that:.
 1. Proportionality (Linearity) : all activities in linear programming
problems are proportional to the level of decision variables.
 2. Divisibility (Continuity): The solution values of decision variables
are allowed to assume continuous values. For instance, it is possible
to collect 6.254 thousand litres of milk by a milk dairy and such
variables are divisible. But, it is not desirable to produce 2.5 machines
and such variables are not divisible and therefore must be assigned
integer values.
 3. Non-negativity: no decision variable can be negative.
 4. Additivity: the total of all activities in linear programming problems are
assumed to equal to the sum of individual activities.
 5. Certainty: In LP models, it is assumed that all its parameters such
as: availability of resources, profit (or cost) contribution per unit of
decision variable and consumption of resources per unit of decision
variable must be known and constant.

Steps in solving linear programming problems (problem formulation)

1. Identify variables (e.g. product x and product y)
2. Identify the objective (To maximize contribution or to minimize cost), and write down its
mathematical presentation in terms of variables.
3. Identify the constraints (i.e. the limited resources shared among the variables), and write
down its mathematical representation in terms of variables.
4. write down the objectives and the constraints in terms of the variables.
These steps apply regardless of the number of the variables.

NOTE: If only two variables are involved, a graphical solution can be used otherwise for
multivariable problems, an algebraic method is applied to find the solution.

Example 1:
Long Castling Breweries manufactures two brands of beer, Benko lager and Benoni lager. Benko
has a contribution of Sh.4 per unit and Benoni has a contribution of Sh.3 per unit. Benko requires
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30 machine minutes and 20 labor minutes to manufacture a unit. Benoni requires 30 machine
minutes and 30 labor minutes to manufacture a unit. Total available machine hours per day are
12hrs whereas total available labour hours per day are 14hrs.

Required:
1. Formulate linear programming model.
2. How much of each brand should Long Castling produce if it wishes to maximize its daily
contribution assuming that all the lager produced is sold.

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Solution:
1. Formulating a linear programming model
Step 1: Identifying variables:
The variables here are the number of units of Benko and Benoni lager produced by
Long castling breweries per day; we can represent them as:
X1= a unit of Benko lager.
X2= a unit of Benoni lager.

Step 2: Identify the objective:

Definition: An objective is the desired result i.e. optimization of a function
dependent on decision variable and subject to some constraints.
The objective of Long Castling Breweries is to maximize daily contribution.
Objective function is the formula that will give us the total contribution in a day
for both Benko lager and Benoni lager.
The information above can thus be represented in a tabular form as:

PRODUCT Maximum
available
(PER DAY) X1 X2 hours/day
Machine hours 0.5 0.33 12
Labor hours 0.5 0.5 14
Contribution 4 3

Objective function = 4X1 + 3X2

The objective is to maximize 4X1 + 3X2

Step 3: Identifying constraints (constraints formulation)

Definition: Constraints are circumstances that govern achievement of an objective.
Limitations must be quantified mathematically and they must be linear.
For Long castling breweries we have limited machine hours (12hrs/day), which
must be shared among production of Benko and Benoni lagers.
Therefore production must be such that the numbers of machine hours required is
less than or equal to 12 hours per day.
0.5X1+0.33X2 ≤ 12hrs

Similarly for labour hours we have:

0.5X1+0.5X2 ≤ 14hrs

Non-Negativity: It is logical assumption to assume that the company cannot

manufacture negative amounts of a product, thus it can only manufacture either
zero product or more. Therefore we have: X1≥0
X2≥0 or X1, X2≥0

Thus the complete linear programming model is;

Maximize 4X1 + 3X2

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Subject to the constraints;
0.5X1 + 0.33X2 ≤ 12
0.5X1 + 0.5X2 ≤ 14
X1, X2 ≥ 0

Solving linear programming problems

The question requires us to optimize (in our case, maximize) the objective (the
contribution function), or in simple terms we are required to solve the linear
programming model.
Solving linear programming model entails finding the values of variables that
satisfy all inequalities simultaneously and optimize the objective.

Graphical solution
This method is used to solve LP models in case where only two variables are
involved. For more than two variables (multivariable) then the simplex technique
(algebraic method may be used).
Now in solving the problem above we first draw the axis, taking X1 to be the y axis
and X2 to be the X axis.

X1

0
X2

Next we plot the scales on each axis to approximate the scales to use them, we
consider each constraint equation. We get the value of one of variables putting the
other variable to be zero and by substituting the inequality ≤or ≥ with equality sign
(=).

For: 0.5X1 + 0.33X2 ≤ 12

When X1 = 0
0.5(0) + 0.33X2 = 12
0.33X2 = 12
X2 = 12/0.33 = 36

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Therefore point to plot is (36, 0) … Implying that when X2 = 36 then X1
=0

When X2 = 0
0.5X1 + 0.33(0) = 12
0.5X1 = 12
X1 = 12/0.5 = 24
Therefore the point is (0, 24)

For 0.5X1 + 0.5X2 ≤ 14

When X1 = 0
0.5(0) + 0.5X2 = 14
0.5X2 = 14
X2 = 14/0.5 = 28
Therefore the point is (28, 0)

When X2 = 0
0.5X1 + 0.5(0) = 14
0.5X1 = 14
X1 = 14/0.5 = 28
Therefore the point is (0, 28)

Comparing these values we see that X2 ranges between 0 – 28, therefore we can
have the graph plotted as:

Next draw each limitation (constraint) as separate line on the graph.

For 0.5X1 + 0.33X2 ≤ 12

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The two points that represent this line are (36, 0) and (0, 24). This is plotted as a
straight line from 36 on X2 axis to 24 on X1 axis.

Now including the Non-Negativity constraints since no negative product can be

produced;
X1 ≥ 0; x2 ≥ 0

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We must now consider how to choose the production which will maximize
contribution. This we do by plotting a line representing the objective function (4x1
+ 3x2).
First choose a convenient point inside the feasible region

e.g. X2(10) +3X1(20) = 40 +60

= Sh 100

All of the other product mixes that give a contribution of Sh.100 lies on the line:

100 = 4X1 + 3X2 .................................................... (i)

<<This line is called a contribution line>>

Picking another point, say X2 =10 ad X1 = 20

Its contribution value is SH 110, thus give a contribution line of

110 = 4X1 + 3X2 ....................................................... (ii)

Plotting these two contribution lines to our graph we get two parallel lines.

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Until we reach the last feasible solution(s) before the line moves entirely out of the
feasible region.

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Point X is the last feasible solution. Coordinates of this point give a combination of
the two lager’s production volumes that fetches the highest contribution.
Coordinates of point X can be read from the graph, but for precision they are
calculated by solving simultaneously the equations of the two lines that intersect at
point X.
The two constraints are called binding or limiting constraints. They are the
resources being fully used thus preventing daily contribution from increasing
further.
Therefore to get point x we solve:

0.5X1 + 0.33X2 = 12 ….(i)

0.5X1 + 0.5X2 = 14 ….(ii)
Since X is the intersection of these two constraints, solving by deducting (i) from
(ii) we get
0.17X2=2
X2 =11.76

And substituting X2 = 11.76 to equation (i) we get

X1 = 16.24

Therefore 11.76 units of Benko lager and 16.24 units of Benoni lager need to be
produced for maximum contribution.

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 Contribution = 4(16.24) + 3(11.76) = 100.24

Special cases in linear programming

 Infeasibility: This is when all constraints don’t satisfy a particular point thus
there is no feasible solution.
 Redundancy: A constraint is considered redundant if it does not affect the
feasible region. This happens in cases of excess resources since it does not
limit attainment of the objective.
 Multiple optimal solutions: This occurs when the objective function has the
same slope as a binding constraint.

Exercise:
(a) Highlight three management applications of linear programming.

(b) A manufacturer of high precision machined components produces two

different types, X and Y. In any given week, there are 4,000 man-hours of
skilled labour available. Each component X requires one man-hour for its
production and each component Y requires 2 man-hours. The manufacturing
plant has the capacity to produce a maximum of 2,250 components of type X
each week as well as 1,750 components of type Y. Each component X
requires 2kg of plate. Each week there are 10,000 kg each of rod and plate
available. The company supplies a car manufacturer with the unions that at
least 1,500 components will be produced each week in total. The unit
contribution for component X is Sh. 30 and for component Y is Sh. 40. , how
many of each type should be made in order to maximise the total
contribution per week?
Required:
(a) State the objective function in mathematical terms.
(b) State the constraints as equations/inequalities.
(c) Graph these constraints on a suitable diagram, shading the feasible
region.
(d) Advice the company on the optimal product mix that maximizes the total
contribution per week and the maximum contribution.

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