1

FORMULATION PROBLEMS
(Product mix) MSA Computer Corporation manufactures two models of minicomputers,
the Alpha 4 and Beta 5. The firm employs five technicians, working 160 hours each per
month, on its assembly line. Management insists that full employment (ie. All 160 hours of
time) be maintained for each worker during next months operations. It requires 20 labor
hours to assemble each Alpha 4 computer and 25 labor hours to assemble each Beta 5
model. MSA wants to see at least 10 Alpha 4s and at least 15 Beta 5s produced during the
production period. Alpha 4s generate a $1,200 profit per unit, and Beta 5s yield $1,800
each.
(Product mix) The Marriott Tub Company manufactures two lines of bathtubs, called
model A and model B. Every tub requires blending a certain amount of steel and zinc; the
company has available a total of 25,000 pounds of steel and 6,000 pounds of zinc. Each
model A bathtub requires a mixture of 125 pounds of steel and 20 pounds of zinc, and each
yields a profit to the firm of $90. Each model B tub produced can be sold for a profit of
$70; it in turn requires 100 pounds of steel and 30 pounds of zinc.
(Product mix).The Valley Wine Company produces two kinds of wine-Valley Nectar and
Valley Red. The wines are produced from 64 tons of grapes the company has acquired this
season. A 1,000 gallon batch of nectar requires 4 tons of grapes and a 1,000 gallon batch of
red requires 8 tons. However, production is limited by the availability of only 50 cubic
yards of storage space for aging and 120 hours of processing time. A batch of each type of
wine requires 5 yd 3 of storage space. The processing time for a batch of Nectar is 15 hours
and the processing time for a batch of red is 8 hours. Demand for each type of wine is at
most 7 batches. The profit for a batch of nectar is $9,000 and the profit for a batch of red is
$12,000 Define the decision variables and formulate the linear programming model for this
problem.
(Product mix) A company produces two brands of perfumed bath oils. Each brand contains
a combination of three of four perfume essences, the quantities required per bottle being
those set out in the table below:
Quantity of Perfume Essence (in ounces)
Bath Oil

0.2

0.4

0.2

0.5

0.2

0.1

While the remaining ingredients are readily available, quantities of these essences are in
limited supply for the coming week. Supplies are shown as follows:
Availability of Essence (in ounces)
1

200

200

150

150

Each bottle of bath oil A produced yields a profit of $1.20 and each bottle of bath oil B a
profit of $1.50. Define the decision variables and formulate the problem.
(Product mix) A California grower has a 50-acre farm on which to plant strawberries and
tomatoes. The grower has available 300 hours of labor per week and 800 tons of fertilizer,

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and has contracted for shipping space for a maximum of 26 acres worth of strawberries and
37 acres worth of tomatoes. An acre of strawberries requires 10 hours of labor and 8 tons of
fertilizer, whereas an acre of tomatoes requires 3 hours of labor and 20 tons of fertilizer. The
profit from an acre of strawberries is $400 and the profit from an acre of tomatoes is $300.
The farmer wants to know the number of acres of strawberries and tomatoes to plant to
maximize profit.
(Product mix) Angela and Bob Ray keep a large garden in which they grow cabbage,
tomatoes and onions to make two kinds of relish- chow-chow and tomato. The chow-chow
is made primarily of cabbage, whereas the tomato relish is made mostly from tomatoes
Both relishes include onions, bell peppers and spices. A jar of chow-chow contains 8 ounces
of cabbage, 3 ounces of tomatoes and 3 ounces of onions, whereas a jar of tomato relish
contains 6 ounces of tomatoes, 6 ounces of cabbage and 2 ounces of onions. The Rays grow
120 pounds of cabbage, 90 pounds of tomatoes and 45 pounds of onions each summer. The
Rays can produce no more than 24 dozen jars of relish. They make $2.25 in profit from a jar
of chow-chow and $1.95 in profit from a jar of tomato relish. The Rays want to know how
many jars of each kind of relish to produce to generate the most profit. Formulate the LP
model
(Product mix) The Outdoor Furniture Corporation manufactures two products, benches and
picnic tables, for use in yards and parks. The firm has two main resources: its carpenters
(labor force) and a supply of redwood for use in the furniture. During the next production
cycle, 1,200 hours of labor are available under a union agreement. The firm also has a stock
of 3,500 feet of good-quality redwood. Each bench that Outdoor Furniture produces
requires 4 labor hours and 10 feet of redwood, each picnic table takes 6 labor hours and 35
feet of redwood. Completed benches will yield a profit of $9 each, and tables will result in a
profit of $20 each.
(Product mix) A distributor handles three types of television sets- large color, small color
and portable black and white- purchased directly from an importer. The distributor has
5.000 cubic feet of storage space. Each large color set requires 8, each small color set
requires 5 and each black and white portable requires 4 cubic feet of storage space. Large
color sets cost the distributor $360 each, while costs per unit are $300 for small color and
$80 for black and white portable sets. The distributor calculates that he can make a $50
profit on each large color, $40 on each small color and $20 on each black and white
portable set. Due to the restrictions on marketing possibilities, it is felt that no more than
450 color sets can be purchased for the coming month. The distributor has $32.000
available for the purchase of television sets. Define the decision variables and formulate this
linear programming problem.
(Feed mix blending) The Feedn Ship Ranch fattens cattle for local farmers and ships them
to meat markets in Kansas City and Omaha. The owners of the ranch seek to determine the
amounts of cattle feed to buy so that minimum nutritional standards are satisfied, and at the
same time total feed costs are minimized. The feed mix used can be made up of the three
grains that contain the following ingredients per pound of feed.
Feed (oz)
Ingredient

Stock X

Stock Y

Stock Z

3
D

The cost per pound of stocks X and Y and Z are $2, $4, and $2.50, respectively. The
minimum requirement per cow per month is 4 pounds of ingredient A, 5 pounds of
ingredient B, 1 pound of ingredient C and 8 pounds of ingredient D.
The ranch faces one additional restriction: it can only obtain 500 pounds of stock Z per
month from the feed supplier regardless of its need. Because there are usually 100 cows at
the Feedn Ship Ranch at any given time, this means that no more than 5 pounds of stock Z
can be counted on for use in the feed of each cow per month
(Product Mix) Three products are produced through 2 departments:K and L. In order to
produce one unit of product A, 7 hours of processing is required in department K and 2
hours of processing is required in department L. One unit of product B requires 3 hours in
dept. K and 4 hours in dept L. The processing requirements for product C is 1 hour and 6
hours respectively. Department K has an available weekly capacity of 280 hours and
department L has an available weekly capacity of 190 hours.
Management wishes to increase the capacity by purchasing new machines. In order to
increase the capacity of department K there are two alternatives. Machine K1, which can
increase the capacity of this department by 50 hours, can be purchased at a cost of $50,000;
or Machine K2, which can increase the capacity by 150 units, can be purchased at a cost of
$80,000. A similar opportunity exists for Department L. It is possible to increase the
capacity of this department by 120 hours or by 320 hours by purchasing either Machine L1
or L2 respectively. L1 costs $30,000 and L2 costs $90,000.
The profit contributions of the three products are $280, $120 and $215 respectively.
Formulate the problem by assuming that the investment budget is $150,000
(Agriculture planning) The seasonal yield of olives in a Piraeus, Greece, vineyard is
greatly influenced by a process of branch pruning. If olive trees are pruned every two
weeks, output is increased. The pruning process, however, requires considerably more labor
than permitting the olives to grow on their own that results in a smaller size olive. It also,
though, permits olive trees to be spaced closer together. The yield of 1 barrel of olives by
pruning requires 5 hours of labor and 1 acre of land. The production of a barrel of olives by
the normal process requires only 2 labor hours but takes 2 acres of land. An olive grower
has 250 hours of labor available and a total of 150 acres for growing. Because of the olive
size difference, a barrel of olives produced on pruned trees makes a profit of $200, whereas
a barrel of regular olives makes a profit of $300 per barrel. The grower has determined that
because of uncertain demand, no more than 40 barrels of pruned olives should be produced.
(Fertilizer Mix) A farmer is preparing to plant a crop in the spring and needs to fertilize a
field. There are 2 brands of fertilizer to choose from, Super-gro and Crop-quick. Each brand
yields a specific amount of nitrogen and phosphate, as follows:
Chemical Contribution
Nitrogen
(lb/bag)

Phosphate

Super-gro

Crop-quick

Product

(lb/bag)

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The farmers field requires at least 16 pounds of nitrogen and 24 pounds of phosphate.
Super-gro costs $6 per bag, and Crop-quick costs $3. The farmer wants to know how many
bags of each brand to purchase in order to minimize the total cost of fertilizing.
(Workforce scheduling) A company employs telephone operators who work 8-hour shifts,
either from 6:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m; from 10:00 a.m to 6:00 p.m. or from 2:00 p.m. to 10:00
p.m. Those working the first shift are paid $40 per day, those the second $43 per day and
those working the third $45 per day. The company has determined that the minimum
numbers of operators that must be available at various times of the day are:
Time

Minimum Number of Operators

8 a.m. 10 a.m

10 a.m.- 2 p.m.

2 p.m.- 4 p.m.

12

4 p.m.- 6 p.m.

8 p.m. 10 p.m.

Define the decision variables and formulate the problem if the objective is to meet these
requirements at the lowest possible cost
(Workforce scheduling) Mazys Department Store has decided to stay open for business on
a 24-hour basis. The store manager has divided the 24-hour day into six 4-hour periods and
has determined the following minimum personel requirements for each period
Time

Personel Needed

Midnight-4:00 a.m.

90

4:00-8:00 a.m.

215

8:00 a.m.- Noon

250

Noon-4:00 p.m.

65

4:00- 8:00 p.m.

300

8:00 p.m.- Midnight

125

Store personel must report to work at the beginning of one of the above time periods and
must work for eight consecutive hours. The store manager wants to know the minimum
number of employees to assign to each four-hour segment to minimize the total number of
employees. Formulate and solve the problem.
(Product Mix) Excellent Doors Company manufactures doors for sale to construction
companies. It sells all the doors it manufactures. Each week 20 employees, each working
eight-hour shifts, five days a week are assigned to the three processes- wood cutting,
manufacturing and finishing. The following table gives the cutting, manufacturing and
finishing times per door and the unit profits.

Door
Standard

Cutting Time Manufacturing

(minutes)
Time (minutes)
45

30

Finishing
Time
(minutes)
15

Unit Profit
($)
$45

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High glazed

60

30

30

$90

Engraved

30

60

30

$120

For the upcoming week, Darien, the manager has committed himself to satisfying a contract
for at least 280 standard, 120 high-glazed and 100 engraved doors for the Angora Houses.
To satisfy the contract, Darien may have to purchase some premanufactured doors from an
outside supplier.
Darien will only use premanufactured doors in the production of standard and high glazed
models but not in the production of engraved doors. Those sold as standard doors require
only six minutes of finishing time to meet quality specifications, and will net Darien only
$15 profit. Those used for high-glazed doors require only 30 minutes of finishing time and
yield Darien a net $50 profit.
Clearly define the decision variables and formulate the problem.
Sinking Fund. An investor seeks to establish an investment portfolio using the least
possible initial investment that will generate specific amounts of capital at specific time
periods in the future.
Consider Lary Frendentall, who is trying to plan for his daughter Susans college expenses.
Based on current projections (it is now the start of year 1), Larry anticipates that his
financial needs at the start of each of the following years is as follows:
Year 3

$20,000

Year 4

$22,000

Year 5

$24,000

Year 6

$26,000

Larry has several investment choices to choose from at the present time. Each choice has a
fixed return on investment and a specified maturity date. Assume that each choice is
available for investment at the start of every year Since choices C and D are relatively risky
choices, Larry wants no more than 30% of his total investment in those two choices at any
point in time.
Choice ROI

Maturity

5%

1 year

13%

2 years

28%

3 years

40 %

4 years

Larry wants to establish a sinking fund to meet his requirements. Note that at the start of
year 1, the entire investment is available for investing in the choices. However, in
subsequent years, only the amount maturing from a prior investment is available for
investment.

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(Course Scheduling) Brenda Last, an undergraduate business major at State University, is
attempting to determine her course schedule for Spring semester. She is considering seven
3-credit hour courses, which are shown in the following table. Also included are the average
number of hours she expects to have to devote to each course each week (based on
information from other students) and her minimim expected grade in each course based on
an analysis of the grading records of the teachers in each course
Course

Average Hours per Week

Minimum Grade

1. Management I

2. Principles of Accounting

10

3.Corporate Finance

4. Quantitative Methods

12

5. Marketing Management

6 C-programming

10

7. English Literature

An A in a couse earns 4 quality credits per hour, a B earns 3 quality credits, a C earns 2
quality credits, a D earns 1 quality credit, and an F earns no quality credits per hour. Brenda
wants to select a schedule that will provide at least 2.0 grade point average. In order to
remain a full-time student, which she must do to continue receiving financial aid, she must
take at least 12 credit hours. Principles of Accounting, Corporate Finance, Quantitative
methods and C-Programming all require a lot of computing and mathematics, and Brenda
would like to take no more than two of these courses. To remain on schedule and meet
prerequisites, she needs to take at least three of the following courses: Management I,
Principles of Accounting, C-programming, and English. Brenda wants to develop a course
schedule that will minimize the number of hours she has to work each week.
a. Define the decision variables and formulate the model
b. Solve the problem using computer. Indicate how many total hours Brenda should
expect to work on these courses each week and her minimum grade point average
(Plane Loading) Turkish airlines aims to load the cargo plane (flying on the AnkaraHamburg route) in the best way. There are four sections of the plane: one main cabin, two
wing cabins and one bottom cabin. The freight costs of each of the cabins differ according
to the properties of cabins. A kg. of load costs $800 in the main cabin, $600 in the wing
cabins and $500 in the bottom cabin. The loading capacity of the plane is 50 tons. In order
to maintain flight safety, the loads of the wing cabins should be equal to each other. The
load of the main cabin should be at least equal to the total of the loads of the wing cabins;
and should be at least 2 times of the load of the bottom cabin. The plane should fly fully
loaded. Define the decision variables and formulate the problem. (* MS-WS-2de ve 347WS-2de var)
(Course Scheduling) Three professors must be assigned to teach six sections of finance.
Each professor must teach two sections of finance, and each has ranked the six time periods
during which finance is taught. Professors are paid differing rates according to the time
periods. The costs of each assignment is as shown on the Table below. (professor 1 is not
available at 9 a.m., but is available from then on. Formulate the problem so as to assign
professors to sections that will minimize the costs
9 a.m

10 a.m.

11 a.m.

1 p.m.

2 p.m.

3 p.m.

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Professor 1

Professor 2

Professor 3

(Product mix) Modem Corporation of Americia (MCA) is the worlds largest producer of
modem communication devices for microcomputers. MCA sold 9,000 of the regular model
and 10,400 of the smart (intelligent) model this September. Its income statement for the
month is shown below. Costs presented are typical of prior months and are expected to
remain at the same levels in the near future.
The firm is facing several constraints as it prepares its November production plan. First, it
has experienced a tremendous demand and has been unable to keep any significant
inventory in stock. This situation is not expected to change. Second, the firm is located in a
small Iowa town from which additional labor is not readily available. Workers can be
shifted from production of one modem to another, however. To produce the 9,000 regular
modems in September required 5,000 direct labor hours. The 10,400 intelligent modem
absorbed 10,400 direct labor hours. Third, MCA is experiencing a problem affecting the
intelligent modem model. Its component supplier is able to guarantee only 8,000
microprocessors for November delivery. Each intelligent modem requires one of these
specially made microprocessors. Alternative suppliers are not available on short notice.
MCA wants to plan the optimal mix of the two modem models to produce in November to
maximize profits for MCA
Regular Modems
Sales

Intelligent Modems

$ 450,000

640,000

10,000

15,000

12,000

9,500

4,000

2,500

424,000

613,000

60,000

76,800

Indirect labor

9,000

11,520

Materials cost

90,000

128,000

Depreciation

40,000

50,800

199,000

267,120

225,000

345,880

General expenses- variable

30,000

35,000

General expenses-fixed

36,000

40,000

Advertising

28,000

25,000

Less: Discounts
Returns
Warranty replacements
Net Sales
Sales Costs
Direct labor

Cost of sales
Gross profit
Selling and general expenses

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Sales commissions

31,000

60,000

125,000

160,000

100,000

185,880

Income taxes (25%)

25,000

46,470

Net income

75,000

139,410

Total operating cost

Pretax income

(Production planning) Ford produces model A automobiles. The demand for the next three
months are: 750, 850 and 900 units of A model. Production is realized by using normal time
and overtime. The normal time production capacity of the plant is 700 units per month.
Overtime hours cannot exceed 30% of normal time. Normal time costs $5/hour, overtime
costs 20% more. It is possible to stock automobiles from one month to the next. Inventory
holding cost is $25/automobile/month. It takes 10 hours to produce an automobile. There is
no inventory at the beginning of the 3-month period, and no inventory accumulation is
required at the end of the third month. Formulate the problem assuming that the demand is
fully met.
(Production planning) The T.E. Callarman
Appliance Company is thinking of
manufacturing and selling compactors on an experimental basis over the next 6 months. The
manufacturing costs and selling prices of the compactors are projected to vary from month
to month. These are given below:
Month

Manufacturing Cost

Selling Price

July

$60

$90

August

$60

$80

September

$50

$60

October

$60

$70

November

$70

$80

December

$60

$90

Shipments are made in one large load at the end of that month. The firm can sell as many as
300 units per month, but its operation is limited by the size of its warehouse, which holds a
maximum of 100 compactors.
Callarmans operations manager needs to determine the number of compactors to
manufacture and sell each month in order to maximize the firms profit. Callarman has no
compactors on hand at the beginning of July and wishes to have no compactors on hand at
the end of the test period in December. Define the decision variables and formulate the
problem assuming all demand is to be met and also assuming that no inventory holding
costs are incurred.
(Portfolio selection) Heinlein and Krampf Brokerage firm has just been instructed by one
of its clients to invest $250,000 for her. The client has a good deal of trust in the investment
house, but she also has her own ideas about the distribution of the funds being invested. In
particular, she requests that the firm select whatever bonds they believe are well rated, but
within the following guidelines:
a. Municipal bonds should constitute at least 20% of the investment
b. At least 40% of the funds should be placed in a combination of electronics firms,
aerospace firms and drug manufacturers

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c. No more than 50% of the amount invested in municipal bonds should be placed in
nursing home bonds.
Subject to these restraints, the clients goal is to maximize projected return on investments.
The list of high-quality stoks and bonds and their corresponding rates of return are shown
below.
Investment

Projected Rate of Return (%)

Los Angeles municipal bonds

5.3

Thompson Electronics, Inc.

6.8

United Aerospace Corp.

4.9

Palmer Drugs

8.4

Happy Days Nursing Homes

11.8

Define the decision variables and formulate the problem using LP (20 points)
(Portfolio selection) The stock brokerage firm of Blank, Leibowitz and Weinberger has
analyzed and recommended two stocks to an investors club of college professors. The
professors were interested in factors such as short-term growth, intermediate-term growth
and dividend rates. The data on each stock are as follows:
Stock ($)
Factor

Louisiana
Power

Short-term growth potential

per dollar invested

Gas

and Trimex
Company

Insulation

.36

.24

Intermediate-term
growth
potential (over the next three
years), per dollar invested

1.67

1.50

Dividend rate potential

4%

8%

Each member of the club has an investment goal of (1) an appreciation of no less than $720
in the short term, (2) an appreciation of at least $5,000 in the next three years, and (3) a
dividend income of at least $200 per year. What is the smallest investment that a professor
can make to meet these three goals?
(Production planning) Boralis manufactures backpacks for serious hikers. The demand for
the product occurs during March to May of each year. Boralis estimates the demand for the
3 months to be 100, 200 and 180 units respectively. The monthly demand must be met on
time.
It is estimated that the normal time capacity of the facility is 180 units and overtime
capacity is 20 units per month from March to May. Because the production capacity and
demand for the different months do not match, the current months demand may be satisfied
in one of three ways:
a. Current months normal (regular) time production
b. Current months overtime production
c. Surplus production in an earlier month

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In the first case, the (regular time) production cost per backpack is $40. In the second case,
the overtime production cost is $60. The third case incurs an additional holding cost of $2
per backpack per month. There is no inventory at the beginning of the first month and it is
not desired to have inventory at the end of the third month. Boralis wishes to determine the
optimal production schedule for the 3 months. Define the decision variables and formulate
the problem.
(Product mix) Consider an economy with just 3 industries (steel, coal and electricity) To
produce one unit of steel, 0.05 units of steel, 0.40 units of coal and 0.25 units of electricity
are used. To produce one unit of coal, 0.10 units of steel, 0.15 units of coal and 0.30 units of
electricity are used. To produce one unit of electricity,0.20 units of steel, 0.60 units of coal
and 0.20 units of electricity are used. The economy needs 200 units of steel, 150 units of
coal and 180 units of electricity as final demands for the next quarter. Define the decision
variables and formulate the constraints of this problem.
(Product mix-production planning) A certain corporation has three branch plants with
excess production capacity. All three plants have the capability for producing a certain
product and management has decided to use some of the excess production capacity in this
way. This product can be made in three sizes- large, medium and small- that yield a net unit
profit of $140, $120 and $100 respectively. Plants 1, 2 and 3 have the excess manpower and
equipment capacity to produce 750, 900 and 450 units per day of this product, respectively,
regardless of the size or combination of sizes involved. However, the amount of available
in-process storage space also imposes a limitation on the production rates. Plants 1, 2 and 3
have 13.000, 12.000 and 5.000 square feet of in-process storage space available for a days
production of this product. Each unit of the large, medium and small sizes produced per day
requires 20, 15 and 12 square feet of storage space respectively.
Sales forecasts indicate that at most 900, 1200 and 750 units of the large, medium and small
sizes respectively can be sold per day.
To maintain a uniform work load among the plants and to retain some flexibility,
management has decided that the additional production assigned to each plant must use the
same percentage of the excess manpower and equipment capacity.
Management wishes to know how much of each of the sizes should be produced by each of
the plants to maximize profits. Define the decision variables and formulate the problem.
(Central planning) One of the interesting social experiments in the Mediterranean region is
the system of kibbutzim on communal farming communities, in Israel. It is common for
groups of kibbutzim to join together to share common technical services and to coordinate
their production. Our example concerns one such group of three kibbutzim, which we call
the Southern Confederation of Kibbutzim (SCK). Overall planning for the SCK is done in its
Coordinating Technical Office. This office currently is planning agricultural production for
the coming year.
The agricultural output of each kibbutz is limited by both the amount of available irrigable
land and by the quantity of water allocated for irrigation by the water commissioner (a
national government official). These data are given below:
Kibbutz Usable land (acres) Water allocation (acre feet)
1

400

600

600

800

300

375

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The crops suited for this region include sugar beets, cotton and sorghum and are the only
ones being considered for the upcoming season. These crops differ primarily in their
expected net return per acre and their consumption of water. In addition, the Ministry of
Agriculture has set a maximum quota for the total acreage that can be devoted to each of
these crops by the SCK as shown in the table below:
Maximum quotaWater consumption (acreNet
return
(acres)
feet/acre)
(dollars/acre)

Crop
Sugar beets

600

400

Cotton

500

300

Sorghum

325

100

The three kibbutzim belonging to the Southern Confederation have agreed that every
kibbutz will plant the same proportion of its available irrigable land. However, any
combination of the crops may be grown at any of the kibbutzim. The job facing the
Coordinating Technical Office is to plan how many acres to devote to each crop at the
respective kibbutzim while satisfying the above restrictions. The objective is to maximize
the total net return to the Southern Confederation as a whole. Define the decision variables
and formulate the problem.
(Transportation) A corporation manufactures fertilizer and currently has quantities
available at three depots. There are 600 bags available at depot 1, 500 bags available at
depot 2 and 400 bags at depot 3. Orders have been placed by three distribution centers. 300
bags are required at center A; 700 bags at center B and 500 bags at center C. The table
below shows the cost per bag, in dollars, of shipping fertilizer from each depot to each
distribution center.
Distribution Center
Depot

10

Define the decision variables and formulate the problem.

(Transportation) The Easy Drive Car Rental Agency needs 500 new cars in its Nashville
operation and 300 new cars in Jacksonville and it currently has 400 new cars in both Atlanta
and Birmingham. It costs $30 to move a car from Atlanta to Nashville, $70 to move a car
from Atlanta to Jacksonville, $40 from Birmingham to Nashville and $60 from Birmingham
to Jacksonville. The agency wants to determine how many cars should be transported from
the agencies in Atlanta and Birmingham to the agencies in Nashville and Jacksonville in
order to meet demand while minimizing the transport costs.
(Transportation) A manufacturer of television sets has two plants and two distribution
centers. For the coming week, distribution center A requires 300 sets, and center B 250 sets.
At most, 275 sets will be available at plant 1 and at most 325 sets will be available at plant
2. Television sets can be shipped from either plant to either distribution center. However,
unit shipping costs differ along the four routes. It costs $10 per set for shipments from plant
1 to center A, $12 per set for shipments from plant 1 to center B, $14 per set for shipments
from plant 2 to center A and $11 per set for shipments from plant 2 to center B. Demand at

12
the two centers is to be fully met. Define the decision variables and formulate the problem
(* MS-WS-2de ve 347-WS-2de var)
(Transportation) Don Yale, president of Hardrock Concrete Company has plants in three
locations and is currently wondering on three major construction projects, located ad
different sites. The shipping cost per truckload of concrete, plant capacities and project
requirements are provided in the accompanying table
To

Const.

Cons.

Cons.

Project

Project

Project

Plant
Capacities

Plant 1

$10

11

70

Plant 2

12

50

Plant 3

30

Project
requirements

40

50

50

150

From

140

(Transportation). Oranges are grown, picked and then stored in warehouses in Tampa,
Miami and Fresno. These warehouses supply oranges to markets in New York, Phildelphia,
Chicago and Boston. The following table shows the shipping costs per truckload (in
hundreds of dollars), supply and demand. Because of an agreement between distributors,
shipments are prohibited from Miami to Chicago:
To
From

New York

Philadelphia

Chicago

Boston

Supply

Tampa

$9

14

12

17

200

Miami

11

10

10

200

Fresno

12

15

200

Demand

130

170

100

150

Formulate this problem as a linear programming model

(Transportation) During the war in Iraq, large amounts of military material and supplies
had to be shipped daily from supply depots in the US to bases in the Middle East. The
critical factor in the movement of these supplies was speed. The following table shows the
number of plane loads of supplies available each day from each of six supply depots and the
number of daily loads demanded at each of five bases. (Each planeload is approximately
equal in tonnage.) Also included are the transprort hours per plane, including loading and
fueling, actual flight time and unloading and refueling.
Military

Base

Supply
Depot

Supply

36

40

32

43

29

28

27

29

40

38

10

13
3

34

35

41

29

31

41

42

35

27

36

25

28

40

34

38

31

30

43

38

40

Demand

12

10

Determine the optimal daily flight Schedule that will minimize total transport time
(Transshipment). Walshs Fruit Company contracts with growers in Ohio, Pennsylvania
and New York to produce grapes. The grapes are processed into juice at the farms and
stored in refrigerated vats. Then the juice is shipped to two plants, where it is processed into
bottled grape juice and frozen concentrate. The juice and concentrate are then transported to
three food warehouses/ distribution centers. The transportation costs per ton from the farms
to the plants and from the plants to the distributors and the supply at the farms and demand
at the distribution centers are summarized in the following tables
Plant
Farm

4. Indiana

5. Georgia

Supply (1,000 tons)

1. Ohio

16

21

72

2. Pennysylvania

18

16

105

3. New York

22

25

83

Distribution Center
Plant

6. Virginia

7. Kentucky

8. Lousiana

4. Indiana

23

15

29

5. Georgia

20

17

24

Demand (1,000 t)

90

80

120

Formulate the problem

(Transportation) A sports apparel company has received an order for a college basketball
teams national championship T-shirt. T-shirts are produced in 3 plants. The shirts are
shipped fromthe factories to the 3 distribution centers. Following are the production and
transportation costs ($/shirt) from the T-shirt factories to the distribution centers, plus the
supply of T-shirts at the factories and demand for the shirts at the distribution centers.
Production costs:
Plant 1 $100
Plant 2 $105
Plant 3 $90
Distribution costs:
Dist. Cen.
To

DC

DC

Plant
Capacities

14
From
Plant 1

$10

11

170

Plant 2

12

250

Plant 3

130
550

Demand

140

250

150

540

(Transportation) Bayville has built a new elementary school so that the town now has a
total of four schools- Addison, Beeks, Canfield and Daley. They have capacities (the
maximum number of students that can be registered) of 300, 300, 600 and 500 respectively.
The school wants to assign children to schools so that their travel time by bus is as short as
possible. The school has partitioned the town into three districts conforming to population
density- north, south and east. The average bus travel time from each district to each school
(from a source to a destination) is shown as follows.
Travel
time (cost) matrix
Schools

Addison

Beeks

Canfield

Daley

Student
Population

North

13

700

South

12

17

10

400

East

11

15

600

300

300

600

500

1700

District

The numbers in the table show the average bus travel time from each district to each school
The numbers in the last column show the number of students in each district
The numbers in the last row show the maximum number o students that can be registered to
each school.
Formulate the problem
Assume the solution values in bold.
a. What would you do if students from East are not accepted at Daley
b. What would you do if the student population exceed the school capacities?
(Transshipment) Ryan Electronics has production facilities in Denver and Atlanta.
Components produced at either facility may be shipped to either of the firms regional
warehouse, which are located in Kansas City and Louisville. From the regional warehouses,
the firm supplies retail outlets in Detroit, Maimi, Dallas and New Orleans. Warehouses do
not have any long-term stocking facilities
Transportation costs per unit for the Ryan Electronics are given below:

15

From

3. Kansas City

4. Louisville

1. Denver

2. Atlanta

To

From
To

5. Detroit

6. Miami

7. Dallas

8. New Orleans

3. Kansas City

4. Louisville

* The capacities of plants are 600 units at Denver and 400 units in Atlanta.
* The demands at retail outlets are estimated to be 200 units at Detroit, 150 units at Miami,
350 units at Dallas and 250 units at New Orleans.
Draw the network, define the decision variables and formulate this transshipment problem
assuming that Ryan does not want to ship any items From Kansas City to Miami.
(Course Assignment) A university department head has five instructors to be assigned to
four different courses all the instructors have thaught the courses in the past and have been
evaluated by the students. The rating for each instructor for each course is given in the
following table (a perfect sore is 100)
Course
Instructor A

80

75

90

85

95

90

90

97

85

95

88

91

93

91

80

84

91

92

93

88

The department head wants to know the optimal assignment of instructors to courses to
maximize the overall average evaluation. The instructor who is not assigned to teach a
course will be assigned to grade exams. Formulate the problem.
(Assignment) . There are five professors and four sections of finance. Professors are paid
differing rates according to the time periods. The costs of each assignment is as shown on
the Table below. Because of personal reasons Professor 4 should not be assigned to the
section whose class start time is 1 p.m. The professor who is not assigned to teach a course
will be assigned to grade exams. Formulate the problem so as to assign professors to
sections that will minimize the costs. What will be the impact of the imbalance of the
problem on the optimal solution. (10 points)
Professor 1

9 a.m

10 a.m.

11 a.m.

1 p.m.

16
Professor 2

Professor 3

Professor 4

Professor 5

(Assignment). Three professors must be assigned to teach six sections of finance. Each
professor must teach two sections of finance, and each has ranked the six time periods
during which finance is taught. Professors are paid differing rates according to the time
periods. The costs of each assignment is as shown on the Table below. Formulate the
problem so as to assign professors to sections that will minimize the costs by assuming that
it is impossible to assign Professor 1 to the courses that begin at 9 a.m.
State the impact of the imbalance of the problem on the course Schedule. What do you
recommend to the department head.
9 a.m

10 a.m.

11 a.m.

1 p.m.

2 p.m.

3 p.m.

Professor 1

Professor 2

Professor 3

(Assignment). A dispatcher for the Citywide Taxi Company has six taxicabs at different
locations and five customers who have called for service. The mileage from each taxis
present location to each customer is shown in the following table. Determine the optimal
assignment(s) that will minimize the total mileage traveled.
Customer
Cab

1
0

(Assignment) Given the following cost table for an assignment problem. Determine the
optimal assignment and compute the minimum cost. Identify all alternative solutions if
there are multiple optimal solutions. (8)
Machine
Operator

$10

11

17
3

12

14

14

(Assignment) Prentice-Hall wants to assign recently hired colloge graduates: Jones, Smith,
Andy and Wilson to regional sales districts in Omaha, Dallas and Miami. But the firm also
has an opening in New York and would send one of the three there if it were more
economical than a move to Omaha, Miami, or Dallas. It will cost $10 to relocate Jones to
New York, $8 to relocate Smith there and $15 to move Wilson.What is the optimal
assignment of personel to offices?
Office

Omaha

Miami

Dallas

Hiree
Jones
Smith
Wilson
(Integer Programming) Consider a minimization Integer Linear Programming problem.
Does the optimal value for the LP relaxation provide an upper or a lower bound for the
optimal value of the ILP? Explain your answer
(Binary Programming) Melissa Jacobson, an undergraduate business major at State
University, is attempting to determine her course schedule for the fall semester. She is
considering nine 3-credit-hour courses, which are shown in the following table. Of these
courses Production Management, Organizational Theory, Corporate Finance and Marketing
Management are must courses. Also included are the average number of hours she expects
to have to devote to each course each week (based on information from other students) and
her minimum expected grade in each course based on an analysis of the grading records of
the teachers in each course.
Average hours per
week

Minimum Grade

Production Management

11

Organizational Theory

Entrepreneurship

Principles of Accounting

10

Corporate Finance

Quantitative Methods

12

Marketing Management

C-Programming

10

English Literature

Course

An A in a course earns 4 quality credits per credit-hour, a B earns 3 quality credits, a C

earns 2 credits, a D earns 1 quality credits, an F earns no quality credits per hour. Melissa
wants to select a schedule that will provide the highest possible grade point avarage. In
order to remain a full-time student, which she must do to continue receiving financial aid,
she must take at least 18 credit-hours. Principles of Accounting, Corporate Finance,

18
Quantitative Methods, and C-Programming all require a lot of computing and mathematics,
and Melissa would like to take no more than two of these courses. Melissa wants to develop
a course which is within her capability of working 58 hours per week. Formulate a 0-1
integer programming model for this problem.
(Binary Programming) 5. A corporation is planning its R&D budget over the next three
years the table below shows the costs of each of the three possible projects and the quantity
of funds available (both in hundreds of thousands of dollars) in each of the three years.
Project

Project Costs
Year 1

Year 2

Year 3

18

20

22

24

21

20

21

23

47

Available funds

46

46

47

The present values of expected future profits from the three projects are $800,000, $700000
and $ 850,000 respectively. Formulate the problem. (8)
(Binary Programming) A manufacturing company has decided to expand by building a
new factory in either Los Angeles or San Francisco. It is also considering building a new
warehouse in whichever city is selected for the new factory. (It may or not may not build a
warehouse, but if it decides to build it, it should be built at the city in which the factory is
built). The total profitability of each of these alternatives is shown in the Table below. The
last column gives the capital required for the respective investments, where the total capital
available is $40,000,000. The objective is to find the feasible combination of alternatives
that maximizes the total profitability.
Alternative

Total annual profitability

Capital requirements

Build factory in Los Angeles

$7 million

$20 million

Build factory in San Fransisco

$5 million

$15 million

Build warehouse in Los Angeles

$4 million

$ 12 million

Build warehouse in San

Fransisco

$3 million

$ 10 million

Define the decision variables and formulate the problem by taking into account that
Note that:
The company wants to build only one new factory
The company may or may not build a warehouse in a city selected for new
factory. But in order to build a warehouse in a city, the decision to build a
factory should have to be made, ie. t cannot build a warehouse in a city in
which a factory is not built.
(Fixed Charge) GAP Inc. needs to decide on the locations for two new warehouses. The
candidate sites are Philadelphia, Tampa, Denver and Chicago. The following table provides
the monthly cpacities and the mothly fixed costs for operating warehouses at each potential
site.

19
Warehouse

Monthy Capacity

Monthly Fixed Cost

Philadelphia (1)

250 units

$1,000

Tampa (2)

260 units

$ 800

Chicago (3)

280 units

$1,200

Denver (4)

270 units

$ 700

The warehouses will need to ship to three marketing areas: North, South, and West.
Monthly requirements are 200 units for North, 180 units for South, and 120 units for West.
The following Table provides the cost to ship one unit between each location and
destination:
Marketing area

North (N)

South (S)

West (W)

Warehouse
Philadelphia (1)

$4

$7

$9

Tampa (2)

$6

$3

$11

Chicago (3)

$5

$6

$5

Denver (4)

$8

$10

$2

In addition the following conditions must be met by the final decision:

A warehouse must be opened in either Philadelphia or Denver

If a warehouse is opened in Tampa, then one must also be opened in Chicago

Define the decision variables and formulate the model in order to determine which two sites
should be selected for the new warehouses to minimize total fixed and shipping costs
(Fixed Charge and Facility Location) Frijo-Lane Products own farms in Southwest and
Midwest where it grows and harvests potatoes. It then ships these potatoes to three
processing plants in Atlanta, Baton Rouge and Chicago where different varieties of potato
products, including chips, are produced. Recently, the company has experienced a growth in
its product demand so it wants to buy one or more new farms to produce more potato
products. The company is considering six new farms with the following annual fixed costs
and projected harvest.
Farms

Fixed Annual Costs

($1,000s)

Projected Annual Harvest

$405

11.2

390

10.5

450

12.8

368

9.3

520

10.8

466

9.6

(thousands of tons)

The company currently has the following additional available production capacity

20
(tons) at its three plants that it wants to utilize:
Plant

Available Capacity
(thousands of tons)

12

10

14

The shipping costs ($) per ton from the farms being considered for purchase to the plants
are as follows:
Plant (shipping costs, $/ton)
Farm

18

15

12

13

10

17

16

14

18

19

15

16

17

19

12

14

16

12

The company wants to know which of the six farms it should purchase that will meet
available production capacity at the minimum total cost, including annual fixed costs and
shipping costs.
(Fixed Charge). Gandhi Cloth Company is capable of manufacturing three types of
clothing: shirts, shorts and pants. The manufacture of each type of clothing requires Gandhi
to have the appropriate type of machinery available. There are 3 types of machines among
which tha manager can cohhose: the first one costs $200, the second one has a fixed cost
of $150 per week had the third one costs $100. The machinery needed to manufacture each
type of clothing must be rented at the following rates: shirt machinery, $200 per week;
shorts machinery, $150 per week; pants machinery, $100 per week. The first has a capacity
of 400 machine hours per week, the second 350 hours qer week and thethird has a
production capacity of 350 hours. The manufacture of each type of clothing also requires
the amounts of cloth and labor shown below. Each week 150 hours of labor and 160 sq. yd.
of cloth are available. The variable unit cost and selling price for each type of clothing are
also shown below. (do not forget that Gandhi Cloth need the appropriate machinery if it is
going to produce the item that require that machinery)
Define the decision variables and formulate the problem in order to maximize Gandhis
weekly profits.
Resource Requirements for Gandhi
Labor (hours)

Cloth (square yards)

Shirt

Shorts

Pants

21
Revenue and Cost Information for Gandhi
Sales Price

Variable Cost

Shirt

$12

$6

Shorts

$8

$4

Pants

$6

$4

(Fixed Charge) During the war in Iraq, Terraco Motor Company produced a vehicle for the
military. The company is now planning to sell the vehicle to the public. It has four plants
that manufacture the vehicle and four regional distributon centers. The company is unsure
of public demand for the vehicle, so it is considering reducing its fixed operating costs by
closing one or more plants, even though it would incur an increase in transportation costs.
The relevant costs for the problem are provided in the following table. The transportation
costs are per thousand vehicles shipped. For example, the cost of shipping 1,000 vehicles
from plant 1 to warehouse C is $32,000.
Transportation costs ($1,000s)
To Warehouse
From
Plant

Annual
Production
Capacity

Annual
Fixed Costs

36

40

32

43

12,000

2,100,000

28

27

29

40

18,000

850,000

34

35

41

29

14,000

1,800,000

41

42

35

27

10,000

1,100,000

6,000

14,000

8,000

10,000

4
Annual
Demand

Formulate an integer programming model for this problem that will assist the company in
determining which plants should remain open and which should be closed and the number
of vehicles that should be shipped from each plant to each warehouse to minimize total cost.