Linear Programming: Computer Solution,

and modeling examples

Dr. Chang-Hun Lee
Computer Solution

• Early linear programming used lengthy manual

mathematical solution procedure called the Simplex
Method.

• Steps of the Simplex Method have been programmed in

software packages designed for linear programming
problems.

• Used extensively in business and government.

Remember? - Beaver Creek Pottery Company

Resource Requirements

Labor Clay Profit

product
(Hr./Unit) (Lb./Unit) ($/Unit)
Bowl 1 4 40
Mug 2 3 50

Figure 2.1 Beaver Creek Pottery Company

• Product mix problem - Beaver Creek Pottery Company

• How many bowls and mugs should be produced to maximize
profits given labor and materials constraints?
(Resource Availability: 40 hrs of labor per day 120 lbs of clay )
• Product resource requirements and unit profit:
LP Model Formulation 1: Profit Maximization

Resource Availability:
40 hrs of labor per day
120 lbs of clay
Decision Variables:
x1 = number of bowls to produce per day
x2 = number of mugs to produce per day
Objective Function:
Maximize Z = $40x1 + $50x2
Where Z = profit per day
Resource Constraints:
1x1 + 2 x2  40 hours of labor
4 x1 + 3 x2  120 pounds of clay
Non-Negativity Constraints:
x1  0; x2  0
Beaver Creek Pottery Example: Excel
Spreadsheet – Data Screen
Beaver Creek Pottery Example: “Solver”
Parameter Screen

Solver parameters
Beaver Creek Pottery Example: Adding
Model Constraints

Labor constraint
Beaver Creek Pottery Example: “Solver”
Settings

Solution screen
Beaver Creek Pottery Example: Solution
Screen

Answer report
Beaver Creek Pottery Example: Increase in
labor hours
3.17
Beaver Creek Pottery Example: Adding a
New Constraint
Adding a new constraint to Beaver Creek Model: 0.20 x1 + 0.10 x2  5
hours for packaging (Original solution: 24 bowls, 8 mugs, $1,360)
profit
Question: Xecko making two airplane wing parts, and each wing part
must be processed through three manufacturing stage – stamping,
drilling, and finishing

• Two airplane parts: no.1 (price: $650) and no. 2 ($910).

• Three manufacturing stages: stamping, drilling, finishing.
• Decision variables: x1 (number of part no. 1 to produce)
x2 (number of part no. 2 to produce)
• Model: Maximize Z = $650 x1 + 910 x2
subject to:
4 x1 + 7.5 x2  105 (stamping,hr )
6.2 x1 + 4.9 x2  90 ( drilling, hr )
9.1x1 + 4.1x2  110 (finishing, hr)
x1, x2  0
Xecko Tool company
Maximize Z = $650 x1 + $910 x2
subject to:
4 x1 + 7.5 x2  105
6.2 x1 + 4.9 x2  90
9.1x1 + 4.1x2  110
x1, x2  0
Xecko Tool company: Excel Solution
A Product Mix Example: Quick-Screen
Shirts case
• Quick screen making four type of clothes: (1) sweatshirt with front printing, (2)
sweatshirt with front and back printing, (3) T-shirts with front printing and (4)
both side printing. The company has to complete all production within 72 hrs.
The delivery truck has capacity of 1200 standard size boxes. A standard box
holds 12 T-shirts, and a box of 12 sweatshirts is three times the size of a
standard box. The company has a budgeted $25000 for the production run. It
has 500 dozen blank sweatshirts and T-shirts each in stock, ready to
production (printing). How many dozens (boxes) of each type of shirt to
produce?

Blank Processing Time Cost($) Profit ($)

(h r) per dozen
ou per Dozen per Dozen
Sweatshirt—F 0.10 $36 $90
Sweatshirt—B/F 0.25 48 125
T-shirt—F 0.08 25 45
T-shirt—B/F 0.21 35 65
Quick-Screen Shirts case: Problem
Definition 1
Four-product T-shirt/sweatshirt manufacturing company.

• Must complete production within 72 hours

• Truck capacity = 1,200 standard sized boxes.

• Standard size box holds12 T-shirts.

• One-dozen sweatshirts box is three times size of standard box.

• $25,000 available for a production run.

• 500 dozen blank T-shirts and sweatshirts in stock.

• How many dozens (boxes) of each type of shirt to produce?

Model Construction
Decision Variables:

x1 = sweatshirts, front printing

x2 = sweatshirts, back and front printing

x3 = T-shirts, front printing

x4 = T-shirts, back and front printing

Objective Function: Maximize 𝑍 = $90𝑥1 + $125𝑥2 + $45𝑥3 + $65𝑥4

Model Constraints:

0.10𝑥1 + 0.25𝑥2 + 0.08𝑥3 + 0.21𝑥4 ≤ 72 hr

3𝑥1 + 3𝑥2 + 𝑥3 + 𝑥4 ≤ 1,200 boxes
$36𝑥1 + $48𝑥2 + $25𝑥3 + $35𝑥4 ≤ $25,000
𝑥1 + 𝑥2 ≤ 500 dozen sweatshirts
𝑥3 + 𝑥4 ≤ 500 dozen T − shirts
Computer Solution with Excel 1
Solution with Excel Solver Window 1
Diet case: Data and Problem Definition
Breakfast Food Calories Fat Cholesterol Iron Calcium Protein Fiber Cost
(g) (mg) (mg) (mg) (g) (g) ($)
1. Bran cereal (cup) 90 0 0 6 20 3 5 0.18
2. Dry cereal (cup) 110 2 0 4 48 4 2 0.22
3. Oatmeal (cup) 100 2 0 2 12 5 3 0.10
4. Oat bran (cup) 90 2 0 3 8 6 4 0.12
5. Egg 75 5 270 1 30 7 0 0.10
6. Bacon (slice) 35 3 8 0 0 2 0 0.09
7. Orange 65 0 0 1 52 1 1 0.40
8. Milk—2% (cup) 100 4 12 0 250 9 0 0.16
9. Orange juice (cup) 120 0 0 0 3 1 0 0.50
10. Wheat toast (slice) 65 1 0 1 26 3 3 0.07

Minimize cost for breakfast - Breakfast to include at least 420 calories,

5 milligrams of iron, 400 milligrams of calcium, 20 grams of protein, 12
grams of fiber, and must have no more than 20 grams of fat and 30
milligrams of cholesterol.
Diet case: Model Construction – Decision
Variables

x1 = cups of bran cereal

x2 = cups of dry cereal
x3 = cups of oatmeal
x4 = cups of oat bran
x5 = eggs
x6 = slices of bacon
x7 = oranges
x8 = cups of milk
x9 = cups of orange juice
x10 = slices of wheat toast
Diet case: Model Summary 1
Minimize𝑍
= 0.18𝑥1 + 0.22𝑥2 + 0.10𝑥3 + 0.12𝑥4 + 0.10𝑥5 + 0.09𝑥6 + 0.40𝑥7 + 0.16𝑥8 + 0.50𝑥9 + 0.07𝑥10

subject to:
• 90𝑥1 + 110𝑥2 + 100𝑥3 + 90𝑥4 + 75𝑥5 + 35𝑥6 + 65𝑥7 + 100𝑥8 + 120𝑥9 + 65𝑥10 ≥
420 calories

• 2𝑥2 + 2𝑥3 + 2𝑥4 + 5𝑥5 + 3𝑥6 + 4𝑥8 + 𝑥10 ≤ 20 g fat

• 270𝑥5 + 8𝑥6 + 12𝑥8 ≥ 30 mg cholesterol

• 6𝑥1 + 4𝑥2 + 2𝑥3 + 3𝑥4 + 𝑥5 + 𝑥7 + 𝑥10 ≥ 5 mg iron

• 20𝑥1 + 48𝑥2 + 12𝑥3 + 8𝑥4 + 30𝑥5 + 52𝑥7 + 250𝑥8 + 3𝑥9 + 26𝑥10 ≥ 400 mg of calcium

• 3𝑥1 + 4𝑥2 + 5𝑥3 + 6𝑥4 + 7𝑥5 + 2𝑥6 + 𝑥7 + 9𝑥8 + 𝑥9 + 3𝑥10 ≥ 20 g protein

• 5𝑥1 + 2𝑥2 + 3𝑥3 + 4𝑥4 + 𝑥7 + 3𝑥10 ≥ 12

• 𝑥i ≥ 0, for all j
Diet case: Computer Solution with Excel
Exhibit 4.5
Diet case: Solution with Excel Solver
Exhibit 4.6
Investment case: Model Summary
An investor has $70,000 to divide among several instruments.
Municipal bonds have an 8.5% return, certificates of deposit(CD) with a
5% return, treasury bills with a 6.5% return, and growth stock fund with
a 13% (all annual return)
The following guidelines have been established:
1. No more than 20% in municipal bonds
2. Investment in CDs should not exceed the other three alternatives
3. At least 30% invested in treasury bills and CDs
4. More should be invested in CDs and treasury bills than in municipal
bonds and growth stocks by a ratio of 1.2 to 1
5. All $70,000 should be invested.
Investment case: Model Summary
Maximize 𝑍 = $0.085𝑥1 + 0.05𝑥2 + 0.065𝑥3 + 0.130𝑥4

subject to:
𝑥1 ≤ $14,000
𝑥2 − 𝑥1 − 𝑥3 − 𝑥4 ≤ 0
𝑥2 + 𝑥3 ≥ $21,000
−1.2𝑥1 + 𝑥2 + 𝑥3 − 1.2𝑥4 ≥ 0
𝑥1 + 𝑥2 + 𝑥3 + 𝑥4 = $70,000
𝑥1 , 𝑥2 , 𝑥3 , 𝑥4 ≥ 0

where
x1 = amount ($) invested in municipal bonds
x2 = amount ($) invested in certificates of deposit
x3 = amount ($) invested in treasury bills
x4 = amount ($) invested in growth stock fund
Investment case: Computer Solution
Marketing budget case - Department store A plan to
determine the marketing channel – TV, Radio, and
Newspaper ad. They want to know the number of each type
of advertisement it should be purchase to maximize exposure.

Blank Exposure Cost

(people/ad or commercial)
Television commercial 20,000 $15,000
Radio commercial 12,000 6,000
Newspaper ad 9,000 4,000

• Budget limit $100,000

• Television has time available for 4 commercials

• Radio has time available for 10 commercials

• Newspaper has space available for 7 ads

• Resources for no more than 15 commercials and/or ads

Marketing budget case: Model Summary
Maximize 𝑍 = 20,000𝑥1 + 12,000𝑥2 + 9,000𝑥3
subject to:
15,000𝑥1 + 6,000𝑥2 + 4,000𝑥3 ≤ 100,000
𝑥1 ≤ 4
𝑥2 ≤ 10
𝑥3 ≤ 7
𝑥1 + 𝑥2 + 𝑥3 ≤ 15
𝑥1 , 𝑥2 , 𝑥3 ≥ 0

where
x1 = number of television commercials
x2 = number of radio commercials
x3 = number of newspaper ads
Marketing budget case: Solution with Excel
Marketing budget case: Solution with Excel
Solver
Marketing budget case: Integer Solution with
Excel
Marketing budget case: Integer Solution with
Excel
Marketing budget case: Integer Solution with
Excel
Transportation Example: Big Buy retail case
• Big Buy retail chain ships from three of its distribution centers/warehouses to
three of its retails store on a monthly basis. The company want to know the
number of TV to ship from each warehouse to each store to minimize the
total cost of transportation.

Warehouse supply of Retail store demand for

Television Sets: television sets:
1 - Cincinnati 300 A - New York 150
2 - Atlanta 200 B - Dallas 250
3 - Pittsburgh 200 C - Detroit 200
Total 700 Total 600

Unit Shipping Costs:

From Warehouse To Store(A) To Store(B) To Store(C)
1 $16 $18 $11
2 14 12 13
3 13 15 17
Model Summary (use of double-subscripted variable)

Minimize 𝑍 = $16𝑥1A + 18𝑥1B + 11𝑥1C + 14𝑥2A + 12𝑥2B + 13𝑥2C +

13𝑥3A + 15𝑥3B + 17𝑥3C

subject to:
x1𝐴 + x1𝐵 + x1𝐶 ≤ 300
x2𝐴 + x2𝐵 + x2𝐶 ≤ 200
x3𝐴 + x3𝐵 + x3𝐶 ≤ 200
x1𝐴 + x2𝐴 + x3𝐴 = 150
x1𝐵 + x2𝐵 + x3𝐵 = 250
x1𝐶 + x2𝐶 + x3𝐶 = 200
𝐴𝑙𝑙 xij ≥ 0
Solution with Excel
Solution with Solver Window