THE COPPERBELT UNIVERSITY

DDEOL

Test 1
October/November 2023

BS/BF/IP 341: OPERATIONS RESEARCH

DURATION: 3 HOURS
TOTAL MARKS: 100

INSTRUCTIONS TO CANDIDATES:

i. There are four (4) questions in this paper. Answer All

ii. Show all your workings and present your work with clarity and
neatness.

iii. There shall be no ANY form of communication between students during

the examination. Any students caught doing this will be disqualified.

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 DO NOT TURN THIS PAGE UNTIL YOU ARE TOLD TO DO SO.

QUESTION ONE
i) Zambian Breweries Plc is a subsidiary of the AB Inbev and is the leading
beverages company as well as the franchise bottler of The Coca-Cola
Company in Zambia. The company has two beer production plants. One is
located in Lusaka and the other in Ndola. Each plant produces three types of
beer namely: Mosi Lager, Carling Black Label, and Castle Lite. The daily
production of beer (in hectoliters) from the two plants is as follows:
Plant at:
L Ndola
usaka
Mosi Lager 1500
1500
Carling Black Label 1000
3000
Castle Lite 5000
2000

A market survey conducted in the early month of April indicates that there
will be a demand of 20,000 hectoliters for Mosi Lager; 40,000 for Carling
Black Label and 44,000 for the Castle Lite. Furthermore, the operating cost
per day for Lusaka and Ndola are estimated at $600 and $400 respectively.

a) Formulate this problem as a linear programming problem

[5 Marks]

b) Using the graphical method procedure calculate how many days should
each plant be run in the coming months so as to minimize the production
cost while meeting the market demand?
[7 Marks]

c) Which brand of beer above is not affecting the production cost? Explain
why? [3 Marks]

ii) Given the following LP

Maximize Z = 3X1 +¿ 4X2

S.T 2X1 +¿ 3X2 ≥ 0
2X1 +¿ X2 ≤ 1000
4X2 ≤ 800
X1, X2, ≥ 0

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Solve using the graphical method procedure
[10 Marks]
Total [25 Marks]
QUESTION TWO
a) ZNS shoe factory (former Malah industries) in Ndola makes custom-
designed, hand-tooled shoes and school bags. The factory makes a K400
profit from each shoe and a K200 profit from each leather school bag. (The
profit for shoes is higher because it requires more hand tooling.) The factory
has a contract to provide Bata stores with exactly 30 items per month.
Zambeef tannery supplies the factory with at least 80 square metres of
leather per month. The factory must purchase at least this amount but can
order more. Each shoe requires 2 square metres of leather; each school bag
requires 8 square metres of leather.
From past performance, the ZNS commandant know they cannot make more
than 20 shoes per month. They want to know the number of shoes and
school bags to produce to maximize profit.

Required: Formulate a linear programming model for this problem and

solve it graphically.
[8 Marks]

b) A manufacturing firm produces two products. Each product must go

through an assembly process and a finishing process. The product is then
transferred to the warehouse, which has space for only a limited number of
items. The following linear programming model has been developed for
determining the quantity of each product to produce in order to maximize
profit:
Maximize Z = 30X1 +¿ 70X2 (Profit, Kwacha)
S.T 4X1 +¿ 10X2 ≤ 80 (Assembly hours)
14X1 +¿ 8X2 ≤ 112 (Finishing hours)
X1 +¿ X2 ≤ 10 (Inventory units)
X 1, X2, ≥ 0
i. Solve this model using the simplex method
[6 Marks]
ii. Determine the ranges of optimality for both the objective function
coefficients and the Right Hand Side (RHS)
[5 Marks]
iii. Assume that product X1 value is changed from 30 to 70. Will the
optimal solution change, and if so what will be the profit value?
[2 Marks]
iv. Suppose the assembly hours are increased from 80 to 100 hours, and
inventory units are reduced from 10 to 8 units. Explain the effect this

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 will have on the model, and what will the objective function value?
[2 Marks]
v. Assuming management wanted to introduce a third product (X 3) that
will earn them a profit of K65 per unit. The implication will be an
additional 8hrs of Assembly hours, 20hrs of Finishing, and 4 inventory
units. Show whether they should go ahead with this decision.
[2 Marks]
Total [25 Marks]
QUESTION THREE
A young Copperbelt farmer has just acquired a farm in Chingola where he
plans to cultivate three crops: Watermelons, Cabbage and Tomatoes. He
immediately obtains information about the seeds, chemicals and fertilizers
he will require per acreage for cultivating these horticulture crops to be able
to make a profit. Data obtained from the Agro-dealers indicate there will be
enough supply of chemicals and fertilizers except seeds, which will all have
to be used up. The daily supplies of seed is 4000kgs, chemicals 2000kgs, and
fertilizers 3000kgs respectively.

The estimated profits per horticulture crop to be obtained and the requisites
per acreage are given on the table below:
Profit
Horticultur Chemica Fertilize
per acre Seeds
al crop ls rs
(K)
Watermelon 420 2 1 1
Cabbage 900 8 1 0
Tomatoes 1200 2 4 1

i) Formulate the above as a linear programming problem

[5 Marks]
ii) Solve using the simplex (Big M) algorithm method; what crops should
be planted on this farm to obtain profits? In addition, what crop should
not be planted and what will be the profit?
[12 Marks]
iii) What quantities of seed (ranges) must be kept to ensure the all crops
are covered throughout the season?
[3 Marks]
iv) Show that this problem has multiple solutions, and advise what crop
mix this young farmer must now grow
[5 Marks]
Total [25 Marks]
QUESTION FOUR

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First Quantum Minerals owns two mines in Zambia, which produce three
grades of ore: high, medium, and low. The company has a contract to supply
Chambeshi smelting company with 12 tonnes of high-grade ore, 8 tonnes of
medium-grade ore, and 24 tonnes of low-grade ore. Each mine produces a
certain amount of each type of ore each hour it is in operation. The company
has developed the following linear programming model to determine the
number of hours to operate each mine (X1 and X2) so that contracted
obligations can be met at the lowest cost:
Minimize Z = 200X1(Mine 1) +¿ 160X2(Mine 2) (Cost, $)
S.T 6X1 +¿ 2X2 ≥ 12 (High-grade ore, tonnes)
2X1 +¿ 2X2 ≥ 8 (Medium-grade ore, tonnes)
4X1 +¿ 12X2 ≥ 24 (Low-grade ore, tonnes)
X 1, X2, ≥ 0
The output from Excel solver for the model is shown below:

Reduc Objectiv Allowa Allowabl

Final ed e ble e
Coeffici Increas Decreas
Name Value Cost ent e e
X1 (Mine 1) 1 0 200 280 40
93.33333
X2 (Mine 2) 3 0 160 40 333

Shado Constrai Allowa Allowabl

Final w nt ble e
R.H. Increas Decreas
Name Value Price Side e e
High-grade ore
formula 12 10 12 8 4
Medium-grade ore
formula 8 70 8 4 2
Low-grade ore
formula 40 0 24 16 1E+30

a) How many hours should they run the mines, and what will be the cost?
[3 Marks]

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 b) What is the range of optimality for Mine 2? And suppose that FQM
argued that Mine 2 running cost be increased to $220 per hour to
maximize on the high-grade copper ore output. Will the solution
remain optimal? Why, why not? [3 Marks]

c) FQM Management has tasked the Director of Human Resources to hire

two giant mining contractors (Epiroc or Hitachi) to increase output of
one more tonne of High-grade copper ore and Medium-grade ore
respectively, who should he choose? What would be the effect of hiring
the selected Contractor for one additional tonne?
[3 marks]

d) Suppose a decision is made to increase the High-grade copper ore

tonnage by 6 tonnes, what will be the cost per unit ($) required to run
Mine 2? [3 Marks]

e) There is a suggestion to decrease the running cost per hour by $100

on Mine 1. Should they go ahead? If so, what effect will this have on
the running costs? [1 Marks]

f) Would it benefit FQM to increase its Low-grade tonnage from 24 to 40

tonnes? Explain.
[1 Marks]

g) Reliant Mining contractor specialized in both surface and underground

mining has approached FQM with the following offers: $20/tonne for
High-grade ore mining, $68/tonne Medium-grade ore mining, and
$5/tonne Low-grade ore mining. Gladium mining limited has also
offered $10/tonne for High-grade ore mining, $80/tonne Medium-grade
ore mining, and free Low-grade ore mining. What decision should FQM
take? [4 Marks]

h) Due to the rising cost of production, a decision is made to significantly

reduce the tonnage for Medium-grade ore from 8 to 6 tonnes. What will
be the net cost ($) for running Mine 1?
[3 Marks]

i) What is the dual solution to this problem?

[4 Marks]
Total [25
Marks]

End of the Test Paper!

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