Linear Programming

Question No.
1
ABC is a small manufacturer of golf equipment and supplies whose management has decided to move into the
market for medium- and high-priced golf bags. Pars distributor is enthusiastic about the new product line and has
agreed to buy all the golf bags Par produces over the next three months.
After a thorough investigation of the steps involved in manufacturing a golf bag, management determined that
each golf bag produced will require the following operations:
1. Cutting and dyeing the material
2. Sewing
3. Finishing (inserting umbrella holder, club separators, etc.)
4. Inspection and packaging
The director of manufacturing analyzed each of the operations and concluded that if the company produces a
medium-priced standard model, each bag will require hour in the cutting and dyeing department, 1 hour in
the sewing department, 1 hour in the finishing department, and 1 hour in the inspection and packaging
department. The more expensive deluxe model will require 1 hour for cutting and dyeing, hour for sewing, 2
hour for finishing, and 1 hour for inspection and packaging. This production information is summarized in
Table.
Pars production is constrained by a limited number of hours available in each department.

After studying departmental workload projections, the director of manufacturing estimates that 630 hours for
cutting and dyeing, 600 hours for sewing, 708 hours for finishing, and 135 hours for inspection and packaging
will be available for the production of golf bags during the next three months.
The accounting department analyzed the production data, assigned all relevant variable costs, and arrived at prices
for both bags that will result in a profit contribution1 of $10 for every standard bag and $9 for every deluxe bag
produced. Let us now develop a mathematical model of the Par, Inc., problem that can be used to determine the
number of standard bags and the number of deluxe bags to produce in order to maximize total profit contribution.
Constraint 1: Number of hours of cutting and dyeing time used must be less than or
equal to the number of hours of cutting and dyeing time available.
Constraint 2: Number of hours of sewing time used must be less than or equal to the
number of hours of sewing time available.
Constraint 3: Number of hours of finishing time used must be less than or equal to the
number of hours of finishing time available.
Constraint 4: Number of hours of inspection and packaging time used must be less than
or equal to the number of hours of inspection and packaging time available.
Question No.2
M&D Chemicals produces two products that are sold as raw materials to companies manufacturing
bath soaps and laundry detergents. Based on an analysis of current inventory levels and potential
demand for the coming month, M&Ds management specified that the combined production for
products A and B must total at least 350 gallons. Separately, a major customers order for 125
gallons of product A must also be satisfied. Product A requires 2 hours of processing time per
gallon and product B requires 1 hour of processing time per gallon. For the coming month, 600
hours of processing time are available. M&Ds objective is to satisfy these requirements at a
minimum total production cost. Production costs are $2 per gallon for product A and $3 per gallon
for product B.
To find the minimum-cost production schedule, we will formulate the M&D Chemicals problem as a
linear program. Following a procedure similar to the one used for the Par, Inc., problem, we first
define the decision variables and the objective function for the problem. Let
With production costs at $2 per gallon for product A and $3 per gallon for product B, the
objective function that corresponds to the minimization of the total production cost can be
written as
Next, consider the constraints placed on the M&D Chemicals problem. To satisfy the major
customers demand for 125 gallons of product A, we know A must be at least 125. Thus,
we write the constraint
For the combined production for both products, which must total at least 350 gallons, we
can write the constraint
Finally, for the limitation of 600 hours on available processing time, we add the constraint
After adding the non-negativity constraints, we arrive at the following linear program for
the M&D Chemicals problem:

Linear Programming

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Linear Programming

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Question No.

Pars production is constrained by a limited number of hours available in each department.

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