MGMT 326

Self-Study Problems for Linear Programming

Set up the following problems:
1. A feed and seed store sells fertilizer to farmers. Joe Brown's soil test shows that he needs to
fertilize with at least 16 pounds of nitrogen and 24 pounds of phosphate per acre. The store
has 2 stock fertilizers, A and B. Each bag of fertilizer A provides 2 pounds of nitrogen and 4
pounds of phosphate. Each bag of fertilizer B provides 4 pounds of nitrogen and 3 pounds of
phosphate. Fertilizer A costs $3 per bag, and fertilizer B costs $6 per bag. Joe wants to
minimize cost.
2. A small construction firm specializes in building and selling single-family homes. The firm
offers two basic types of houses, model A and model B. Model A houses require 4,000 labor
hours, 2 tons of stone, and 2,000 board feet of lumber. Model B houses require 10,000 labor
hours, 3 tons of stone, and 2,500 board feet of lumber. Due to long lead times for ordering
supplies and the scarcity of skilled and semiskilled workers in the area, the firm will be
forced to rely on its present resources for the upcoming building season. It has 400,000
hours of labor, 150 tons of stone, and 200,000 board feet of lumber. The firm's profit is
$7,000 for Model A houses and $12,000 for Model B houses. The firm already has contracts
to build 4 Model A houses. The firm wants to maximize profit.
3. A wood products firm uses leftover time at the end of each week to make goods for stock.
Currently, two products on the list of items are produced for stock: a chopping board and a
knife holder. Both items require three operations: cutting, gluing, and finishing. The
manager of the firm has collected the following data on these products:

Item
Chopping Board
Knife holder

Profit/unit
$2
$6

Time per unit (minutes)

Cutting
Gluing
Finishing
1.4
5
12
0.8
13
3

The manager has also determined that, during each week, 56 minutes are available for cutting,
650 minutes are available for gluing, and 360 minutes are available for finishing. He wants to
maximize profit.

4. A firm makes four different items: a chair, a table, a desk, and a bookcase. The respective
profits per unit are $16, $30, $40, and $42. The products require essentially the same basic
operations: cutting, sanding, and assembly. The times for each item are shown in the
following table:
Time (minutes) per operation
Item
Chair
Table
Desk
Bookcase

Cutting

Sanding

Assembly

8
6
9
9

12
10
15
12

4
3
5
4

There are 320 minutes available for cutting, 400 for sanding, and 270 for assembly. The firm
must fill orders for 5 desks and 10 bookcases. The firm wants to maximize profit.
Solutions
Note: It is okay to use different variable names.
1. Decision variables: A = bags of fertilizer A, B = bags of fertilizer B.
Objective function: 3A + 6B (minimize)
Constraints:
Nitrogen: 2A + 4B > 16
Phosphate: 4A + 3B > 24
Non-negativity: A > 0 and B > 0
2. Decision variables: A = number of model A homes, B = number of model B homes
Objective function: 7,000 A + 12,000B (maximize)
Constraints:
Labor: 4,000A + 10,000B < 400,000
Stone: 2A + 3B < 150
Lumber: 2,000A + 2,500B < 200,000
Contracts: A > 4
Non-negativity: A > 0 and B > 0 (A > 0 is optional, since A > 4)
3. Decision variables: x = number of chopping boards to make, y = number of knife holders
to make
Objective function: 2x + 6y (maximize)
Constraints:
Cutting: 1.4x + 0.8y < 56
Gluing: 5x + 13y < 650
Finishing: 12x + 3y < 360
Non-negativity: x > 0, y > 0

4. Decision variables: x = number of chairs, y = number of tables, z = number of desks,

w = number of bookcases
Objective function: 16x + 30y + 40z + 42w
Constraints:
Cutting: 8x + 6y + 9z + 9w < 320
Sanding: 12x + 10y + 15z + 12w < 400
Assembly: 4x + 3y + 5z + 4w < 270
Desk order: z > 5
Bookcase order: w > 10
Non-negativity: x > 0, y > 0 (z > 0 and w > 0 are optional, since z > 5 and w > 10).