MATH 341 2002/2003

Assignment 4
Due February 9, 2003

1. 8.1-3 A corporation has decided to produce three new products. Five

branch plants now have excess product capacity. The unit manufacturing
cost of the first product would be $31, $29, $28, and $29, in Plants 1,
2, 3, 4 and 5, respectively. The unit manufacturing cost of the second
product would be $45, $41, $46, $42, and $43 in Plants 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5,
respectively. The unit manufacturing cost of the third product would be
$38, $35, and $40 in Plants 1, 2, and 3, respectively, and Plants 4 and
5 do not have the capability for producing this product. Sales forecasts
indicate that 600, 1000 and 800 units of products 1, 2, and 3, respectively,
shold be produced per day. Plants 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 have the capacity to
produce 400, 600, 400, 600, and 1000 units daily, respectively, regardless
of the product or combinations of products involved. Assume that any
plant having the capability and capacity to produce them can produce
any combination of the products in any quantity.

(a) Formulate this problem as a trans portation problem by constructing

the appropriate cost and requirements table.
(b) Use the automatic routine for the transportation simplex method in
your OR Courseware to obtain an optimal solution for this problem.

Solution:

(a)

Cost Per Unit Distributed

Destination (Product)
1 2 3 dummy Supply
1 31 45 38 0 400
Source 2 29 41 35 0 600
(Plant) 3 32 46 40 0 400
4 28 42 M 0 600
5 29 43 M 0 1000
Demand 600 1000 800 600

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 (b)

Cost Per Unit Distributed

Destination (Product)
1 2 3 dummy Supply
1 200 200 400
Source 2 600 600
(Plant) 3 400 400
4 600 600
5 1000 1000
Demand 600 1000 800 600 cost is 88400

2. 8.1-7The Build-Em-Fast Company has agreed to supply its best customer

with three widges during each of the next 3 weeks, even though producing
them will require some overtime work. The relevant production data are
as follows:
Maximum Production Maximum Production Production Cost per Unit,
Week Regular Time Overtime Regular Time ($)
1 2 2 300
2 2 1 500
3 1 2 400

The cost per unit produced with overtice for each week is $100 more than
that for regular time. The cost of storage is $50 per unit for each week.
There is already an inventory of two widgets on hand currently, but the
company does not want to retain any widgets in inventory after 3 weeks.
Management wants to know how many units should be produced in each
week in order to maximize profit.

(a) Formulate this problem as a transportation problem by constructing

the appropriate cost and requirements table.
(b) Use the automatic routine for the transportation simplex method in
your OR Courseware to obtain an optimal solution for this problem.

Solution:

(a) Let Source 1 be initial inventory; Source 2 be week 1 regular hours;

Source 3 be week 1 over time; Source 4 be week 2 regular hours;
Source 5 be week 2 overtime; Source 6 be week 3 regular hour; Source

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 7 be week 3 overtime. The cost and requirements table is

Week
1 2 3 Dummy Supply
1 0 50 100 0 2
2 300 350 400 0 2
3 400 450 500 0 2
Source 4 M 500 550 0 2
5 M 600 650 0 1
6 M M 400 0 1
7 M M 500 0 2
Demand 3 3 3 3

(b)
Week
1 2 3 Dummy Supply
1 2 2
2 1 1 2
3 2 2
Source 4 2 2
5 1 1
6 1 1
7 2 2
Demand 3 3 3 3

3. 8.2-3 Consider the transportation problem having the following cost and
requirements table:

Destination
1 2 3 4 5 6 Supply
1 13 10 22 29 18 0 5
2 14 13 16 21 M 0 6
Source 3 3 0 M 11 6 0 7
4 18 9 19 23 11 0 4
5 30 24 34 36 28 0 3
Demand 3 5 4 5 6 2

Use each of the following criteria to obtain an initial BF solution. Compare

the values of the objective function for these solutions.

(a) Northwest corner rule

(b) Vogels approximation method
(c) Russells approximation method

Solution:

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(a)

Destination
1 2 3 4 5 6 Supply
1 13 10 22 29 19 0
3 2 5
2 14 13 16 21 M 0
3 3 6
Source 3 3 0 M 11 6 0
1 5 1 7
4 18 9 19 23 11 0
4 4
5 30 24 34 36 28 0
1 3 3
Demand 3 5 4 5 6 2

Cost = M + 279.
(b)

Destination
1 2 3 4 5 6 Supply
1 13 10 22 29 19 0
5 5
2 14 13 16 21 M 0
0 4 1 1 6
Source 3 3 0 M 11 6 0
3 4 7
4 18 9 19 23 11 0
4 4
5 30 24 34 36 28 0
1 2 3
Demand 3 5 4 5 6 2

Cost = M + 260.

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 (c)

Destination
1 2 3 4 5 6 Supply
1 13 10 22 29 19 0
2 3 5
2 14 13 16 21 M 0
0 4 2 6
Source 3 3 0 M 11 6 0
1 6 7
4 18 9 19 23 11 0
2 2 4
5 30 24 34 36 28 0
1 2 3
Demand 3 5 4 5 6 2

Cost = 301.

4. 8.2-10 Plans need to be made for the energy systems for a new building.
The three possible sources of energy are electricity, natural gas, and a
solar heating unit.
Energy needs in the building are for electricity, water heating, and space
heating, where the daily requirements (all measured in the same units)
are
Electricity 20 units
Water heating 10 units
Space heating 30 units
The size of the roof limits the solar heater to 30 units, but there is no
limit to the electricity and natural gas available. Electricity needs can be
met only by purchasing electricity (at a cost of $50 per unit). Both other
energy needs can be met by any source or combination of sources. The
unit costs are as follows:
Electricity Natural Gas Solar Heater
Water heating $90 $60 $30
Space heating $80 $50 $40

The objective is to minimize the total cost of meeting the energy needs.

(a) Formulate this problem as a transportation problem by constructing

the appropriate cost and require ments table.
(b) Use the northwest corner rule to obtain an initial BF solution for this
problem.
(c) Starting with the initial BF solution from part (b), interactively apply
the transportation simplex method to obtain an optimal solution.

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(d) Use Vogels approximation method to obtain aninitial BF solutionfor
this problem.
(e) Starting with the initial BF solution from part (d), interactively apply
the transportation simplex method to obtain an optimal solution.
(f) Use Russells approximation method to obtain an initial BF solution
for this problem.
(g) Starting with the initial BF solution obtained from part (f), interac-
tively apply the transportation simplex method to obtain an optimal
solution. Compare the number of iteratins required by the trans-
portation simplex method here and in parts (c) and (e).

Solution:

(a)

1 2 3 4 Supply
Electricity Water Space Dummy
1
Electricity 50 90 80 0 60
Nat. Gas 2 M 60 50 0 40
Solar 3 M 30 40 0 30
Demand 20 10 30 70

(b)

1 2 3 4 Supply ui
1 50 90 80 0
20 10 30 60
2 M 60 50 0
40 40
3 M 30 40 0
30 30
Demand 20 10 30 70
vj

(c)

1 2 3 4 Supply ui
1 50 90 80 0 0
20 10 30 30 60
2 M 60 50 L 0 30
M 20 0 0 40 40
3 M 30 E 40 0 30
M 20 30 10 30 30
Demand 20 10 30 70
vj 50 90 80 30

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 1 2 3 4 Supply ui
1 50 90 L 80 0 E 0
20 10 30 60 60
2 M 60 50 0 60
M + 10 30 30 40 40
3 M 30 40 0 60
M + 10 0 20 30 30
Demand 20 10 30 70
vj 50 90 80 60
1 2 3 4 Supply ui
1 50 90 80 0 0
20 60 30 10 60
2 M 60 50 0 0
M 50 30 30 40 40
3 M 30 40 E 0 L 0
M 50 0 40 20 30
Demand 20 10 30 70
vj 50 30 80 0
1 2 3 4 Supply ui
1 50 90 80 L 0 0
20 20 10 30 60
2 M 60 50 E 0 0
M 50 10 30 40 40
3 M 30 40 0 40
M 10 10 20 40 30
Demand 20 10 30 70
vj 50 70 80 0
1 2 3 4 Supply ui
1 50 90 80 0 0
20 50 30 40 60
2 M 60 50 0 0
M 50 20 10 30 40
3 M 30 40 0 10
M 40 10 20 10 30
Demand 20 10 30 70
vj 50 40 50 0
The optimal solution is to meet 20 units of electricity demand with
electricity, 10 units of space heating demand with natural gas, 10
units of water heating demand with solar heating, 20 units of space
heating with solar heating. Cost = $2600.
(d), (e), (f) and (g) The initial BF solution from both Vogels and Russells
method provides the same optimal solution given in (c).

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5. 8.2-14 Reconsider Prob. 8.1-3. Starting with Vogels approximation method,
interactively apply the transportation simplex method to obtain an opti-
mal solution for this problem.
Solution:
1 2 3 4 Supply ui
1 31 45 38 0 0
1 1 200 200 400
2 29 41 35 0 3
M 50 20 10 30 600
3 32 46 40 0 0
2 2 2 400 400
4 28 42 M 0 2
600 0 M 36 2 600
5 29 43 M 0 1
0 1000 M 37 1 1000
Demand 600 1000 800 600
vj 30 44 38 0 Z = 88400

6. 8.3-4 Reconsider Prob. 8.2-23. Now suppose that trucks (and their
drivers) need to be hired to do the hauling, where each truck can only
be used to haul gravel from a single pit to a single site. Each truck can
haul 5 tons, and the cost per truck is 5 times the hauling cost per ton
given earlier. Only full trucks are used to supply each site.

(a) Formulate this problem as an assignment problem by constructing the

appropriate cost table and identifying the assignees and assignments.
(b) Use the assignment problem algorithm in your OR Courseware to
solve this assignment problem.
(c) Reformulate this assignment problem as an equivalent transportation
problem with two sources and three destinations by constructing the
appropriate cost and requirements table.
(d) Use the automatic routine for the transportation simplex method in
your OR Courseware to obtain an optimal solution for the problem
as formulated in part (c).
(e) Manually apply the asignment problem algorithm presented in Sec.
8.3 to solve this problem.

Prob. 8.2-23 A contractor has to haul gravel to three building sites. She
can purchase as much as 18 tons at a gravel pit in the north of the city
and 14 tons at one in the south. She needs 10, 5, and 10 tons at sites 1,

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2, and 3, respectively. The purchase price per ton at each gravel pit and
the hauling cost per ton are given in the table below.

Hauling Cost
per Ton at Site Price
Pit 1 2 3 per Ton
North 3 6 5 10
South 6 3 4 12

The contractor wishes to determine how much to haul from each pit to
each site in order to minimize the total cost for purchasing and hauling
gravel.

(a) Formulate a linear programming model for this problem. Using the
Big M method , construct the initial simplex tableau ready to apply
the simplex method (but do not actually solve).
(b) Now formulate this problem as a transportation problem by con-
structing the appropriate cost and requirements table. Compare the
size of this table (and the corresponding transportation simplex
tableau) used by the transportation simplex method with the size
of the simplex tableaux from part (a) that would be needed by the
simplex method.
(c) The contractor notices that she can supply sites 1 and 2 completely
from the north pit and site 3 completely from the south pit. Use
the optimality test (but no iterations) of the trans portation simplex
method to check whether the corresponding BF solution is optimal.
(d) Starting with the northwest corner rule, interactively apply the trans-
portation simplex method to solve the problem as formulated in part
(b).
(e) As usual, the cij denote the unit cost associated with souce i and
destination j as given in the cost and requirements table constructed
in part (b). For the optimal solution obtained in part (d), suppose
that the value of cij for each basic variable xij is fixed at the value
given in the cost and requirements table, but the value of cij for
each nonbasic variable xij possibly can be altered through bargaining
because the site manager wants to increase business. Use sensitivity
analysis to determine the allowable range to stay coptimal for each
of the latter cij values.

Solution:

(a) The assignments are the loads needed at sites 1, 2 and 3 and the

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 assignees are the three trucks from North and two from South.

Sites
1 10 2 3 30
North 1 65 65 80 75 75
North 2 65 65 80 75 75
North 3 65 65 80 75 75
South 4 90 90 75 80 80
South 5 90 90 75 80 80

(b)
Task
1 2 3 4 5
1 x
2 x
Assignee 3 x
4 x
5 x
(c)
Site
1 2 3 supply
North 1 65 80 75 3
North 2 90 75 80 2
Demand 2 1 2 Cost is 360
(d)
Site
1 2 3 supply
North 1 2 1 3
North 2 1 1 2
Demand 2 1 2 Cost is 360
(e) Starting with
65 65 80 75 75
65 65 80 75 75
65 65 80 75 75
90 90 75 80 80
90 90 75 80 80
Subtracting the minimum element in each column from the elements
of the column, we get

0 0 5 0 0
0 0 5 0 0
0 0 5 0 0
25 25 0 5 5
25 25 0 5 5

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 0 0 5 0 0
0 0 5 0 0
0 0 5 0 0
25 25 0 5 5
25 25 0 5 5

0 0 10 0 0
0 0 10 0 0
0 0 10 0 0
20 20 0 0 0
20 20 0 0 0
7. 8.3-14 Consider the assignment problem having the following cost table:
Task
1 2 3 4
A 4 1 0 1
Assignee B 1 3 4 0
C 3 2 1 3
D 2 2 3 0

Solution:
(a) Subtracting the minimum element in each row from each element in
the row, we get:
0 2 1 1
3 0 1 2
0 3 2 0
2 0 1 4

0 2 1 1
3 0 1 2
0 3 2 0
2 0 1 4
0 2 0 0
3 0 0 1
1 4 2 0
2 0 0 3

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 An optimal assignment is (A, 1) , (B, 3) , (C, 4) , (D, 2) . Cost is 16.
(b)
Task
1 2 3 4
1 x
2 x
Assignee 3 x
4 x
Cost is 16.

8. 8.4-2 Consider the airline company problem presented in Prob. 9.3-1.

(a) Describe how this problem can be fitted into the format of the trans-
shipment problem.
(b) Reformulate this problem as an equivalent transportation problem
by constructing the appropriate cost and requirements table.
(c) Use Vogels approximation method to obtain an initial BF solution
for the problem formulated in part (b).
(d) Use the transportation simplex method to obtain an optimal solution
for the problem formulated in part (b).

Prob. 9.3-1 At a small but growing airport, the local airline company is
purchasing a vew tractor for a tractor-trailer train to bring luggage to and
from the airplanes. A new mechanized luggage system will be installed in
3 years, so the tractor will not be needed after that. However, because
it will receive heavy use, so that the running and maintenance costs will
increase rapidly as the tractor ages, it may still be more economical to
replace the tractor afger 1 or 2 years. The following table gives the total
net discounted cost associated with purchasing a tractor (purchase price
minus trade-in allowance, plus running and maintenance costs) at the end
of year i and trading it in at the end of year j (where year 0 is now).

j
1 2 3
0 8 18 31
i 1 10 21
2 12

The problem is to determine at what times (if any) the tractor should be
replaced to minimize the total cost for the tractors over 3 years.

(a) Formulate this problem as a shortest-path problem.

(b) Use the algorithm described in Sec. 9.3 to solve this shortest-path
problem.

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Solution:

(a) Let the supply center be year 0 with a supply of 1. Let the receiving
center be year 3 with a demand of 1. Let years 1 and 2 be transship-
ment points. The following transshipment problem is obtained:

year 0 year 1 year 2 year 3 supply

year 0 0 8 18 31 1
year 1 M 0 10 21 0
year 2 M M 0 12 0
year 3 M M M 0 0
demand 0 0 0 1

(b) The transportation problem is the same as above, with all supplies
and demands increased by 1.
(c) Vogels approximation:

1 2 3 4 Supply ui
1 0 8 18 31 8
1 1 0 2 2
2 M 0 10 21 0
M +8 0 0 1 1
3 M M 0 12 10
M + 18 M + 10 1 1 1
5 M M M 0 21
M + 29 M + 21 M + 11 1 1
Demand 1 1 1 2
vj 8 0 10 21

(d) The solution given by Vogels approximation is optimal.

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