Unity University Operations Research TBH

Example Sheet Operations Research (Crash Course)

I. LPM Solution: Simplex Algorithm

A. Maximization general form (all ≤)
1. A company manufactures 3 types of parts which use precious metals platinum and gold. Due to
shortage of these precious metals, the government regulates the amount that may be used per
day. The relevant data with respect to supply, requirements, and profits are summarized below:

Product Platinum required/Unit Gold required/unit Profit Unit

(gms) (gms) (Br)
A 2 3 500
B 4 2 600
C 6 4 1200
Daily allotment of platinum and gold are 160 gms and 120 gms respectively.

Required: How much should the company produce of each product to optimally utilize the supply
of scarce precious metals and maximize its profit?

B. Minimization general form (all ≥)

2. Minimization: 7x1+9x2 (Reading assignment)

Subject to
3x1+6x2>36;
8x1+4x2>64;
x1,x2>0

C. Mixed sign constraints (Reading Assignment)

3. Maximize: 5x1+2x2
Subject to
x1+x2<50
3x1+x 2>90
x2=10
x1,x2 >0

II. Transportation Model

4. Legahar Sand and Gravel Pit has contracted to provide topsoil for three residential housing
development projects. Topsoil can be supplied from three different “farms” as follows:

Weekly Capacity
Farm (tons)
A 100
B 200
C 200

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Demand for the topsoil generated by the construction project is:

Weekly Capacity
Project (tons)
1 50
2 150
3 300

The manager of the sand and gravel pit has estimated the cost per tons to ship over each of
the possible routes:

Cost per tons

From Project #1 Project #2 Project #3
Farm A $4 $2 $8
Farm B 5 1 9
Farm C 7 6 3

Required:

A) Develop the transportation tableau for the above problem

B) Find the initial feasible solution for the above transportation problem using each of the
following methods: i) NWCM ii) LCM iii) VAM

C) Find the optimal solution i.e. identify a distribution plan that would minimize the cost of
transporting the topsoil from the farms to the housing development projects, taking into
account farm supplies and project demands as well as transportation costs.

Note: Apply MODI method using the initial feasible solution by NWCM.

III. Assignment Model

5. XYZ Company is to undertake market studies for its three clients. The company has to do the
task of assigning project leaders to each of the three market studies. The Company’s
management realizes that the time required by each of the three project leaders assigned to
each study is different due to the experience and ability of the project leader. The estimated
project completion times are summarized by the table below:
Estimated Project completion time
Client (Project)
Project Leader
1 2 3
1 Kiflu 10 15 9
2 Helen 9 18 5
3 Solomon 6 14 3

Required: The Company would like to assign project leaders so that the total number of days
required to complete all the projects is minimized. If a project is to be assigned to one
any only one client, what assignments should be made?
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Exercises

1. A firm uses three machines in the manufacture of 3 products. Each unit of Product A requires 3
hours on machine 1, 2 hours on machine II and on hour on machine III. Each unit of product B
requires 4 hours on machine I, one hour on machine II and 3 hours on machine III, while each
unit of product C requires 2 hours on each of the three machines. The contribution margin of
the 3 products is birr 30, 40 and 35 per unit respectively. The machine hours available on three
machines are 90, 54, and 93 respectively.
 What Combination of quantity of A, B and C should be produced and sold to maximize profit?
2. A diet conscious housewife wishes to ensure certain minimum intake of vitamins A, B and C for
the family. The minimum daily needs of Vitamins A, B and C for the family are 60, 40 and 32
units respectively. For the supply of these vitamins the housewife relies on 2 fresh foods: type
1, and type 2. One unit of type one contains 14, 10, and 4 units of vitamin A, B and C
respectively. One unit of type two contains 4, 8, and 16 units of the three vitamins,
respectively. Food type one costs Birr 3 per unit and food type two cost Birr 2 per unit. What
must be the requirements of each type of food so that the house wife can keep her daily food
bill as low as possible?

3. The final product of a firm has a requirement that it must weigh exactly 150kg. The two raw-
materials used in the manufacture of this product are Raw material A with a cost of 2 birr per
unit and raw material B with a cost of 8 birr per unit. At least 14 units of B and no more than
20 units of A must be used. Each unit of A weighs 5 kg and each unit of B weighs 10 kg. How
much of each type of raw material should be used for each unit of the final product if cost is to
be minimized?

4. Maximize: 6x1+8x2
Subject to
x2<4
x1+x2=9
6x1+2x2>24
x1, x2>0
5. Ambasel generators inc. is a firm that has three factories in Alem Gena (A), Bishoftu (B) &
Chagni (C). The production capacities for these factories over the next 3 months planning
period for one particular type of generator are as follows: 5000, 6,000, and 2,500 respectively.
The firm distributes its generators via 4 regional distribution centers located in Enchini (E),
Fiche (F), Gondar(G), and Hawassa(H). The 3 months forecast of demand for each of the
distribution centers is 6,000, 4,000, 2,000, and 1,500 respectively. The cost of sending one unit
of quantity from each factory to each distribution centers is given in the table below.

Enchini (E) Fiche (F) Gondar (G) Hawassa (H)

Alem Gena (A) 3 2 7 6
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Bishoftu (B) 7 5 2 3
Chagni (C) 2 5 4 5

Suppose it is intended to determine the suitable distribution pattern so that the transportation
cost is minimum;

Required:

A. Find the initial feasible solution using

i) North west corner method (NWCM)
ii) Least cost method (LCM)
iii) Vogel’s approximation method (VAM)

B. Find the optimal solution applying MODI method; use the initial feasible solution obtained
via VAM.
6. ABC electronics supplies radio components to various radio producers. The average number of
defects produced by each worker per month is as follows:
Radio Radio Components
Producer 1 2 3 4 5
s
A 23 29 15 31 21

B 31 25 17 27 31

C 15 23 19 24 22

D 19 17 26 15 13

E 26 19 15 17 17

Required:
A. Develop the optimal assignment and
B. Find the optimal number of defect.