EXAMPLE 2: MINIMIZATION

 Assume that a pharmaceutical firm is to produce exactly 40 gallons of mixture in which the basic
ingredients, B and C, cost P8 per gallon and P15 per gallon, respectively, No more than 12
gallons of B can be used, and at least 10 gallons of C must be used. The firm wants to minimize
cost.
Minimize: C = 8x + 15y
subject to
x + y = 40
x ≤ 12
y ≥ 10

x, y  0
To minimize cost, the company should use 12 gallons of x and 28 gallons of y at a total cost of P516.

GRAPHICAL SOLUTION METHOD: MAXIMIZATION

(a) Plot model constraint on a set of coordinates in a plane.
(b) Identify the feasible solution space on the graph where all constraints are satisfied simultaneously
(c) Plot objective function to find the point on boundary of this space that maximizes value of objective
function
(d) Convert the structural constraints into equations. Graph each of the constraints equation and solve for
the intersection if necessary. Determine the feasible solution region that contains all points that satisfy the
explicit constraints.
(e) Find the vertices of the feasible solution region and substitute it to the objective function.
(f) Choose the vertex with the highest profit in a maximization problem and write the decision.