DECSC 22 - Introduction to Decision Making and Management Science

Problem Set – Linear Programming

1. A dairy farmer is interested in feeding his cattle at minimum cost. The cattle are fed two feeds: oats
and NK-34, a commercial preparation. Each day, a cow must get at least 400 grams of protein, 800
grams of carbohydrates, and no more than 100 grams of fat. Oat contains 10% protein, 80%
carbohydrates and 10% fat. NK-34 contains 40% protein, 60% carbohydrates, and no fat. Oats cost
$0.20 per kg and NK-34 costs $0.50 per kg.

Formulate the LP model that will find the feed mix that minimizes cost. Solve this model graphically.

2. We must transport 70 units of a product from location 1 to locations 2 and 3, in the amounts of 45
and 25 units, respectively. Transportation expenses are given in the table below, where dotted lines
signify unavailable transportation service. Note that no shipment need be flown directly; shipments
through intermediate points are allowed (i.e. the path of a unit being transferred from location 1 to
location to may be something like 1->4->3->2).

Locations 1 2 3 4
1 … 38 56 34
2 38 … 27 …
3 56 27 … 19
4 34 … 19 …

Formulate a linear program that allocates the required number of goods to each destination at a
minimum total transportation cost.

3. A car collectors’ club wants to put up an exhibit featuring some antique cars. The vehicles potentially
available are a Bugatti, Cadillac, Cobra, Corvette, Pierce Arrow, and Studebaker. The impact of the
individual vehicles has been estimated in terms of the number of people who will make a special trip
to see a vehicle as 58, 37, 42, 40, 55, and 33. The budget of the organizer is $15,000 and the costs to
transport the automobiles to the venue (they are presently located at different sites) and the costs of
their insurance (depending on the vehicles’ estimated value) are $6,000, $4,000, $3,800, $4,200,
$5,500, and $3,200. The idea is to choose vehicles for the exhibit to maximize the impact while
staying within the budget. In addition, there are some special requirements:

• Choose at least three vehicles for the exhibit

• If a Corvette is included in the exhibit, then a Cobra must also be included
• If a Bugatti is not included in the show, then a Cadillac must be included

Formulate this situation as a binary integer problem.

4. A company operates two plants that pack fruits into cans. The fruit growers are willing to supply
fresh fruits in the following amounts:

• Fruit Supplier 1 (S1): up to 200 tons at Php 11000 per ton

• Fruit Supplier 2 (S2): up to 310 tons at Php 10000 per ton
• Fruit Supplier 3 (S3): up to 420 tons at Php 9000 per ton

Shipping costs in PHP per ton are: Plant capacities and labor costs are:

From\To Plant A Plant B Plant A Plant B

S1 3000 3500 Capacity 460 tons 560 tons
S2 2000 2500 Labor Cost Php 26000/ton Php 21000/ton
S3 6000 4000

The canned fruits are sold at Php 50000 per ton to the distributors. The company can sell at this price
all they can produce. Define Z as the company’s net profit. Formulate a linear program that will
maximize Z assuming no weight is lost during shipping and processing.