Example on Sensitivity Analysis

A manufacturer produces four products, A,B,C, and D, by using two types of machines
(lathes and milling machines). The times required on the two machines to manufacture 1 unit
of each of the four products, the profit per unit of the product, and the total time available on
the two types of machines per day are given below:

Time required per unit (min) for product Total time available
Machine
A B C D per day (min)
Lathe machine 7 10 4 9 1200
Milling machine 3 40 1 1 800
Profit per unit ($) 45 100 30 50

a) Find the number of units to be manufactured of each product per day for maximizing the
profit.
b) What is the effect on the optimal solution if:
i) The total time available per day on the two machines changed from 1200 & 800 to 1500
& 1000 minutes.
ii) C1 changed to 40 and C2 to 90
iii) A new product is added with new column of 15 X7 in the 1st constraint and 10 X7 in the
nd
2 constraint and C7 = 40

7 6
iv) A1 [ ] to [ ]
3 0

v) A new constraint is imposed as: 2 X1 + 5 X2 + 3 X3 + 4 X4 ≤ 600

SOLUTION
Let X1, X2, X3, and X4 denote the number of units of products A,B,C, and D produced per
day. Then the problem can be stated in standard form as follows:

Maximize Z = 45 X1 + 100 X2 + 30 X3 + 50 X4
subject to

7X1 + 10X2 + 4X3 + 9X4 ≤ 1200

3X1 + 40X2 + X3 + X4 ≤ 800
Xi ≥ 0, i = 1 to 4

By introducing the slack variables X5 ≥ 0 and X6 ≥ 0, the problem can be stated in canonical
form and the simplex method can be applied.

Maximize Z - 45 X1 - 100 X2 - 30 X3 - 50 X4 = 0
subject to

7X1 + 10X2 + 4X3 + 9X4 + X5 = 1200

3X1 + 40X2 + X3 + X4 + X6 = 800
Xi ≥ 0, i = 1 to 6
The computations are shown in tableau form below:

Basic X1 X2 X3 X4 X5 X6 Sol.
Z - 45 - 100 - 30 - 50 0 0 0
X5 7 10 4 9 1 0 1200
X6 3 40 1 1 0 1 800

Basic X1 X2 X3 X4 X5 X6 Sol.
Z - 37.5 0 - 27.5 - 47.5 0 2.5 2000
X5 6.25 0 3.75 8.75 1 - 0.25 1000
X2 0.075 1 0.025 0.025 0 0.025 20

Basic X1 X2 X3 X4 X5 X6 Sol.
Z - 3.571 0 - 7.075 0 5.43 1.1415 7429.25
X4 0.7143 0 0.43 1 0.114 - 0.286 114.3
X2 0.05714 1 0.01425 0 - 0.00286 0.025715 17.1425

Basic X1 X2 X3 X4 X5 X6 Sol.
Z 8.182 0 0 16.4565 7.31 0.671 9309.9
X3 1.6612 0 1 2.326 0.265814 - 0.06651 265.814
X2 0.0335 1 0 - 0.3315 - 0.00665 0.027 13.355

1500
i) the effect of changing bi to [ ]
1000

0.265814 − 0.066512
A-1 = [ ]
− 0.00665 0.027000

Checking feasibility by multiplying A-1 × bi

0.265814 − 0.066512 1500 332.209

[ ] × [ ] = [ ]
− 0.00665 0.027000 1000 17.033
Since the result is positive, this means no change in the feasibility, then the new solution is:
X3 = 332.209 and X2 = 17.03, Z = 11669.27

ii) C1 changed to 40 and C2 to 90

since X1 is not a basics variable then changing C1 will not affect the status of the final
solution.

But for changing C2 from 100 to 90

0.265814 − 0.066512
The dual variables [𝑌1 𝑌2] = [30 90] × [ ]
− 0.00665 0.027000

= [7.4457 0.43464]

Since the result is positive , therefore optimality of the final solution will not be affected.

iii) A new product is added with new column of 15 X7 in the 1st constraint and 10 X7 in the
2nd constraint and C7 = 40

The dual constraint for the new product is:

15 Y1 + 10 Y2 ≥ 40

From the previous final solution, Y1 = 7.31, Y2 = 0.671

The objective function coefficient of the new variable is:

15 × 7.31 + 10 × 0.671 – 40 = 76.36

Since the objective function coefficient of the new product is positive, the solution will
remain optimal and no improvement in the objective function value.

7 6
v) A1 [ ] to [ ]
3 0

checking the optimality,

0.265814 − 0.066512 6 1.6

[ ] × [ ] = [ ]
− 0.00665 0.027000 0 − 0.04

1.6
Since one of the elements in the result is negative, then the new A1 column is [ ]
− 0.04

And the objective function coefficient of X1 is :

Y1 from the final solution is 7.31, and the new dual constraint is 6 Y1 ≥ 45, therefore,
coefficient of X1 in the Z equation is: 6 ×7.31 – 45 = - 1.14

Basic X1 X2 X3 X4 X5 X6 Sol.
Z - 1.14 0 0 16.4565 7.31 0.671 9309.9
X3 1.6612 0 1 2.326 0.265814 - 0.66512 265.814
X2 - 0.04 1 0 - 0.3315 - 0.00665 0.027 13.355

Basic X1 X2 X3 X4 X5 X6 Sol.
Z 0 0 0.7125 18.114 7.5 0.624 9500
X1 1 0 0.625 1.45375 0.166134 - 0.04157 166.134
X2 0 1 0.025 - 0.27335 - 0.00046 0.02534 20.0

The new optimal solution is: X1 = 166.134, X2 = 20.0, and Z = 9500

v) A new constraint is imposed as: 2 X1 + 5 X2 + 3 X3 + 4 X4 ≤ 600

Adding the slack variable:

2 X1 + 5 X2 + 3 X3 + 4 X4 + X7 = 600 ------------------ (1)

From the final solution, we have

1.6612 X1 + X3 + 2.325 X4 + 0.265814 X5 – 0.066512 X6 = 265.814, and

0.0335 X1 + X2 – 0.3315 X4 – 0.2265814 X5 +0.027 X6 = 13.355
Therefore,

X3 = 265.814 – 1.6612 X1 – X3 – 2.325 X4 – 0.265814 X5 + 0.066512 X6 , and

X2 = 13.355 – 0.0335 X1 + 0.3315 X4 + 0.2265814 X5 – 0.027 X6

Substitute the values of X1 and X2 in (1), we get:

X7 = – 3.151 X1 – 1.3205 X4 – 0.7642 X5 + 0.062 X6 – 264.12

Therefore new iteration table is:

Basic X1 X2 X3 X4 X5 X6 X7 Sol.
Z 8.182 0 0 16.4565 7.31 0.671 0 9309.9
X3 1.6612 0 1 2.326 0.265814 - .66512 0 265.814
X2 0.0335 1 0 - 0.3315 - 0.00665 0.027 0 13.355
X7 - 3.151 0 0 -1.3205 -.7642 0.062 1 -264.12
 Basic X1 X2 X3 X4 X5 X6 X7 Sol.
Z 0 0 0 13.0 5.326 0.835 2.62 8624.2
X3 0 0 1 1.63 - .1371 -0.333 0.532 126.571
X2 0 1 0 - 1.63 - 0.41 .02767 .0107 10.55
X1 1 0 0 0.42 .24253 - 0.02 - 0.32 83.821

This is the feasible and optimal solution