Reflection on Optimization and Campaign Project

This optimization project was about finding the max value of ads to produce so a

business could optimally reach the most amount of people within the constraints. The constraints

in this project were the budget of the business, or the amount of money that they had to spend on

advertising. In order to solve this problem one had to calculate the maximum amount of radio

ads to purchase and the maximum amount of tv ads to purchase to reach the most amount of

people. To find this “sweet spot” the process included creating linear inequalities and objective

functions, combining all of these equations creates a linear programming problem. A graph was

then created using these equations which produced 3 intersections or vertices. These vertices

were then evaluated and then tested to see which one met the appropriate parameters with ting

the restraints.

This project shows that math can be applied in the real world. Instead of guessing a

random amount of number until a person got it right, these equations can make the same task

much easier. Math is never going to be completely irrelevant, the most common problem is that

math is misunderstood. People that do not use math very often, will find tasks like the one in the

project to be more difficult than basic addition and subtraction

People that would be interested in linear programming can include farmers, vets, family

members that want to optimize their gas or budget a trip. Anybody that wants to save money or

do something efficiently can use this program. Linear programming is not just for business men.

Problems like this are not only beneficial to business managers. Other situations where this type

of analysis might be beneficial would be calculating the amount of land a farmer has for crops or

the most amount of wood needed to buy a birdhouse.

 Knowing the process of creating equations for linear programming is important because

others need to know the constraints that were applied. The situation can be easily comprehended,

but the equations, while still complicated have to match the situation. If I were a business owner

for this and a manger presented it to me. It would be important for the manager to be able to be

clear about the process so that the owner can have confidence in the results. Double checking the

numbers is never a bad idea because it can only improve the situation.

This project was in a similar alignment with what I already think about math. Math is

useful and productive, but not the essential epitome of knowledge. Any person could have

figured this out in a different way, but having the structures and formulas made it a bit easier.

Math is important because it saves you time and reduces risk. In this problem it was best to

calculate how many ads of each kind you needed to reduce the risk of wasting money. In a

business setting budgets are very important and they can be the difference between a business

thriving and a business failing. Knowing even how to find the range of where certain values

might end up helps narrow down what could be a disaster out guessing game. Yes, math is

important