Linear Programming:

Model Formulation and

Graphical Solution
 What is Linear programming?

Linear programming has been successfully applied to

a variety of problems of management, such as
production, advertising, transportation, refinery
operation, investment analysis, etc. Over the years,
linear programming has been found useful not only in
business and industry but also in non-profit
organizations such as government, hospitals,
libraries, education, etc.

Actually, linear programming improves the quality of

decisions by amplifying the analytic abilities of a
decision maker.
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Objectives of Linear programming
• First objective of Linear Programming is to
minimize the cost and maximize the profit. 3
• To distribute, in a well manner, the machines,
time and labour along with the continuous supply
of raw materials so that the available resources
can be used in the best possible way.
• To produce a such number of units of each
product which may ensure the maximum profit.
• To allocate a certain advertising budget, in a
proper ratio for different advertising agencies so
that the product can be introduced well in
market.
• To distribute the products very systematically so
that the transportation cost can be minimized.
 Model Components

 Decision variables - mathematical symbols

representing levels of activity of a firm.
 Objective function - a linear mathematical
relationship describing an objective of the firm,
in terms of decision variables - this function is to
be maximized or minimized.
 Constraints – requirements or restrictions placed
on the firm by the operating environment, stated
in linear relationships of the decision variables.
 Parameters - numerical coefficients and
constants used in the objective function and
constraints.
 Linear Programming – Model formulation
•General Linear Programming Problem Consider the following
Objective function (maximize or minimize)
z = c1x1 + c2x2 + c3x3 + .........+ cnxn
subject to
a11x1 + a12x2 + a13x3 + .........+ a1nxn ( , =, ) b1

a21x1 + a22x2 + a23x3 + .........+ a2nxn ( , =, ) b2

...................................................................................
am1x1 + am2x2 + am3x3 + .........+ amnxn ( , =, ) bm

x1, x2,....., xn 0

Where all cj's, aij's, bi's are constants and xj's are decision variables.
The expression ( , =, ) means that each constraint may take only one
of the three possible forms:
 Less than or equal to (
 Equal to (=)
• Greater than or equal to (
The expression xj  0 means that the xj's must be non-negative.
 Advantages of Linear programming 6
• It helps in the maximum utilization of available
resources.
• It helps the businessman in deciding how he
should select and distribute the available
resources for the production of a commodity so
that he may get the best results.
• This technique helps the management in finding
the alternatives of a procedure or working
method.
• It gives the possible and practical solutions of the
problems.
 Limitations of Linear Programming 7

 Linear programming technique can not be used in

that condition when objective function or
constraints or both are not linear.
 Linear Programming technique aims only one object
but in reality the objects may be more than one.
 In this technique, effect of uncertainty and time is
not given importance.
 It can not be said with full confidence that the conclusion
obtained from linear programming is the best and 100%
correct.
 Sometimes, Linear Programming fails in solving some
complicated large problems, even if the computer is used
for calculations.
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 Limitations of Linear Programming 8

• Linear Programming assumes that the values

of co-efficient of decision variables are known
with certainty.
• Parameters appearing in LP are assumed to be
constant, but in practical situations it is not
so.
• In linear programming, the decision variables
are allowed to take non-negative integer as
well as fractional values. However, we quite
often face situations where the planning
models contain integer valued variables.
Linear Programming - Model Formulation

•Product Mix Problem

In product mix selection, the decision-maker
strives to determine the combination of the
products, which will maximize the profit
without violating the resource constraints. In
the instance below, the objective is to
maximize the profit. In the subsequent
examples, you will see other objectives, such as
minimum cost.
 10

Linear Programming - Model Formulation

• Step 1: Identify the decision variables.

• Step 2: Identify the problem data.
• Step3: Formulate the constraints.
• Step 4: Formulate the Objective function

Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall

 Example of Product Mix Problem
• Universal Corporation manufactures two products- P1 and P2. The profit
per unit of the two products is Rs. 50 and Rs. 60 respectively. Both the
products require processing in three machines. The following table
indicates the available machine hours per week and the time required
on each machine for one unit of P1 and P2. Formulate this product mix
problem in the linear programming form.
Machine product
Available Time
P1 P2 (in machine hours per
month)

1 2 1 300
2 3 4 509
3 4 7 812
Profit Rs. 50 Rs. 60  
 Solution
Let x1 and x2 be the amounts manufactured of products P1 and P2 respectively. The
objective here is to maximize the profit, which is given by the linear function
Maximize z = 50x1 + 60x2
Since one unit of product P1 requires two hours of processing in machine 1, while the
corresponding requirement of P2 is one hour, the first constraint can be expressed as
2x1 + x2  300
Similarly, constraints corresponding to machine 2 and machine 3 are
3x1 + 4x2  509
4x1 + 7x2  812
x1 0, x2  0
The problem can now be stated in the standard linear programming form as
Maximize z = 50x1 + 60x2
subject to
2x1 + x2  300
3x1 + 4x2  509
4x1 + 7x2  812
And x1 0, x2  0
 13

Graphical method
 Steps in graphical method
• Formulate the mathematical model of the given
linear programming problem.
• Treat inequalities as equalities and then draw the
lines corresponding to each equation and non-
negativity restrictions.
• Locate the end points (corner points) on the feasible
region.
• Determine the value of the objective function
corresponding to the end points determined in step
3.
• Find out the optimal value of the objective function.
 Types of solutions by graphical method

• Unique Solution/ Feasible solution

• Multiple Optimal Solution
• Infeasible Solution
• Unbounded Solution
 Unique Solution / Feasible solution
It is the collection of all feasible solutions. In the following
figure, the shaded area represents the feasible region.
 Multiple Optimal Solutions
The linear programming problems discussed in the previous
section possessed unique solutions. But situations may arise, when
the optimal solution obtained is not unique. .The presence of
multiple solutions is illustrated through the following example.
 18

In the above figure, there is no unique outer most corner cut by the
objective function line.

All points from P to Q lying on line PQ represent optimal solutions and

all these will give the same optimal value (maximum profit) of Rs.
160.
That is the solutions given by P & Q is same
P = Rs. 160. (maximum profit)
Q = Rs. 160. (maximum profit)

This is indicated by the fact that both the points P with co-ordinates
(40, 60) and Q with co-ordinates (60, 50) are on the line x1 + 2x2 = 160.
Thus, every point on the line PQ maximizes the value of the objective
function and the problem has multiple solutions and you can select
any solution from P & Q
Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall
 Infeasible Problem
In some cases, there is no feasible solution area, i.e., there are no points that
satisfy all constraints of the problem. An infeasible LP problem with two decision
variables can be identified through its graph. For example, let us consider the
following linear programming problem.
 Unbounded Solutions
It is a solution whose objective function is infinite. If the feasible region is
unbounded then one or more decision variables will increase indefinitely
without violating feasibility, and the value of the objective function can be made
arbitrarily large. Consider the following model:
Max Z = 15x1 + 10x2 21
Subject to the constraints 4x1 + 6x2 ≤ 360; 0x1 +5x2 ≤200;
3x1 + 0x2 ≤ 180
Solution 22
 23

Max Z = 2x1 + x2
Subject to the constraints x1 + 2x2 ≤ 10; x1 + x2 ≤6;
x1 - x2 ≤ 2; x1 - 2x2 ≤ 1;
 24
Solution