Linear Programming

1. A company makes two products (X and Y) using two machines (A and

B). Each unit of X that is produced requires 50 minutes processing
time on machine A and 30 minutes processing time on machine B. Each
unit of Y that is produced requires 24 minutes processing time on
machine A and 33 minutes processing time on machine B.
At the start of the current week there are 30 units of X and 90
units of Y in stock. Available processing time on machine A is
forecast to be 40 hours and on machine B is forecast to be 35
hours.
The demand for X in the current week is forecast to be 75 units
and for Y is forecast to be 95 units. Company policy is to maximize
the combined sum of the units of X and the units of Y in stock at
the end of the week.

 Formulate the problem of deciding how much of each product to

make in the current week as a linear program.
 Solve this linear program graphically.

Solution

Let

 x be the number of units of X produced in the current week

 y be the number of units of Y produced in the current week

then the constraints are:

 50x + 24y <= 40(60) machine A time

 30x + 33y <= 35(60) machine B time
 x >= 75 - 30
 i.e. x >= 45 so production of X >= demand (75) - initial stock
(30), which ensures we meet demand
 y >= 95 - 90
 i.e. y >= 5 so production of Y >= demand (95) - initial stock (90),
which ensures we meet demand
The objective is: maximize (x+30-75) + (y+90-95) = (x+y-50)
i.e. to maximize the number of units left in stock at the end of the
week

It is plain from the diagram below that the maximum occurs at the
intersection of x=45 and 50x + 24y = 2400

Solving simultaneously, rather than by reading values off the graph, we

have that x=45 and y=6.25 with the value of the objective function being
1.25

2. The demand for two products in each of the last four weeks is shown
below.
Week
1 2 3 4
Demand - product 1 23 27 34 40
Demand - product 2 11 13 15 14
Apply exponential smoothing with a smoothing constant of 0.7 to generate
a forecast for the demand for these products in week 5.

These products are produced using two machines, X and Y. Each unit of
product 1 that is produced requires 15 minutes processing on machine X
and 25 minutes processing on machine Y. Each unit of product 2 that is
produced requires 7 minutes processing on machine X and 45 minutes
processing on machine Y. The available time on machine X in week 5 is
forecast to be 20 hours and on machine Y in week 5 is forecast to be 15
hours. Each unit of product 1 sold in week 5 gives a contribution to
profit of £10 and each unit of product 2 sold in week 5 gives a
contribution to profit of £4.

It may not be possible to produce enough to meet your forecast demand

for these products in week 5 and each unit of unsatisfied demand for
product 1 costs £3, each unit of unsatisfied demand for product 2 costs
£1.

 Formulate the problem of deciding how much of each product to make

in week 5 as a linear program.
 Solve this linear program graphically.

Solution

Note that the first part of the question is a forecasting question, so

it is solved below.

For product 1 applying exponential smoothing with a smoothing constant

of 0.7 we get:

M1 = Y1 = 23
M2 = 0.7Y2 + 0.3M1 = 0.7(27) + 0.3(23) = 25.80
M3 = 0.7Y3 + 0.3M2 = 0.7(34) + 0.3(25.80) = 31.54
M4 = 0.7Y4 + 0.3M3 = 0.7(40) + 0.3(31.54) = 37.46
The forecast for week five is just the average for week 4 = M4 = 37.46
= 31 (as we cannot have fractional demand).

For product 2 applying exponential smoothing with a smoothing constant

of 0.7 we get:

M1 = Y1 = 11
M2 = 0.7Y2 + 0.3M1 = 0.7(13) + 0.3(11) = 12.40
M3 = 0.7Y3 + 0.3M2 = 0.7(15) + 0.3(12.40) = 14.22
M4 = 0.7Y4 + 0.3M3 = 0.7(14) + 0.3(14.22) = 14.07

The forecast for week five is just the average for week 4 = M4 = 14.07
= 14 (as we cannot have fractional demand).

We can now formulate the LP for week 5 using the two demand figures (37
for product 1 and 14 for product 2) derived above.
Let

x1 be the number of units of product 1 produced

x2 be the number of units of product 2 produced

where x1, x2>=0

The constraints are:

15x1 + 7x2 <= 20(60) machine X

25x1 + 45x2 <= 15(60) machine Y

x1 <= 37 demand for product 1

x2 <= 14 demand for product 2

The objective is to maximize profit, i.e.

maximize 10x1 + 4x2 - 3(37- x1) - 1(14-x2)

i.e. maximize 13x1 + 5x2 - 125

The graph is shown below, from the graph we have that the solution occurs
on the horizontal axis (x2=0) at x1=36 at which point the maximum profit
is 13(36) + 5(0) - 125 = £343

3. A company is involved in the production of two items (X and Y). The

resources need to produce X and Y are twofold, namely machine time for
automatic processing and craftsman time for hand finishing. The table
below gives the number of minutes required for each item:
 Machine time Craftsman time
Item X 13 20
Y 19 29
The company has 40 hours of machine time available in the next working
week but only 35 hours of craftsman time. Machine time is costed at £10
per hour worked and craftsman time is costed at £2 per hour worked. Both
machine and craftsman idle times incur no costs. The revenue received
for each item produced (all production is sold) is £20 for X and £30 for
Y. The company has a specific contract to produce 10 items of X per week
for a customer.

 Formulate the problem of deciding how much to produce per week as

a linear program.
 Solve this linear program graphically.
Solution
Let

 x be the number of items of X

 y be the number of items of Y
then the LP is:

maximize

 20x + 30y - 10(machine time worked) - 2(craftsman time worked)

subject to:

 13x + 19y <= 40(60) machine time

 20x + 29y <= 35(60) craftsman time
 x >= 10 contract
 x,y >= 0

so that the objective function becomes
maximize

 20x + 30y - 10(13x + 19y)/60 - 2(20x + 29y)/60

i.e. maximize

 17.1667x + 25.8667y
subject to:

 13x + 19y <= 2400

 20x + 29y <= 2100
 x >= 10
 x,y >= 0

It is plain from the diagram below that the maximum occurs at the
intersection of x=10 and 20x + 29y <= 2100

Solving simultaneously, rather than by reading values off the graph, we

have that x=10 and y=65.52 with the value of the objective function being
£1866.5

4. A company manufactures two products (A and B) and the profit per unit
sold is £3 and £5 respectively. Each product must be assembled on a
particular machine, each unit of product A taking 12 minutes of assembly
time and each unit of product B 25 minutes of assembly time. The company
estimates that the machine used for assembly has an effective working
week of only 30 hours (due to maintenance/breakdown).

Technological constraints mean that for every five units of product A

produced at least two units of product B must be produced.

 Formulate the problem of how much of each product to produce as a

linear program.
 Solve this linear program graphically.
 The company has been offered the chance to hire an extra machine,
thereby doubling the effective assembly time available. What is
the maximum amount you would be prepared to pay (per week) for the
hire of this machine and why?
Solution
Let
xA = number of units of A produce
xB = number of units of B produced

then the constraints are:

12xA + 25xB <= 30(60) (assembly time)

xB >= 2(xA/5)
i.e. xB - 0.4xA >=
i.e. 5xB >= 2xA (technological)
where xA, xB >= 0

and the objective is

maximize 3xA + 5xB

It is plain from the diagram below that the maximum occurs at the
intersection of 12xA + 25xB = 1800 and xB - 0.4xA = 0
Solving simultaneously, rather than by reading values off the graph,
we have that:

xA= (1800/22) = 81.8

xB= 0.4xA = 32.7

with the value of the objective function being £408.9

Doubling the assembly time available means that the assembly time
constraint (currently 12xA + 25xB <= 1800) becomes 12xA + 25xB <=
2(1800) This new constraint will be parallel to the existing assembly
time constraint so that the new optimal solution will lie at the
intersection of 12xA + 25xB = 3600 and xB - 0.4xA = 0

i.e. at xA = (3600/22) = 163.6

xB= 0.4xA = 65.4

with the value of the objective function being £817.8

Hence we have made an additional profit of £(817.8-408.9) = £408.9 and

this is the maximum amount we would be prepared to pay for the hire of
the machine for doubling the assembly time.
This is because if we pay more than this amount then we will reduce
our maximum profit below the £408.9 we would have made without the new
machine.

5. Solve

minimise

4a + 5b + 6c

subject to

a + b >= 11

a - b <= 5

c - a - b = 0

7a >= 35 - 12b

a >= 0 b >= 0 c >= 0

Solution

To solve this LP we use the equation c-a-b=0 to put c=a+b (>= 0 as a

>= 0 and b >= 0) and so the LP is reduced to

minimise

4a + 5b + 6(a + b) = 10a + 11b

subject to

a + b >= 11

a - b <= 5

7a + 12b >= 35

a >= 0 b >= 0

From the diagram below the minimum occurs at the intersection of a - b

= 5 and a + b = 11

i.e. a = 8 and b = 3 with c (= a + b) = 11 and the value of the

objective function 10a + 11b = 80 + 33 = 113.
6. Solve the following linear program:

maximise 5x1 + 6x2

subject to

x1 + x2 <= 10

x1 - x2 >= 3

5x1 + 4x2 <= 35

x1 >= 0

x2 >= 0

Solution

It is plain from the diagram below that the maximum occurs at the
intersection of

5x1 + 4x2 = 35 and

x1 - x2 = 3

Solving simultaneously, rather than by reading values off the graph,

we have that

5(3 + x2) + 4x2 = 35

i.e. 15 + 9x2 = 35

i.e. x2 = (20/9) = 2.222 and

x1 = 3 + x2 = (47/9) = 5.222

The maximum value is 5(47/9) + 6(20/9) = (355/9) = 39.444

7. A carpenter makes tables and chairs. Each table can be sold for a
profit of £30 and each chair for a profit of £10. The carpenter can
afford to spend up to 40 hours per week working and takes six hours to
make a table and three hours to make a chair. Customer demand requires
that he makes at least three times as many chairs as tables. Tables
take up four times as much storage space as chairs and there is room
for at most four tables each week.
Formulate this problem as a linear programming problem and solve it
graphically.

Solution

Variables

Let

xT = number of tables made per week

xC = number of chairs made per week

Constraints

 total work time

6xT + 3xC <= 40

 customer demand

xC >= 3xT

 storage space

(xC/4) + xT <= 4

 all variables >= 0

Objective

maximise 30xT + 10xC

The graphical representation of the problem is given below and from

that we have that the solution lies at the intersection of

(xC/4) + xT = 4 and 6xT + 3xC = 40

Solving these two equations simultaneously we get xC = 10.667, xT =

1.333 and the corresponding profit = £146.667