EAST DELTA UNIVERSITY (EDU)

Assignment
Solving Problems Using Linear & Nonlinear Programming
School of Business
MBA659: Supply Chain Management

Problem# 1 (15 Points)

Fertilizing the Lawn:

The facilities manager at Oxford University is planning to apply fertilizer to the grass in the quadrangle area in the
spring. The grass needs nitrogen, phosphorus, and potash in at least the amounts given in the following table.

Mineral Minimum Weight (lb)

Nitrogen 12
Phosphorus 14
Potash 18

Three kinds of commercial fertilizer are available, with mineral content and prices per 1,000 pounds as given in the
following table. There is virtually unlimited supply of each kind of fertilizer.

Fertilizer Nitrogen Phosphorus Potash Price ($)

Content (lb) Content (lb) Content (lb)
A 20 10 5 $ 10
B 10 5 15 $8
C 15 10 5 $7

How much of each fertilizer should be purchased to satisfy the requirements at minimum cost

Show your finding in excel file.

1
 EAST DELTA UNIVERSITY (EDU)
Assignment
Solving Problems Using Linear & Nonlinear Programming
School of Business
MBA659: Supply Chain Management

(15 Points)
Problem # 2

DryIce Inc’s in dilemma:

DryIce Inc., is a manufacturer of air conditioners that has seen its demand grow significantly. The company
anticipates nationwide demand for the next year to be 180,000 units in the South, 120,000 units in the Midwest,
110,000 units in the East, and the 100,000 units in the West. Managers at DryIce are designing the
manufacturing network and have selected four potential sites – New York, Atlanta, Chicago, and San Diego.
Plants could have a capacity of either 200,000 or 400,000 units. The annual fixed costs at the four locations
are shown in the table below along with the cost of producing and shipping an air conditioner at each of the
four markets. As a supply chain manager you have to make the decision of where these factories be build and
how large they be.

Production and Tranportation Costs for

DryIce, Inc. Low Capacity Plant High Capacity Plant

Low High
Capacity Annual Capacity
Annual Fixed Plant Fixed Cost Plant
Cost (Thousand (thousand (thousand
Potential Sites East South Midwest West (thousand $) Units) $) Units)
New York 211 232 240 300 6000 200 10000 400
Atlanta 232 212 230 280 5500 200 9200 400
Chicago 238 230 215 270 5600 200 9300 400
San Diego 299 280 270 225 6100 200 10200 400
Demand
(Thousand
Units) 110 180 120 100

Please, show your work in excel file.

2
 EAST DELTA UNIVERSITY (EDU)
Assignment
Solving Problems Using Linear & Nonlinear Programming
School of Business
MBA659: Supply Chain Management

(15 Points)

Problem # 3

Shipping Carpets:

A manufacturer of nylon carpets produces rolls of carpeting at four factories and ships them to distributors
in five locations. The table below shows the capacities at the factories and demands at the distributors for the
next quarter, all given in thousands of rolls. Also shown are the unit transportation costs between each
factory and each distributor, stated in cost per roll.

To Distributor D1 D2 D3 D4 D5 Capacity
From F1 $ 11 $ 16 $ 18 $ 22 $ 15 40
From F2 $ 12 $ 24 $ 20 $ 21 $ 18 50
From F3 $ 18 $ 17 $ 15 $ 15 $ 20 50
From F4 $ 17 $ 22 $ 14 $ 24 $ 21 60
Demand
(in thousands) 30 24 42 36 48

a. What is the minimum-cost distribution plan for the quarter?

b. Suppose instead that demand at D4 increases and demand at D3 decreases, each by 5 thousand rolls.

What is the new optimal cost, assuming that the schedule can be revised?

Please, show your work in excel files.