Linear Programming: Reporter: Chiara Mari S. Manalo
Linear Programming: Reporter: Chiara Mari S. Manalo
REPORTER:
CHIARA MARI S. MANALO
What is Linear Programming?
Linear programming (LP, also called linear optimization) is a
method to achieve the best outcome (such as maximum profit or
lowest cost) in a mathematical model whose requirements are
represented by linear relationships.
Linear programming (LP) is one of the simplest ways to perform
optimization. It helps you solve some very complex
optimization problems by making a few simplifying
assumptions.
Formulating a Problem
Example: Consider a chocolate manufacturing company that produces only two types of chocolate – A
and B. Both the chocolates require Milk and Choco only. To manufacture each unit of A and B, the
following quantities are required:
Each unit of A requires 1 unit of Milk and 3 units of Choco
Each unit of B requires 1 unit of Milk and 2 units of Choco
The company kitchen has a total of 5 units of Milk and 12 units of Choco. On each sale, the company
makes a profit of
Rs 6 per unit A sold
Rs 5 per unit B sold.
Now, the company wishes to maximize its profit. How many units of A and B should it produce
respectively?
Solution: The first thing is represent the problem in a tabular form for better understanding.
A 1 3 Rs 6
B 1 2 Rs 5
Total 5 12
Let the total number of units produced by A be = X
Let the total number of units produced by B be = Y
Now, the total profit is represented by Z
The total profit the company makes is given by the total number of units of A and B
produced multiplied by its per-unit profit of Rs 6 and Rs 5 respectively.
Profit: Max Z = 6X+5Y
which means we have to maximize Z.
The company will try to produce as many units of A and B to maximize the profit. But
the resources Milk and Choco are available in a limited amount.
As per the above table, each unit of A and B requires 1 unit of Milk. The total amount
of Milk available is 5 units. To represent this mathematically,
X+Y ≤ 5
Also, each unit of A and B requires 3 units & 2 units of Choco respectively. The total
amount of Choco available is 12 units. To represent this mathematically,
3X+2Y ≤ 12
Also, the values for units of A can only be integers.
So we have two more constraints, X ≥ 0 & Y ≥ 0
For the company to make maximum profit, the above inequalities have to be satisfied.