Chapter 3

LINEAR
PROGRAMMING
PART 1: MODEL FORMULATION & GRAPHICAL METHOD

To accompany
Quantitative Analysis for Management, Eleventh Edition, Global Edition
by Render, Stair, and Hanna
Power Point slides created by Brian Peterson
 Learning Objectives
After completing this topic students will be able to:

1. Understand the basic assumptions and properties of

linear programming (LP).
2. Graphically solve any LP problem that has only two
variables by both the corner point and isoprofit line
methods.
3. Understand special issues in LP such as infeasibility,
unboundedness, redundancy, and alternative optimal
solutions.

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 Chapter Outline

1 Introduction
2 Requirements of a Linear Programming Problem
3 Formulating LP Problems
4 Graphical Solution to an LP Problem
5 Solving Minimization Problems
6 Four Special Cases in LP

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 Introduction

◦ Many management decisions involve trying to make

the most effective use of limited resources.
◦ Linear programming (LP) is a widely used
mathematical modeling technique designed to help
managers in planning and decision making relative
to resource allocation.
◦ This belongs to the broader field of mathematical
programming.
◦ In this sense, programming refers to modeling and solving
a problem mathematically.
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 Requirements of a Linear
Programming Problem

◦ All LP problems have 4 properties in common:

1. All problems seek to maximize or minimize some quantity (the
objective function).
2. Restrictions or constraints that limit the degree to which we can
pursue our objective are present.
3. There must be alternative courses of action from which to choose.
4. The objective and constraints in problems must be expressed in
terms of linear equations or inequalities.

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 Basic Assumptions of LP

◦ We assume conditions of certainty exist and numbers in the

objective and constraints are known with certainty and do
not change during the period being studied.
◦ We assume proportionality exists in the objective and
constraints.
◦ We assume additivity in that the total of all activities equals
the sum of the individual activities.
◦ We assume divisibility in that solutions need not be whole
numbers.
◦ All answers or variables are nonnegative.
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LP Properties and Assumptions
PROPERTIES OF LINEAR PROGRAMS
1. One objective function
2. One or more constraints
3. Alternative courses of action
4. Objective function and constraints are linear
– proportionality and divisibility
5. Certainty
6. Divisibility
7. Nonnegative variables
Table 7.1

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Formulating LP Problems
◦ Formulating a linear program involves developing a
mathematical model to represent the managerial problem.
◦ The steps in formulating a linear program are:
1. Completely understand the managerial problem being
faced.
2. Identify the objective and the constraints.
3. Define the decision variables.
4. Use the decision variables to write mathematical
expressions for the objective function and the
constraints.
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 Graphical Solution to an LP Problem

 The easiest way to solve a small LP

problems is graphically.
 The graphical method only works when
there are just two decision variables.
 When there are more than two variables, a
more complex approach is needed as it is
not possible to plot the solution on a two-
dimensional graph.
 The graphical method provides valuable
insight into how other approaches work.
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Summary of Graphical Solution Methods
ISOPROFIT METHOD
1. Graph all constraints and find the feasible region.
2. Select a specific profit (or cost) line and graph it to find the slope.
3. Move the objective function line in the direction of increasing profit (or
decreasing cost) while maintaining the slope. The last point it touches in the
feasible region is the optimal solution.
4. Find the values of the decision variables at this last point and compute the
profit (or cost).
CORNER POINT METHOD
1. Graph all constraints and find the feasible region.
2. Find the corner points of the feasible reason.
3. Compute the profit (or cost) at each of the feasible corner points.
4. Select the corner point with the best value of the objective function found in
Step 3. This is the optimal solution.

Table 7.4
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Solving Minimization Problems
◦ Many LP problems involve minimizing an objective such as
cost instead of maximizing a profit function.
◦ Minimization problems can be solved graphically by first
setting up the feasible solution region and then using either
the corner point method or an isocost line approach (which is
analogous to the isoprofit approach in maximization
problems) to find the values of the decision variables (e.g.,
X1 and X2) that yield the minimum cost.

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 Four Special Cases in LP

◦ Four special cases and difficulties arise at times

when using the graphical approach to solving LP
problems.
◦ No feasible solution
◦ Unboundedness
◦ Redundancy
◦ Alternate Optimal Solutions

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 Four Special Cases in LP

No feasible solution
◦ This exists when there is no solution to the problem that
satisfies all the constraint equations.
◦ No feasible solution region exists.
◦ This is a common occurrence in the real world.
◦ Generally one or more constraints are relaxed until a
solution is found.

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 Four Special Cases in LP
A problem with no feasible solution
X2

8–
–
6–
– Region Satisfying
4– Third Constraint
–
2–
–
0– | | | | | | | | | |
Figure 7.12 2 4 6 8 X1

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 Four Special Cases in LP

Unboundedness
◦ Sometimes a linear program will not have a finite
solution.
◦ In a maximization problem, one or more solution
variables, and the profit, can be made infinitely large
without violating any constraints.
◦ In a graphical solution, the feasible region will be open
ended.
◦ This usually means the problem has been formulated
improperly.

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 Four Special Cases in LP
A Feasible Region That is Unbounded to the Right
X2

X1 ≥ 5
15 –

X2 ≤ 10
10 –

Feasible Region
5–
X1 + 2X2 ≥ 15
| | | | |
Figure 7.13 0– 5 10 15 X1

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 Four Special Cases in LP

Redundancy
◦ A redundant constraint is one that does not affect the
feasible solution region.
◦ One or more constraints may be binding.
◦ This is a very common occurrence in the real world.
◦ It causes no particular problems, but eliminating
redundant constraints simplifies the model.

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 Four Special Cases in LP
Problem
X
with a Redundant Constraint
2

30 –

25 –
2X1 + X2 ≤ 30

20 –
Redundant
Constraint
15 –
X1 ≤ 25

10 – X1 + X2 ≤ 20
Feasible
Figure 7.14 5– Region

| | | | | |
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5 10 15 20 25 30 X1
 Four Special Cases in LP

Alternate Optimal Solutions

◦ Occasionally two or more optimal solutions may exist.
◦ Graphically this occurs when the objective function’s
isoprofit or isocost line runs perfectly parallel to one of
the constraints.
◦ This actually allows management great flexibility in
deciding which combination to select as the profit is
the same at each alternate solution.

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 Four Special Cases in LP
Example of Alternate Optimal Solutions
X2

8–

7–
A
6– Optimal Solution Consists of All
Combinations of X1 and X2 Along
5– the AB Segment
4–

3– Isoprofit Line for $8

2–
B Isoprofit Line for $12
1 – Feasible Overlays Line Segment AB
Figure 7.15
Region
0– | | | | | | | |
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Copyright
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