BUS 660 Topic 3 Introduction to Linear Programming – Homework
Problem 8-25 (Algorithmic)
Georgia Cabinets manufactures kitchen cabinets that are sold to local dealers throughout the Southeast. Because of a large backlog of orders for oak and cherry cabinets, the company decided to contract with three smaller cabinetmakers to do the final finishing operation. For the three cabinetmakers, the number of hours required to complete all the oak cabinets, the number of hours required to complete all the cherry cabinets, the number of hours available for the final finishing operation, and the cost per hour to perform the work are shown here:
For example, Cabinetmaker 1 estimates that it will take 47 hours to complete all the oak cabinets and 60 hours to complete all the cherry cabinets. However, Cabinetmaker 1 only has 40 hours available for the final finishing operation. Thus, Cabinetmaker 1 can only complete 40/47 = 0.85, or 85%, of the oak cabinets if it worked only on oak cabinets. Similarly, Cabinetmaker 1 can only complete 40/60 = 0.67, or 67%, of the cherry cabinets if it worked only on cherry cabinets.
- Formulate a linear programming model that can be used to determine the proportion of the oak cabinets and the proportion of the cherry cabinets that should be given to each of the three cabinetmakers in order to minimize the total cost of completing both projects.
- Solve the model formulated in part (a). What proportion of the oak cabinets and what proportion of the cherry cabinets should be assigned to each cabinetmaker? What is the total cost of completing both projects? If required, round your answers for the proportions to three decimal places, and for the total cost to two decimal places.
- If Cabinetmaker 1 has additional hours available, would the optimal solution change?
- If Cabinetmaker 2 has additional hours available, would the optimal solution change?
- Suppose Cabinetmaker 2 reduced its cost to $39 per hour. What effect would this change have on the optimal solution? If required, round your answers for the proportions to three decimal places, and for the total cost to two decimal places.
Problem 8-19
Better Products, Inc., manufactures three products on two machines. In a typical week, 40 hours are available on each machine. The profit contribution and production time in hours per unit are as follows:
Two operators are required for machine 1; thus, 2 hours of labor must be scheduled for each hour of machine 1 time. Only one operator is required for machine 2. A maximum of 100 labor- hours is available for assignment to the machines during the coming week. Other production requirements are that product 1 cannot account for more than 50% of the units produced and that product 3 must account for at least 20% of the units produced.
- How many units of each product should be produced to maximize the total profit contribution? What is the projected weekly profit associated with your solution?
- How many hours of production time will be scheduled on each machine? If required, round your answers to two decimal places.
- What is the value of an additional hour of labor? If required, round your answers to two decimal places.
- Assume that labor capacity can be increased to 120 hours. Develop the optimal product mix, assuming that the extra hours are made available.Would you be interested in using the additional 20 hours available for this resource?
Problem 7-49 (Algorithmic)
PharmaPlus operates a chain of 30 pharmacies. The pharmacies are staffed by licensed pharmacists and pharmacy technicians. The company currently employs 85 full-time-equivalent pharmacists (combination of full time and part time) and 175 full-time-equivalent technicians. Each spring management reviews current staffing levels and makes hiring plans for the year.
A recent forecast of the prescription load for the next year shows that at least 250 full-time-equivalent employees (pharmacists and technicians) will be required to staff the pharmacies. The personnel department expects 10 pharmacists and 30 technicians to leave over the next year.
To accommodate the expected attrition and prepare for future growth, management states that at least 15 new pharmacists must be hired. In addition, PharmaPlus’s new service quality guidelines specify no more than two technicians per licensed pharmacist. The average salary for licensed pharmacists is $40 per hour and the average salary for technicians is $10 per hour.
- Determine a minimum-cost staffing plan for PharmaPlus. How many pharmacists and technicians are needed?
- Given current staffing levels and expected attrition, how many new hires (if any) must be made to reach the level recommended in part (a)? What will be the impact on the payroll?
Problem 7-15
Par, Inc., is a small manufacturer of golf equipment and supplies. Par’s distributor believes a market exists for both a medium-priced golf bag, referred to as a standard model, and a high-priced golf bag, referred to as a deluxe model. The distributor is so confident of the market that, if Par can make the bags at a competitive price, the distributor will purchase all the bags that Par can manufacture over the next three months.
A careful analysis of the manufacturing requirements resulted in the following table, which shows the production time requirements for the four required manufacturing operations and the accounting department’s estimate of the profit contribution per bag:
The director of manufacturing estimates that 630 hours of cutting and dyeing time, 600 hours of sewing time, 708 hours of finishing time, and 135 hours of inspection and packaging time will be available for the production of golf bags during the next three months.
Select the correct graph that shows the optimal solution if Par’s management encounters the following independent situations:
- The accounting department revises its estimate of the profit contribution for the deluxe bag to $18 per bag.
- A new low-cost material is available for the standard bag, and the profit contribution per standard bag can be increased to $20 per bag. (Assume that the profit contribution of the deluxe bag is the original $9 value.)
- New sewing equipment is available that would increase



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