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OPERATIONS RESEARCH

Problem set 01
...
(1). A Firm manufactures two type of products A and B and sells them at a profit of Rs.200.00 on type A and
Rs.300.00 on type B per unit. Each product is processed on two machines G and H. One unite of type A requires
one minute of processing time on G and two minutes on H ; type B requires one minute on G and one minute on
H. The machine G is available for 400 minutes during any working day and the machine H is available for ten
hours during any working day. Formulate the problem as a linear programming model to find how many products
of each type should the firm produce each day in order to get the maximum profit.

(2). A Firm manufactures 3 products A,B and C. The profits are Rs.300, Rs.200 and Rs.400 respectively. The firm
has two machines M
1
and M
2
. The following table provides the required processing time in minutes for each
product:
Products
Machine
Type
A
(minutes)
B
(minutes)
C
(minutes)
M
1
4 3 5
M
2
2 2 4

Machines M
1
and M
2
have 2000 and 2500 machine-minutes respectively. The firm must manufacture 100As,
200Bs and 50Cs but no more than 150As.Set up a linear programming model to maximize the profit.

(3). Formulate a linear programming model for the following model problem.
In a chemical industry two products A and B are made involving two operations. The production of B results also
in a by-product C. The product A can be solved at Rs.300 profit per unite and Rs.800 profit per unite. The by-
product C sells at Rs.200 profit per unit. The company gets three units of C for each unit of B produced. Forecasts
show that they can sell all the units of A and B produced. The manufacturing times are 3 hours per unit for A on
operation one and two respectively and 4 hours 5 hours per unit for B on operation one and two respectively.
Because the product C results from B, no time is used in producing C. The available times are 18 and 21 hours of
operation one and two respectively. The company wants to find how much A and B should be produced keeping
C in mind to make the highest profit.

(4). A farmer has 100-acre farm. He can sell all the tomatoes, chilies, or radishes he can raise. The price he can
obtain is Rs.100 per kilogram for tomatoes, Rs.75 per kilogram for chilies and Rs.200 per kilogram for radishes.
The average yield per acre is 2000 kilograms of tomatoes, 3000 kilograms of chilies and 1000 kilograms of
radishes. Fertilizer is available at Rs.50 per kilogram and the amount required per acre is 100 kilograms each for
tomatoes and chilies, and 50 kilograms for radishes. Labor required for sowing, cultivating and harvesting per
acre is 5 man days for tomatoes and radishes and 6 mandays for chilies. A total of 400 man-days of labor are
available at Rs.200 per day. Formulate a mathematical model to find the maximum possible earning of the farmer.

(5). The media department of a company is planning the insertion of an advertisement (full page), aimed at
women between 18 and 50 years of age, in order to stimulate sales of hand bags. Two magazines A and B are
under consideration. Data on these magazines are as follows:

Magazine A Magazine B
Monthly circulation 30,000 20,000
Female readers 20,000 15,000
Impact rating on readers 0.8 0.6
Cost for full page insertion (Rs.) 2,000 1,000
Number of editions per year 12 12

The company budgets Rs.30,000 for this expenditure. Formulate a mathematical model to find number of
insertion should be placed in each magazine to maximize the rate exposures. (Rate exposure =Impact rate
Number of readers)
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(6). Formulate a linear programming model to solve the following problem:
A used car dealer wishes to stock up his lot to maximize his profit. He can select cars A,B and C, which are
valued wholesale at Rs.500,000, Rs.700,000 and Rs.800,00 respectively. For each car type , the probabilities of
sale are:
Type of car Probability of sale in 90 days
A 0.7
B 0.8
C 0.6

For every two cars of B, he should buy one car of type A or C. If he has Rs.10,000,000 to invest, what should he
buy to maximize his expect gain?

(7). Food X contain 6 units of vitamin A per gram and 7 units of vitamin B per gram and cost Rs.12 per gram.
Food Y contain 8 units of vitamin A per gram and 12 units of vitamin B per gram and cost Rs.20 per gram. The
daily minimum requirements of vitamin A and vitamin B are 100 units and 120 units respectively. Formulate an
mathematical model to find the minimum cost of product mix.

(8). A certain farming organization operates three farms of comparable productivity. The output of each farm is
limited both by the usable acreage and by the amount of water available for irrigation. The data for the upcoming
season are following:
Farm Usable acreage Water available in acre feet
1 400 1500
2 600 2000
3 300 900

The organization is considering three crops for planting, which differ, primarily in their expected profit per acre
and their consumption of water. Furthermore, the total acreage that can be devoted to each of the crops is limited
by the amount of appropriate harvesting equipment available.

Crop Minimum
acreage
Water consumption
feet per acre
Expected profit
per acre (Rs.)
A 700 5 400
B 800 4 300
C 300 3 100

In order to maintain a uniform workload amount the farm, it is the policy of the organization that the percentage
of the usable acreage planted must be the same at each farm. However, any combination of the crops may be
grown at any of the farms. The organization wishes to know how much of each crop should be planted at the
respective farms in order to maximize expected profit. Formulate this as a linear programming problem.

(9). A lumber mill saws both finish-grade and construction-grade boards from the logs that receives. Suppose that
it takes 2 hr to rough-saw each 1000 board feet of the finish-grade board and 5 hr to plane each 1000 board feet of
these boards. Suppose also that it takes 2 hr to rough-saw each 1000 board feet of the construction-grade boards,
but it takes only 3 hr to plane each 1000 board feet of these boards. The saw is available 8 hr per day, and the
plane is available 15 hr per day. If the profit on each 1000 boards feet of finish-grade boards is Rs.5000 and the
profit on each 1000 board feet of construction-grade boards is Rs.700. Formulate a mathematical model to find
how many board feet of each type of lumber should be sawed to maximize the profit.

(10). A nutritionist is planning a menu consisting of two main foods A and B. Each gram of A contain 2 units of
fat, 1 unit of carbohydrates, and 4 units of protein. Each gram of B contain 3 unites of fat, 3 units of
carbohydrates, and 3 units of protein. The nutritionist wants the meal to provide at least 18 units of fat, at least 12
units of carbohydrates, and at least 14 units of protein. If one gram of A costs Rs.10 and one gram of cost Rs.25.
Formulate a mathematical model to find how many grams of each food should be served to minimize the meal yet
satisfy the nutritionists requirements.

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(11). A manufacture of artificial sweetener blends 14 kg of saccharin and 18 kg of dextrose to prepare two new
products: SWEET and LO-SUGER. Each kilogram of SWEET contains 0.4 kg of dextrose and 0.2 kg of
saccharin, whereas each kilogram of LO-SUGER contains 0.3 kg of dextrose and 0.4 kg of saccharin. If the profit
on each kilogram of SWEET is Rs.20 and the profit on each kilogram of LO-SUGER is Rs.30. Formulate a
mathematical model to find how many kilogram of each product should be made to maximize the profit.

(12). A new rose dust is been prepared by using two available products: PEST and BUG. Each kilogram of PEST
contain 30 g of carbaryl and 40 g of malathion, whereas each kilograme of BUG contain 40 g of carbaryl and 20 g
of malathian. The final blend must contain at least 120 g of carbaryl and 80 g of malathian. If each kilogram of
PEST costsRs.300 and each kilogram of BUG costs Rs.250. Formulate a mathematical model to find how many
kilograms of each pesticide should be used to minimize the cost.

(13). Suppose that the financial advisor of a universitys endowment fund must invest exactly Rs.100,000 in two
types of securities: bond AAA, paying a dividend of 7 %, and stock BB, paying a dividend of 9 %. The advisor
has been told that no more than Rs.30,000 can be invested in stock BB, whereas the amount invested in AAA
must be at least twice the amount invested in stock BB. Formulate a mathematical model to find how much
should be invested in each security to maximize the universitys return.

(14). HiTech, Inc, a small manufacturing firm produces two microwave switches, switch A and switch B. The
return per unit of switch A is Rs.200, whereas the return per unit of switch B is Rs.300. Because of contractual
commitment, HiTech must manufacture at least 25 units of switch A per week, and based on the present demand
for its products, it can sell all that it can manufacture. However, it wishes to maximize profit while determining
the production sizes to satisfy various limits resulting from a small production crew.
These include, Assembly hours: 240 hours available per week
Testing hours: 140 hours available per week.
Switch A requires 4 hours of assembly and 1 hour of testing, and switch B requires 3 hours and 2 hours,
respectively. Formulate a mathematical model to maximize weekly profit.

(15). An investor has decided to invest a total of Rs.50,000 among three investment opportunities: saving
certificates, municipal bonds, and stocks. The annual return on each investment is estimated to be 7%,9%and14%
respectively. The investor does not intend to invest his annual interest returns (i.e. his plans use the interest to
finance his desire to travel). He would like to maximize his yearly return while investing a minimum of Rs.10,000
in bonds. Also, the investment in stocks should not exceed the combine total investment in bonds and saving
certificates. And, finally, he should invest between Rs.5,000 and Rs.15,000 in saving certificates. Formulate a
mathematical model to maximize yearly return.

(16). The administer of a Rs.200,000 trust fund set up by Mr. Smiths will must adhere to certain guidelines. The
total amount of Rs.200,000 need not be fully invested at any one time. The money may be invested in three
different type of securities: a utilities stock paying 9 % dividend, and electronics stock paying 5 % interest.
Suppose that the amount invested in the stocks cannot be more than half the total amount invested; the amount
invested in the utilities stock cannot exceed Rs.40,000; and the amount invested in the bond must be at least
Rs.70,000. Formulate a mathematical model to find what investment policy should be pursued to maximize the
return.

(17). A manufacture of sheet polyethylene has two plants, one located in Salt Lake City and the other located in
Denver. There are three distributing warehouses, one in Los Angeles and another in Chicago, and the third in New
York City. The Salt Lake City plant can supply 120 tons of the products per week, whereas the Denver plant can
supply 140 tons per week. The Los Angeles warehouse needs 100 tons weekly to meet its demand, the Chicago
warehouse needs 60 tons weekly, and the New York City warehouse needs 80 tons weekly. The following table
gives the shipping cost (in Rupees) per ton of the product:
To

From

Los Angeles Chicago New York City
Salt Lake City 5 7 9
Denver 6 7 10
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Formulate a mathematical model to find how many tons of polyethylene should be shipped from each plant to
each warehouse to minimize the total shipping cost while meeting the demand.

(18). A large textile firm has two manufacturing plants, two sources of raw material, and three market centers.
The transportation costs between the sources and the plants and between the plants and the market are as follows:
Plant
A B
Source

Market
1 2 3
Plant A
B

Ten tons are available from source 1 and 15 tons from source 2. Three market centers require 10 tons, 14 tons,
and 3 tons respectively. The plants have unlimited processing capacity. Formulate the problem of finding the
shipping patterns from sources to plants to markets that minimize the total transportation.

[19].(Disease treatment problem) Dr.Devid treats cases of tactutis with a combination of the brand-name
compounds Palium and Timade. The Palium costs Rs.40.00/pill and the Timade costs Rs.30.00/pill. Each
compound contains SND plus an activator. The typical dosage requires at least 10 mg of SND per day. Palium
contains 4 mg of SND and Timade contains 2 mg of SND. In excessive amounts the activator can be harmful.
Consequently Dr.David limits the total amount of activator to no more than 2 mg per day. Palium and Timade
each contain 0.5 mg of activator per pill. How many of each pill per day should Dr.David prescribe to minimize
the cost of the medication, provide enough SND, and yet not exceed the maximum permissible limit of activator?


[20]. (Manpower scheduling problem) In a multi-speciality hospital, nurses report to duty at the end of every
4-hour as shown in the following table. Each nurse, after reporting, will work for 8 hours continuously. The
minimum number of nurses required during various period are summarized in the following table. Develop a
mathematical model to determine the number of nurses to report at the beginning of each period such that the total
number of nurses who have to report to duty in a day is minimized.

Data showing the Minimum Number of Nurses to Report for Duty

Interval
number
Time period
From To
Minimum number
of nurses required
1 12 midnight 4 a.m. 20
2 4 a.m. 8 a.m. 25
3 8 a.m. 12 noon 35
4 12 noon 4 p.m. 32
5 4 p.m. 8 p.m. 22
6 8 p.m. 12 midnight 15


[21]. In a metro transport corporation, crews (each crew consists of a driver and a conductor) to operate buses
report for duty at the beginning of each 2-hour period and continuously for 8 hours.
The different time interval in a day and the minimum required number of buses in each time interval are shown in
the following table. Formulate a model to find the number of crews to report for duty at the beginning of each
time interval such that the total number of crews reported in a is minimized. (Note: The crews which report at 5
p.m., 7 p.m., and 9 p.m. are idle between 11 p.m. and 5 a.m. Hence the crew members are given idle time and stay
allowances).


Rs.10.00/ton Rs.10.50/ton
Rs.20.00/ton Rs.10.50/ton
Rs.40.00/ton Rs.20.00/ton Rs.10.00/ton
Rs.30.00/ton Rs.40.00/ton Rs.20.00/ton
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Detail of Time Interval

Interval
number
Time period Minimum number of
buses required
1 05 a.m. to 07 a.m.
1
a
2 07 a.m. to 09 a.m.
2
a
3 09 a.m. to 11 a.m.
3
a
4 11 a.m. to 01 p.m.
4
a
5 01 p.m. to 03 p.m.
5
a
6 03 p.m. to 05 p.m.
6
a
7 05 p.m. to 07 p.m.
7
a
8 07 p.m. to 09 p.m.
8
a
9 09 p.m. to 11 p.m.
9
a

[22]. A company wants to engage casual labours to assemble its product daily. The company works for only one
shift which consists of 8 hours and 6 days a week. The casual labours consist of two categories, viz. skilled and
semi-skilled. The daily production per skilled labour is 80 assemblies and that of the semi-skilled labour is 60
assemblies. The rejection rate of the assemblies produced by the skilled labours is 5 % and that of the semi-skilled
labours is 10 %. The loss to the company for rejecting an assembly is Rs.25. The daily wages per labour of the
skilled and semi-skilled labours are Rs.240 and Rs.160, respectively. The required weekly production is 1,86,000
assemblies. The company wants to limit the number of semi-skilled labours per day to utmost 400. Develop a
linear programming model to determine the optimal mix of the casual labours to be employed so that the total cost
(total wage +total cost of rejections) is minimized.

[23]. A textile company can use any or all of the three different processes for weaving its standard white polyester
fabric. Each of these production processes has a weaving machine setup cost and per-square-meter processing
cost. These costs and the capacities of each of the three production processes are shown in the following table:

Cost of Production Processes

Process
number
Weaving machine
setup cost (Rs.)
Processing.
cost/sq. m (Rs.)
Maximum daily
capacity (sq. m)
1 150 15 2000
2 240 10 3000
3 300 8 3500

The daily demand forecast for its white polyester fabric is 4000 sq. meter. The companys production manager
wants to make a decision concerning which combination of production processes is to be utilized to meet the daily
demand forecast and at what production level of each selected production process to be operated to minimize total
production costs.

[24]. Break-even analysis. The unit selling price, the variable cost per unit, and the fixed cost are given in the
following table for each of three products produced by a company. Formulate a mathematical model to determine
how many units of each product it must produce and sell in order to break even and minimize the total combined
variable cost subject to the following restrictions:
* Marketing research has indicated that no more than 4000 units of product 1 should be produced.
* The company has an order for 600 units of product 2. Thus, at least 600 units of product 2 must be produced and
sold.
* The company has an order for 700 units of product 3. Thus, at least 700 units of product 3 must be produced and
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sold.
Selling price
per unit
Variable cost
per unit
Fixed cost
Product 1 Rs.50 Rs.30 Rs.50,000
Product 2 Rs.80 Rs.50 Rs.30,000
Product 3 Rs.40 Rs.25 Rs.30,000


[25]. An investor has Rs.600,000 to allocate among these investment alternatives.

Investment alternatives Rate of return Risk level
Fixed-income funds 7.5 % 0
Equity income funds 8.6 % 2
Aggressive growth funds 13.5 % 9
Balanced funds 7.8 % 1

The investor has the following investment criteria:

1. The full amount of Rs.600,000 is to be invested.
2. The average risk is to be no more than 3.5.
3. At least Rs.100,000 is to be invested in fixed-income funds.
4. At least Rs.100,000 is to be invested in equity income funds.
5. At least Rs.60,000 is to be invested in aggressive growth funds.
6. At least Rs.50,000 is to be invested in balanced funds.

Formulate a mathematical model to determine the amount that should be invested in each investment
alternative in order to maximize the annual return.