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Q.1
a) “Operation Techniques is a bunch of mathematical techniques.” Comment.
Ans:
Operations Research is an interdisciplinary branch of applied mathematics and
formal science that uses methods such as mathematical modelling, statistics, and
algorithms to arrive at optimal or near optimal solutions to complex problems. It is typically
concerned with optimizing the maxima (profit, assembly line performance, crop yield,
bandwidth, etc) or minima (loss, risk, etc.) of some objective function. Operations research
helps management achieve its goals using scientific methods. The terms operations
research and management science are often used synonymously. When a distinction is
drawn, management science generally implies a closer relationship to the problems of
business management. The field of operations research is closely related to Industrial
engineering. Industrial engineers typically consider Operations Research (OR) techniques to
be a major part of their toolset. Some of the primary tools used by operations researchers
are statistics, optimization, probability theory, queuing theory, game theory, graph theory,
decision analysis, and simulation. Because of the computational nature of these fields, OR
also has ties to computer science, and operations researchers use custom-written and off-
the-shelf software. Operations research is distinguished by its frequent use to examine an
entire management information system, rather than concentrating only on specific
elements (though this is often done as well). An operations researcher faced with a new
problem is expected to determine which techniques are most appropriate given the nature
of the system, the goals for improvement, and constraints on time and computing power.
For this and other reasons, the human element of OR is vital. Like any other tools, OR
techniques cannot solve problems by themselves.
Scope of operation Research:
Examples of applications in which operations research is currently used include:
1. Critical path analysis or project planning: identifying those processes in a
complex project which affect the overall duration of the project.
2. Designing the layout of a factory for efficient flow of materials.
3. Constructing a telecommunications network at low cost while still guaranteeing
QoS (quality of service) or QoS (Quality of Experience) if particular connections
become very busy or get damaged.
4. Road traffic management and 'one way' street allocations i.e. allocation
problems.
5. Determining the routes of school buses (or city buses) so that as few buses are
needed as possible.
6. Designing the layout of a computer chip to reduce manufacturing time
(therefore reducing cost) Managing the flow of raw materials and products in a
supply chain based on uncertain demand for the finished products.
7. Efficient messaging and customer response tactics.
8. Robotizing or automating human-driven operations processes.
9. Globalizing operations processes in order to take advantage of cheaper
materials, labour, land or other productivity inputs Managing freight
transportation and delivery systems (Examples: LTL Shipping, intermodal freight
transport).
10. Scheduling.
11. Personnel staffing.
12. Manufacturing steps.
13. Project tasks.
14. Network data traffic: these are known as queuing models or queueing systems.
15. Sports events and their television coverage blending of raw materials in oil.
16. Refineries determining optimal prices, in many retail and B2B settings, within
the disciplines of pricing science.
Operations research is also used extensively in government where evidence-
based policy is used.
Q.1- b) “Operation Research is an aid for the executive in making his decisions based on
scientific methods analysis”. Discuss the above statement in brief.
1. Systems approach:
The term system approach implies that each problem should be examined in its entirely to
the extent possible and economically feasible from the point of view of the overall system
of which the problem under consideration is one part. Under those approaches a manager
makes conscious attempt to understand the relationships among various parts of the
organisation and their role in supporting the overall performance of the organisation.
Operations objective of operations research is to provide managers of the organisation
with a scientific basis for solving problems involving the interaction of components of the
organisation as a whole. The decision which is best for the organisation as a whole is called
an optimal decision. Operations research tries to find the best decision relative to a large
portion of the total organisation. Hence in operations research every problem is considered
in its totality, i.e. O.R. adopts systems approach for solving the problem. In other words,
“Operations Research is the scientific study of large systems with a view to identify
problem areas and provide the mangers with a quantitative basis for decisions which will
enhance their effectiveness in achieving the specified objectives.”
From all above areas of applications, one may conclude that operations research
can be widely advocate a systems approach for making timely management decisions and
also used as a corrective measure. O.R. encourages systems approach which concerned
with the cost optimization, and hence we can say: Operation Research advocates a system
approach and is concerned with optimization.
Q.2- b). Operation Research replaces management by personality. Comment.
Some of the areas of management where techniques of operations research are applied
are listed below:
c) Bidding policies.
3. Production Management:
a) Product planning:
4. Marketing Management:
5. Personnel Management:
b) Selection of suitable personnel with due consideration for age and skills, etc.
Q.3. Explain how the profit maximization transportation problem can be converted to
an equivalent cost minimization transportation problem.
From the given data, we compute a matrix of net returns as done in table below;
(Transportation matrix (Net return) for the Maximization problem)
Factory Dealers Factory
capacity
1 2 3 4
City - A 6 6 6 4 1000
City - B 4 2 4 5 700
City - C 5 6 7 8 900
City - A 2 2 2 4 1000
City - B 4 6 4 3 700
City - C 3 2 1 0 900
Dealer requirement 900 800 500 400 2600
4. Write the difference in the simplex solution procedure for a maximization problem and
a minimization problem of linear programming.
The difference in the simplex solution procedure for a maximization problem and a
minimization problem of linear programming can be explained by the steps followed to
solve the minimization/ minimization problem as follows ;
2. Introduce surplus variables (Si’s) and artificial variables (Ai) for “³” type of
constraint.
4. Cost (Cj) of slack and surplus variables will be zero and that of artificial variable will
be “M”
6. Slack and artificial variables will form basic variable for the first simplex table.
Surplus variable will never become basic variable for the first simplex table.
8. Select the most negative value of Zj – Cj. That column is called key column. The
variable corresponding to the column will become basic variable for the next table.
9. Divide the quantities by the corresponding values of the key column to get ratios;
select the minimum ratio. This becomes the key row. The basic variable
corresponding to this row will be replaced by the variable found in step 6.
10. The element that lies both on key column and key row is called Pivotal element.
11. Ratios with negative and “a” value are not considered for determining key row.
12. Once an artificial variable is removed as basic variable, its column will be deleted
from next iteration.
13. For maximisation problems, decision variables coefficient will be same as in the
objective function. For minimisation problems, decision variables coefficients will
have opposite signs as compared to objective function.
14. Values of artificial variables will always is – M for both maximisation and
minimisation problems.
Q.5 What do you mean by the two-phase method for solving a given LPP? Why is it
used?
Every linear programming problem (LPP) is associated with another linear programming
problem involving the same data and optimal solutions. Such two problems are said to be
duals of each other. One problem is called the primal, while the other problem is called the
dual. The dual formulation is derived from the same data and solved in a manner similar to
the original 'primal' formulation. In other words, you can say that dual is the 'inverse' of the
primal formulation because of the following reasons.
If the primal objective function is 'maximisation' function, then the dual objective
function is 'minimisation' function and vice-versa.
The column co-efficient in the primal constraint is the row co-efficient in the dual
constraint.
The co-efficients in the primal objective function are the RHS constraint in the dual
constraint.
The RHS column of constants of the primal constraints becomes the row of co-
efficient of the dual objective function.
The concept of duality is useful to obtain additional information about the variation in the
optimal solution. These changes could be effected in the constraint co-efficient, in resource
availabilities and/or objective function co-efficient. This effect is termed as post optimality
or sensitivity analysis.
When the primal problem has a degenerate optimal solution, the dual has multiple
optimal solutions.
When the primal problem has multiple optimal solutions, the optimal dual solution
is degenerate.
i. The maximisation problem in the primal becomes a minimisation problem in the dual and
vice versa
ii. (≤) type of constraints in the primal become (≥) type of constraints in the dual and vice
versa.
iii. The coefficients c1, c2, . . .,cn in the objective function of the primal become b1,
b2,…,bm in the objective function of the dual.
iv. The constants b1, b2,…,bm in the constraints of the primal become c1, c2, . . .,cn in the
constraints of the dual
v. If the primal has n variables and m constraints the dual will have m variables and n
constraints
vi. The variables in both the primal and dual are non-negative
Formation of dual LPP is easier when the standard form of LPP for maximisation problem
must contain “≤” type of constraints, while for minimisation problem, it must contain “≥”
type of constraints.
Two-phase method for solving a given LPP can be divided in the two phses as mentioned
below:
Phase I: Formulate the new problem. Start by eliminating the original objective function by
the sum of the artificial variables for a minimisation problem and the negative of the sum
of the artificial variables for a maximisation problem. The Simplex method optimizes the
ensuing objective with the constraints of the original problem. If a feasible solution is
arrived, the optimal value of the new objective function is zero (suggestive of all artificial
variables being zero). Subsequently proceed to phase -II. If the optimal value of the new
objective function is non-zero, it means there is no solution to the problem and the
method terminates.
Phase II: Start phase II using the optimum solution of phase I as the base. Then take the
objective function without the artificial variables and solve the problem using the Simplex
method.
Why is it used?
The drawback of the penalty cost method is the possible computational error resulting
from assigning a very large value to the constant M. To overcome this difficulty, Two -
Phase Simplex method is considered where the use of M is eliminated by solving the
problem in two phases.
1. It does not produce optimal results. Solutions are approximate, and it is some less
than formal but ‘satisfactory’ approach to problem-solving only.
2. To be able to simulate systems, a fairly good knowledge of the parts or components
of the system and their characteristics is required. The desire is to understand,
explain and predict the dynamic behavior of the system or the sum total of these
parts. Adequate knowledge of the system behavior.
3. Each simulation run like a single experiment conducted under a given set of
conditions as defined by a set of values for the input solution. A number of
simulation runs will be necessary and thus can be time consuming. As the number
of variables increases in terms of input, the difficulty in finding the optimum values
increases considerably.
4. Since simulation involves repetitions of the experiment, it is a time consuming task
when manually done.
5. As a number of parameters, increase, the difficulty in finding the optimum values
increases to a considerable extent.
6. Because of the simplicity in adoption of simulation process, one may develop to rely
on this technique too often, although mathematical model is more suitable to the
situation.
7. One should not ignore the cost associated with a simulation study for data
collection, formation of the model. A good simulation model may be very
expensive. Often it takes years to develop a usable corporate planning model.
8. The computer time as it is fairly significant.
9. A simulation application is based on the premise that the behaviour pattern of
relevant variables is known, and this very premise sometimes becomes
questionable.
10. Not always can the probabilities be estimated with ease or desired reliability. The
results of simulation should always be compared with solutions obtained by other
methods wherever possible, and “tempered” with managerial judgment