Linear Programming

Some Important terms:

1. Objective Function is the function that needs to be optimized (either maximized or minimized). Examples are profit
functions and cost functions.

2. Constraint is a limitation on the resources (such as materials and labor) or a requirement that must be complied
(such as laws or material specification).

3. Linear Programming Problem consists of a linear objective function to be maximized or to be minimized subject
to certain constraints in the form of linear equations or inequalities.

Requirements of LP Models

1. The decision maker must have an objective to achieve. This objective must relate to a quantity such as profit or cost,
which the decision maker wishes to optimize.
2. There must be at least two decision variables that the decision maker can operate at different levels.
3. The decision variables must be operated at levels that do not violate the limitations/ restrictions placed on the decision
maker.
4. The variables must be interrelated and the decision maker must be able to express the relationship in terms of linear
equations or linear inequalities.

Steps in LP Model Formulation

1. If possible, tabulate the given information in the problem.

2. Identify the objective (either to maximize or to minimize a certain quantity).

3. Identify the decision variables.

4. Write an equation which expresses the quantity to be maximized or to be minimized in terms of the decision variables.
This is the objective function.

5. Write the equations or inequalities that express the different constraints. These are the explicit constraints.

6. Include the non-negativity constraint.

Examples:

Formulate but do not solve the LP problems:

1. MD Electronics Corp. is planning to produce two products C 13 and C15. At the assembly plant, a C13 unit requires 4
hours and a C15 requires 5 hours. C13 and C15 units require 3 and 2 hours, respectively, for finishing. At most 220
hours and 210 hours of assembly and finishing, respectively, are available per month. If the anticipated profit is
P30/unit for C13 and P25/unit for C15, find the product mix to maximize profit.

Objective: To maximize profit, z

Let x be the number of units of C13
Decision Variables:
y be the number of units of C15
Objective Function: Maximize z = 30x + 25y

Constraints:

Available Assembly Plant Hours: 4 + 3 220

Available Finishing Dept. Hours: 5 + 2 210

Non-negativity Constraint (NNC): , 0

2. ABC Furniture produces inexpensive tables and chairs. Both require labor hours for carpentry and painting jobs.
Each table requires 4 hours of carpentry time and 2 hours of painting time. Each chair requires 3 hours of carpentry
and 1 hour of painting time. During the next production period, there are 240 hours available for carpentry and 100
hours for painting. Each table yields P150 profit and each chair, P75. Determine the best product combination to
optimize profit.

Objective: To maximize profit, z

Let x be the number of tables
Decision Variables:
y be the number of chairs
Objective Function: Maximize z = 150x + 75y

Constraints:

Available Carpentry Time: 4 + 3 240

Available Painting Time: 2 + 100

Non-negativity Constraint (NNC): , 0

3. As a part of quality improvement initiative, Consolidated Electronics employees complete a three-day training
program on team-building and a two-day training program on problem solving. The manager of quality improvement
has requested that at least 8 training programs on team-building and at least 10 training programs on problem solving
be offered during the next six months. In addition, senior level management has specified that at least 25 training
programs must be offered during this period. The company uses a consultant to teach the training programs. During
the next quarter, the consultant has 84 days of training time available.

Each training program on teaming costs P150,000 and each training program on problem solving costs
P125,000. Formulate a linear programming model that can be used to determine the number of training programs on
team-building and the number of training programs on problem solving that should be offered in order to minimize
the total cost.
 Objective: To minimize the cost of training programs, z
Let x be the number of training programs on team-building
Decision Variables:
Y be the number of training program on problem-solving
Objective Function: Minimize z = 150,000x + 125,000y

Constraints:
QI Managers request: 8
10
Senior Level Mgmt. specs: + 25

Consultants availability: 3 + 2 84

Note: It is not necessary to include , 0 as a constraint since the QI managers request (first 2 explicit
constraints) are non-negative in nature.

4. The New England Cheese Co. produces two cheese spreads by blending mild cheddar with extra sharp cheddar
cheese. The cheese spreads are packaged in 128-oz containers which are then sold to distributors. The Regular blend
contains 80% mild cheddar and 20% extra sharp, and the Zesty blend contains 60% mild cheddar and 40% extra
sharp. This year, a local dairy cooperative offered to provide up to 8,100 lbs of mild cheddar cheese for P54 per lb
and up to 3,000 lbs of extra sharp cheddar cheese for P63 per lb. The cost to blend and package the cheese spreads,
excluding the cost of cheese, is P9 per container.
If each container of Regular is sold for P700 and each container of Zesty is sold for P750, how many containers of
Regular and Zesty should New England Cheese produce in order to maximize the profit?

Note: It is necessary to convert the unit of measurement of some quantities. We may use the conversion 16 oz = 1 lb.
Hence, the cheese spreads are packaged in 8-lbs container.

In the formulation, it will be helpful to create a table of the values given:

Ingredients Total Cost of Cost to Blend

Products, Selling Profit per
Mild Extra Ingredients and Package,
in containers Price, in PhP container
Cheddar Sharp per container in PhP
Regular Blend 80% 20% 446.40 9 700 244.60
Zesty Blend 60% 40% 460.80 9 750 280.20
Availability 8100 3000

Objective: To maximize the profit, z

Let x be the number of containers of Regular Blend Cheese
Decision Variables:
y be the number of containers of Zesty Blend Cheese
Objective Function: Maximize z = 244.60x + 280.20y

Constraints:

Availability of Mild Cheddar: 6.4 + 4.8 8100

Availability of Extra Sharp: 1.6 + 3.2 3000

Non-negativity constraint: , 0
Formulate the LP problems:

1. (Product Mix Problem) NBC Novelty Shop wishes to produce two types of souvenirs: Item A and Item B. Each
Item A souvenir will result in a profit of P50, and each Item B souvenir will result in a profit of P60. To manufacture
an Item A souvenir requires 2 minutes on machine 1 and 1 minute on machine 2 while an Item B souvenir requires 1
minute on machine 1 and 3 minutes on machine 2. There are 3 hours available on machine 1 and 5 hours available on
machine 2. How many souvenirs of each type should NBC Novelty Shop make in order to maximize its profit?

Objective: To maximize profit, z

Let x be the number of Item A
Decision Variables:
y be the number of Item B
Objective Function:

Constraints:

2. (Nutrition Problem) A nutritionist advises an individual who is suffering from iron and vitamin-B deficiency to take
at least 2400 mg of iron, 2100 mg of vitamin B1 and 1500 mg of vitamin B2 over a certain period of time. Two
vitamin capsules are suitable, Neuro-Iron and Sango-Iron. Each Neuro-Iron capsule costs P6 and contains 40 mg of
iron, 10 mg of vitamin B1 and 5 mg of vitamin B2. Each Sango-Iron costs P8 and contains 10 mg or iron and 15 mg
each of vitamins B1 and B2. What combination of each brand should the individual purchase in order to meet the
minimum iron and vitamin requirements at the lowest cost?

Objective: To minimize cost, z

Let x be the number of capsules of Neuro-Iron
Decision Variables:
y be the number of capsules of Sango-Iron
Objective Function:

Constraints:
3. (Transportation Problem) ABC Industries has two plants, I and II, that produce jet engines used in light commercial
airplanes. There are 100 units of engines in plant I and 110 units in plant II. The engines are shipped to two of the
firms main assembly plants, A and B. The shipping costs per engine from the two plants to the main assembly plants
are as follows:

To
From
Assembly Plant A Assembly Plant B

Plant 1 P5,000 P3,000

Plant 2 P6,000 P3,500

In a certain month, assembly plant A needs 80 engines while assembly plant B needs 70 engines. Find how many
engines should be shipped from each plant to each main assembly plant if shipping costs are to be kept to a minimum.

Objective:

Decision Variables:

Objective Function:

Constraints:

4. (Investment Problem) Moonlife Financials has a total of P100 million earmarked for home and auto loans. On the
average, home loans have a 10% annual rate of return while auto loans yield a 12% annual rate of return. Management
also stipulated that the total amount of home loans should be greater than or equal to 4 times the total amount of
automobile loans. Determine the total amount of loans of each type Moonlife Financials should extend to each
category in order to maximize its returns.

Objective:

Decision Variables:

Objective Function:

Constraints:
5. (Advertising Problem) As part of a campaign to promote its annual clearance sale, Shangri-Son Malls decided to buy
television advertising time on Station ABS-5. Its advertising budget is P5M. Morning time costs P150,000/minute,
afternoon time costs P50,000/minute and evening or prime time costs P600,000/minute. Station ABS-5 cannot offer
Shangri-Son Mall more than 6 minutes of prime time or more than a total of 25 minutes of advertising time over the
weeks in which the commercials are to be run. Station ABS-5 estimates that morning commercials are seen by
200,000 people, afternoon commercials are seen by 100,000 people while evening commercials are seen by 600,000
people. How much morning, afternoon and evening advertising time should Shangri-Son Malls buy in order to
maximize exposure of its commercials?

Objective:

Decision Variables:

Objective Function:

Constraints: