2.99 See Answer

Question: Based on Magoulas and Marinos-Kouris (1988).


Based on Magoulas and Marinos-Kouris (1988). An oil company produces two products: regular and premium gasoline. Each product contains 0.15 gram of lead per liter. The two products are produced from these six inputs: reformate, fluid catalytic cracker gasoline (FCG), isomerate (ISO), polymer (POL), methyl tertiary butyl ether (MTBE), and butane (BUT). Each input has four attributes: research octane number (RON), Reid vapor pressure (RVP), ASTM volatility at 70 degrees Celsius, and ASTM volatility at 130 degrees Celsius. (ASTM is the American Society for Testing and Materials.) The attributes and daily availability (in liters) of each input are listed in the file P04_91.xlsx. The requirements for each output are also listed in this file. The daily demand (in thousands of liters) for each product must be met, but more can be produced if desired. The RON and ASTM requirements are minimums; the RVP requirement is a maximum. Regular gasoline sells for $0.754 per liter; premium gasoline for $0.819. Before each product is ready for sale, 0.15 gram per liter of lead must be removed. The cost of removing 0.1 gram per liter is $0.213. At most, 38% of each type of gasoline can consist of FCG. How can the company maximize its daily profit?



> The town of Busville has three school districts. The numbers of black students and white students in each district are shown in the file P05_42.xlsx. The Supreme Court requires the schools in Busville to be racially balanced. Thus, each school must have

> Dataware is trying to determine whether to give a $10 rebate, cut the price $6, or have no price change on a software product. Currently, 40,000 units of the product are sold each week for $45 apiece. The variable cost of the product is $5. The most like

> One rather unrealistic assumption in the flight scheduling model is that a given plane can fly two consecutive flights with no downtime. For example, it could fly flight 5903 that gets into Washington, D.C. at time 14 and then fly flight 7555 that leaves

> In the flight-scheduling model, use SolverTable to examine the effect of increasing both the fixed cost per plane and the overnight cost by the same percentage, assuming that the company owns eight planes. Let this percentage vary from 0% to 50% in incre

> In the Grand Prix example with varying tax rates, the optimal solution more than satisfies customer demands. Modify the model so that regions have not only lower limits on the amounts they require, but upper limits on the amounts they can sell. Assume th

> In the flight-scheduling model, use SolverTable to examine the effect of decreasing all net revenues by the same percentage, assuming that the company owns six planes. Let this percentage vary from 0% to 50% in increments of 10%. Discuss the changes that

> We illustrated how a machine replacement problem can be modeled as a shortest path problem. This is probably not the approach most people would think of when they first see a machine replacement problem. In fact, most people would probably never think in

> In the VanBuren machine replacement problem, suppose the company starts with a machine that is eight quarters old at the beginning of the first quarter. Modify the model appropriately, keeping in mind that this initial machine must be sold no more than f

> In the VanBuren machine replacement problem, the company’s current policy is to keep a machine at least four quarters but no more than 12 quarters. Suppose instead that the company imposes no upper limit on how long it will keep a machine; its only polic

> In the VanBuren machine replacement problem, the company’s current policy is to keep a machine at least 4 quarters but no more than 12 quarters. Suppose this policy is instead to keep a machine at least 5 quarters but no more than 10 quarters. Modify the

> How difficult is it to add nodes and arcs to an existing shortest path model? Answer by adding a new node, node 11, to Maude’s network. Assume that node 11 is at the top of the network, geographically, with double-arrowed arcs joining it to nodes 2, 5, a

> In the VanBuren machine replacement problem, we assumed that the maintenance cost and salvage values are linear functions of age. Suppose instead that the maintenance cost increases by 50% each quarter and that the salvage value decreases by 10% each qua

> The file lists sales (in millions of dollars) of Dell Computer during the period 1987–1997 (where year 1 corresponds to 1987). a. Fit a power and an exponential trend curve to these data. Which fits the data better? b. Use your part a answer to predict 1

> Continuing the previous problem, suppose again that all arcs go in both directions, but suppose Maude’s objective is to find the shortest path from node 1 to node 7 (not node 10). Modify the spreadsheet model appropriately and solve.

> In Maude’s shortest path problem, suppose all arcs in the current network from higher-numbered nodes to lower numbered nodes, such as from node 6 to node 5, are disallowed. Modify the spreadsheet model and find the shortest path from node 1 to node 10. I

> In Maude’s shortest path problem, suppose all arcs in the network are double-arrowed, that is, Maude can travel along each arc (with the same distance) in either direction. Modify the spreadsheet model appropriately. Is her optimal solution still the sam

> Suppose in the original Grand Prix example that the routes from plant 2 to region 1 and from plant 3 to region 3 are not allowed. (Perhaps there are no railroad lines for these routes.) How would you modify the original model to rule out these routes? Ho

> Continuing the previous problem, develop and optimize a sample model with your own choices of N, M, and L that barely stay within Solver’s limit. You can make up any input data. The important point here is the layout and formulas of the spreadsheet model

> Consider a modification of the original RedBrand problem where there are N plants, M warehouses, and L customers. Assume that the only allowable arcs are from plants to warehouses and from warehouses to customers. If all such arcs are allowable—all plant

> In the RedBrand problem with shrinkage, change the assumptions. Now instead of assuming that there is some shrinkage at the warehouses, assume that there is shrinkage in delivery along each route. Specifically, assume that a certain percentage of the uni

> How difficult is it to expand the original RedBrand model? Answer this by adding a new plant, two new warehouses, and three new customers, and modify the spreadsheet model appropriately. You can make up the required input data.

> In the RedBrand two-product problem, we assumed that the unit shipping costs are the same for both products. Modify the spreadsheet model so that each product has its own unit shipping costs. You can assume that the original unit shipping costs apply to

> Expand the RedBrand two-product spreadsheet model so that there are now three products competing for the arc capacity. You can make up the required input data.

> Repeat parts a–d of the problem 24 for a six-month European put option with exercise price $40. Again, assume a current stock price of $35, a risk-free rate of 5%, and an annual volatility of 40%. Data from Problem 24: A European call option on a stock

> Continuing the previous problem, make the problem even more general by allowing upper bounds (arc capacities) and lower bounds for the flows on the allowable arcs. Some of the upper bounds can be very large numbers, effectively indicating that there is n

> In the original RedBrand problem, we assume a constant arc capacity, the same for all allowable arcs. Modify the model so that each arc has its own arc capacity. You can make up the required arc capacities.

> In the original RedBrand problem, the costs for shipping from plants or warehouses to customer 2 were purposely made high so that it would be optimal to ship to customer 1 and then let customer 1 ship to customer 2. Use SolverTable appropriately to do th

> In the original RedBrand problem, suppose the plants cannot ship to each other and the customers cannot ship to each other. Modify the model appropriately and reoptimize. How much does the total cost increase because of these disallowed routes?

> The optimal solution to the original Grand Prix problem indicates that with a unit shipping cost of $132, the route from plant 3 to region 2 is evidently too expensive—no autos are shipped along this route. Use SolverTable to see how much this unit shipp

> Modify the original RedBrand problem so that all flows must be from plants to warehouses and from warehouses to customers. Disallow all other arcs. How much does this restriction cost RedBrand, relative to the original optimal shipping cost?

> When we (the authors) originally developed the bus route assignment model, we included an arc capacity constraint: Flow # 1. After giving this further thought, we deleted this constraint as being redundant. Why could we do this? Specifically, why can’t o

> In the optimal solution to the bus route assignment problem, company 2 is assigned to bus routes 6 and 7. Suppose these two routes are far enough apart that it is infeasible for one company to service both of them. Change the model to accommodate this re

> In the optimal solution to the machine-to-job assignment problem, jobs 3 and 4 are assigned to different machines. Suppose there is an extra restriction that these jobs must be assigned to the same machine. Change the model to accommodate this restrictio

> In the optimal solution to the machine-to-job assignment problem, jobs 1 and 2 are both assigned to machine 4. Suppose there is an extra restriction that jobs 1 and 2 must be assigned to different machines. Change the model to accommodate this restrictio

> A European call option on a stock earns the owner an amount equal to the price at expiration minus the exercise price, if the price of the stock on which the call is written exceeds the exercise price. Otherwise, the call pays nothing. A European put opt

> We modeled the bus route assignment problem with the alternative form of the transportation model (as in Figure 5.8). Model it instead with the standard form. Discuss the pros and cons of these two approaches for this particular example.

> Modify the bus route assignment model, assuming that company 1 decides to place bids on routes 7 and 8 (in addition to its current bids on other routes). The bids on these two routes are $5200 and $3300. Does the optimal solution change?

> In the machine-to-job assignment problem, the current capacities of the machines are 1, 2, 1, 2, and 1. If you could increase one of these capacities by 1, which would you increase? Why?

> Modify the machine-to-job assignment model under the assumption that only three of the four jobs must be completed. In other words, one of the four jobs does not have to be assigned to any machine. What is the new optimal solution?

> One possible solution method for the machine-to job assignment problem is the following heuristic procedure. Assign the machine to job 1 that completes job 1 quickest. Then assign the machine to job 2 that, among all machines that still have some capacit

> In the original Grand Prix example, the total capacity of the three plants is 1550, well above the total customer demand. Would it help to have 100 more units of capacity at plant 1? What is the most Grand Prix would be willing to pay for this extra capa

> Budget Auto produces inexpensive cars. Each car is sold for $12,500. The raw material in a car costs $8000. Labor time and robot time are needed to produce cars. A worker can do the needed labor on, at most, 100 cars per month; a robot can complete the n

> Broker Sonya Wong is currently trying to maximize her profit in the bond market. Four bonds are available for purchase and sale at the bid and ask prices shown in the file P04_97.xlsx. Sonya can buy up to 1000 units of each bond at the ask price or sell

> An automobile manufacturing company has a $500,000 advertising budget. To increase its automobile sales, the company is considering advertising in newspapers and on television. The more the company uses a particular medium, the less effective each additi

> Mondo Motorcycles is determining its production schedule for the next four quarters. Demands for motorcycles are forecasted to be 400 in quarter 1; 700 in quarter 2; 500 in quarter 3; and 200 in quarter 4. Mondo incurs four types of costs, as described h

> Georgia McBeal is trying to save for her retirement. She believes she can earn 10% on average each year on her retirement fund. Assume that at the beginning of each of the next 40 years, Georgia will allocate x dollars to her retirement fund. If at the b

> Bexter Labs produces three products: A, B, and C. Bexter can sell up to 2000 units of product A, up to 3000 units of product B, and up to 5000 units of product C. Each unit of product C uses two units of A and three units of B and incurs $7 in processing

> Molecular Products produces three chemicals: B, C, and D. The company begins by purchasing chemical A for a cost of $650 per 100 liters. For an additional cost of $320 and the use of three hours of skilled labor, 100 liters of A can be transformed into 4

> Capsule Drugs manufactures two drugs. The drugs are produced by blending two chemicals. By weight, drug 1 must contain at least 75% chemical 1, and drug 2 must contain at least 45% chemical 1. Drug 1 sells for $10 per ounce, and drug 2 sells for $7 per o

> You can calculate the risk index of an investment by taking the absolute values of percentage changes in the value of the investment for each year and averaging them. Suppose you are trying to determine the percentages of your money to invest in several

> In the employee scheduling example, suppose that each full-time employee works eight hours per day. Thus, Monday’s requirement of 17 employees can be viewed as a requirement of 8(17) 5 136 hours. The company can meet its daily labor requirements by using

> You own a wheat warehouse with a capacity of 20,000 bushels. At the beginning of month 1, you have 6000 bushels of wheat. Each month, wheat can be bought and sold at the prices per bushel listed in the file. The sequence of events during each month is as

> The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has determined that during each of the next 12 months it will need the numbers of supercomputers given in the file. To meet these requirements, the IRS rents supercomputers for a period of one, two, or three months. It

> During the next four quarters, Dorian Auto must meet (on time) the following demands for cars: 4000 in quarter 1; 2000 in quarter 2; 5000 in quarter 3; 1000 in quarter 4. At the beginning of quarter 1, there are 300 autos in stock. The company has the ca

> Based on Charnes and Cooper (1955). A small company is trying to determine employee salary based on the following attributes: effectiveness, responsibility, initiative, experience, education, self-expression, planning ability, intelligence, and the abili

> You are thinking of opening a small copy shop. It costs $5000 to rent a copier for a year, and it costs $0.03 per copy to operate the copier. Other fixed costs of running the store will amount to $400 per month. You plan to charge an average of $0.10 per

> AdminaStar processes Medicare claims. At the beginning of month 1 they have a backlog of 40,000 difficult claims and 60,000 easy claims. The predicted claim volume for months 1 through 8 is listed in the file P04_85.xlsx. At the beginning of month 1, Adm

> Based on Brams and Taylor (2000). Suppose that Eli Lilly and Pfizer are going to merge. Merger negotiations must settle the following issues: ■ What will the name of the merged corporation be?\ ■ Will corporate headquarters be in Indianapolis (Lilly want

> Suppose you are planning for retirement. At the beginning of this year and each of the next 39 years, you plan to contribute some money to your retirement fund. Each year, you plan to increase your retirement contribution by $500. When you retire in 40 y

> A graduated payment mortgage (GPM) enables the borrower to have lower payments earlier in the mortgage and increased payments later on. The assumption is the borrower’s income will increase over time so that it will be easier for the borrower to meet all

> You want to take out a $450,000 loan on a 20-year mortgage with end-of-month payments. The annual rate of interest is 3%. Twenty years from now, you will need to make a $50,000 ending balloon payment. Because you expect your income to increase, you want

> During the next two months an automobile manufacturer must meet (on time) the following demands for trucks and cars: month 1, 400 trucks and 800 cars; month 2, 300 trucks and 300 cars. During each month at most 1000 vehicles can be produced. Each truck u

> How much influence can the employee requirements for one, two, or three days have on the weekly schedule in the employee scheduling example? Explore this in the following questions: a. Let Monday’s requirements change from 17 to 25 in increments of 1. Us

> The HiTech company produces Blu-Ray disc players. Estimated demands for the next four quarters are 5000, 10,000, 8000, and 2000. At the beginning of quarter 1, HiTech has 60 workers. It costs $2000 to hire a worker and $4000 to fire a worker. Workers are

> An oil company produces gasoline from five inputs. The cost, density, viscosity, and sulfur content, and the number of barrels available of each input are listed in the file. Gasoline sells for $75 per barrel. Gasoline can have a density of at most 0.95

> An automobile manufacturer needs to plan its production for the next year. Demands for the next 12 months are forecasted to be 940, 790, 360, 720, 270, 130, 160, 300, 990, 290, 280, and 790. Other relevant information is as follows: ■ Workers are paid $5

> You are thinking of opening a Broadway play, I Love You, You’re Mediocre, Now Get Better! It will cost $5 million to develop the show. There are 8 shows per week, and you project the show will run for 100 weeks. It costs $1000 to open the theater each ni

> A rock company uses five types of rocks to fill six orders. The phosphate content, availability of each type of rock, and the production cost per pound for each rock are listed in the file, as well as the size of each order and the minimum and maximum ph

> Based on Gaballa and Pearce (1979). Northwest Airlines has determined that it needs the number of ticket agents during each hour of the day listed in the file. Workers work nine-hour shifts, one hour of which is for lunch. The lunch hour can be either th

> A bank needs exactly two employees working each hour from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Workers can work the shifts and are paid the wages listed in the file. For example, a worker working 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. is paid $42.00. Find an assignment of workers that provides e

> A company produces two products: A and B. Product A sells for $11 per unit and product B sells for $23 per unit. Producing a unit of product A requires two hours on assembly line 1 and one unit of raw material. Producing a unit of product B requires two

> Based on Thomas (1971). A toy company produces toys at two plants and sells them in three regions. The current demands at these regions are given in the file. Each plant can produce up to 4500 units. Each toy sells for $30, and the cost of producing and

> Carrington Oil produces gas 1 and gas 2 from two types of crude oil: crude 1 and crude 2. Gas 1 is allowed to contain up to 4% impurities, and gas 2 is allowed to contain up to 3% impurities. Gas 1 sells for $72 per barrel, whereas gas 2 sells for $84 pe

> A feed company produces two types of cattle feed, both consisting totally of wheat and alfalfa. Feed 1 must contain at least 75% wheat, and feed 2 must contain at least 65% alfalfa. Feed 1 sells for $2.50 per pound, and feed 2 sells for $2.10 per pound.

> Modify the employee scheduling model so that employees are paid $10 per hour on weekdays and $15 per hour on weekends. Change the objective so that you now minimize the weekly payroll. (You can assume that each employee works eight hours per day.) Is the

> Federated Oil has refineries in Los Angeles and Chicago. The Los Angeles refinery can refine up to two million barrels of oil per year, and the Chicago refinery up to three million. After the oil is refined, it is shipped to two distribution points, Hous

> Candy Kane Cosmetics (CKC) produces Leslie Perfume, which requires chemicals and labor. Two production processes are available. Process 1 transforms 0.3 unit of labor and 0.4 unit of chemicals into an ounce of perfume. Process two transforms 0.2 unit of

> Julie James is opening a lemonade stand. She believes the fixed cost per week of running the stand is $50.00. Her best guess is that she can sell 300 cups per week at $0.50 per cup. The variable cost of producing a cup of lemonade is $0.20. a. Given her

> Continuing the previous problem, use Goal Seek for each value of number mailed (once for 80,000, once for 90,000, and so on). For each, find the response rate that allows the company to break even. Then chart these values, where the number mailed is on t

> Based on Heady and Egbert (1964). Walnut Orchard has two farms that grow wheat and corn. Because of differing soil conditions, there are differences in the yields and costs of growing crops on the two farms. The yields and costs are listed in the file. E

> United Steel manufactures two types of steel at three different steel mills. During a given month, each steel mill has 240 hours of blast furnace time available. Because of differences in the furnaces at each mill, the time and cost to produce a ton of s

> All steel manufactured by Allied Steel must meet the following requirements: between 3.2% and 3.5% carbon; between 1.8% and 2.5% silicon; between 0.9% and 1.2% nickel; tensile strength of at least 45,000 pounds per square inch (psi). The company manufact

> An oil company processes oil into aviation fuel and heating oil. It costs $55,000 to purchase each 1000 barrels of oil, which is then distilled and yields 450 barrels of aviation fuel and 550 barrels of heating oil. Output from the distillation can be so

> You now have $10,000, and the following investment plans are available to you during the next three years: ■ Investment A: Every dollar invested now yields $0.10 a year from now and $1.30 three years from now. ■ Investment B: Every dollar invested now yi

> At the beginning of year 1, you have $100,000. Investments A and B are available; their cash flows are shown in the file. Assume that any money not invested in A or B earns interest at an annual rate of 2.5%. a. Determine how to maximize your cash on han

> An investor has $100,000 to invest right now (the beginning of year 1). The cash flows associated with five available investments are listed in the file. For example, every dollar invested in A in year 1 yields $1.40 in year 4. In addition to these inves

> Abotte Products produces three products, A, B, and C. The company can sell up to 500 pounds of each product at the following prices (per pound): product A, $10; product B, $15; and product C, $25. Abotte purchases raw material at $7 per pound. Each pound

> Suppose there are three objectives, not just two: the total advertising cost, the total number of excess exposures to men, and the total number of excess exposures to women. Continuing the approach suggested in the previous problem, how might you proceed

> A chemical company produces three products, A, B, and C, and can sell these products in unlimited quantities at the following unit prices: A, $10; B, $55; and C, $100. Producing a unit of A requires one hour of labor; a unit of B, two hours of labor plus

> The XNPV function can calculate NPV for any (possibly irregular) series of cash flows. Look this function up in Excel’s online help. Then use it to develop a spreadsheet model that finds the NPV of the following series: a payment of $25,000 today (assume

> A furniture company manufactures tables and chairs. A table requires 45 board-feet of wood, and a chair requires 20 board-feet of wood. Wood can be purchased at a cost of $1.90 per board-foot, and 25,000 board-feet of wood are available for purchase. It

> A coal company produces coal at three mines and ships it to four customers. The cost per ton of producing coal, the ash and sulfur content (per ton) of the coal, and the production capacity (in tons) for each mine are given in the file. The number of ton

> Many Wall Street firms use LP models to select a desirable bond portfolio. The following is a simplified version of such a model. Solodrex is considering investing in four bonds; $1 million is available for investment. The expected annual return, the wo

> Hiland’s Appliances stocks laptops, TVs, refrigerators, microwave ovens, and ranges. These products compete for floor space, tie up different amounts of capital, and have different profit margins. The company has also specified minimum percentages of the

> A chemical manufacturer uses chemicals 1 and 2 to produce two drugs. Drug 1 must be at least 80% chemical 1, and drug 2 must be at least 50% chemical 2. Up to 70,000 ounces of drug 1 can be sold at $40 per ounce; up to 50,000 ounces of drug 2 can be sold

> A fertilizer company blends silicon and nitrogen to produce two types of fertilizers. Fertilizer 1 must be at least 40% nitrogen and sells for $70 per pound. Fertilizer 2 must be at least 70% silicon and sells for $40 per pound. The company can purchase

> Young MBA Erica Cudahy can invest up to $20,000 in stocks and loans. Each dollar invested in stocks yields $0.08 profit, and each dollar invested in a loan yields $0.13 profit. At least 40% of all money invested must be in stocks, and at least $7000 must

> A bank is attempting to determine where its assets should be invested during the current year. At present, $500,000 is available for investment in bonds, home loans, auto loans, and personal loans. The annual rates of return on each type of investment ar

> Sunblessed Juice Company sells bags of oranges and cartons of orange juice. Sunblessed grades oranges on a scale of 1 (poor) to 10 (excellent). At present, Sunblessed has 220,000 pounds of grade 6 oranges and 150,000 pounds of grade 9 oranges on hand. Th

> In the dual-objective advertising model, we put a budget constraint on the total advertising cost and then maximized the total number of excess exposures. Do it the opposite way, reversing the roles of the two objectives. That is, model it so that you pu

2.99

See Answer