stuck with a Linear programing exercice using solver!

Hi guys,

I am trying to solve this problem using solver but I am so stuck. There are so many constraints that I don't even know where to start from . Can you please give some guidance ?

here is the problem:

The Monkey Bagels Biscuit Company produces Crackers, Cookies and Bagels. It has outlets in Jersey and York. It is the company's policy that its production must satisfy the demand at the outlets. The monthly demand for the products (in thousand pounds) are:

Jersey York

Crackers 20 30

Cookies 50 25

Bagels 30 20

The company has two production facilities, one in Cranium and one in Medulla. Each facility can make each product.

Production involves two key operations ---baking and packing. The oven capacity at the Cranium and Medulla bakeries are, respectively, 150 and 100 thousand pounds (of raw ingredients fed in) per month. Each facility uses its own packing line, which packs the Crackers and Bagels that it bakes. Cookies are shipped in bulk; they need not be packed. The capacities of the packing lines in Cranium and Medulla are, respectively, 80 and 50 thousand pounds per month. This capacity is measured in the quantity processed through the packing line.

The baking line in Cranium is not automated, and an agreement has been reached with the Cranium workers that at least 25 percent of its baking (as measured by oven usage) must be devoted to Cookies, which are more labor intensive than Crackers and Bagels.

The shipping cost is the same for all products. The cost (in dollars) per thousand pounds shipped from the bakeries to the outlets is given below:

Jersey York

Cranium 15 30

Medulla 20 10

The production costs (in dollars per thousand pounds of raw ingredients fed) are:

Cranium Medulla

Crackers 5 4

Cookies 6 7

Bagels 5 5

The Operations Manager of the Monkey Bagels Biscuit Company must design a production/distribution plan so that the total monthly costs --- manufacturing and transportation costs --- are as low as possible.

The Operations Manager must decide how much of each product to manufacture at each bakery and how much to ship to each outlet.

(a) Formulate a linear program to solve this problem. Define your decision variables and explain the constraints.

(b) Solve the linear program.

This problem is a bit more complex that home work normally are, rather interesting by the way.

Just looking at the numbers one can see that baking capacity will not be a constraint but packing will be so normally one would not need to include this but since your teacher has specified that for the total baking production at Cranium 25% should be cookies you need to include this as well.

He could perhaps be a bit more specific in his naming convention, does he mean Medulla Spinalis or Medulla Oblongata.

Alf

there are so many constraints, I have tried to do it but I end up erasing everything because I am always missing something.

because I am always missing something

Well as this is home work members may give hints so upload a file with the model setup as far as you've managed and I'll see if I can help you through.

To upload a file click button "Go Advanced" and scroll down to "Attachments" and click on blue text "Manage Attachments"

Alf

Sorry I did not know if I was allowed to attach my excel file. I ended up doing something similar but I was not able to set up the packing constraint. Thank you so much for helping me. I truly appreciate it.

Ok, since you solved it. Let's compare models.

Alf

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I submitted it yesterday and I gave up finishing it. I got stuck with the packing constraints. Thanks a lot for solving it!! I truly appreciate it! I am going through your work, man hats off! I will let you know if your solution is right but I have no doubt it is.

You are welcome.

Alf