Operations Research-1 MATH 341

Instructor: Kamran Rashid SUMMER 2023-24

ASSIGNMENT-1 Max Marks = 50

Due Date: Wednesday, 12 June 2024 (11:00 PM)

Submission Method: Soft copy to be uploaded on LMS within the deadline
NOTE: Other methods of submission may
not be accepted, except with prior approval of the instructor

Attempt all five given questions.

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. You may work on this assignment either individually or in groups of two members each. Only
one submission is required from each group, mentioning names and IDs of both members.

2. You are not allowed to share/discuss any portion of your assignment with anyone else in
our class or outside, other than the instructor and the TA

3. You are welcome to use all available resource to develop your concepts, but you are not
allowed to use the web (or similar) resources related to the specific solutions of the given
problems

4. Upload a single file only, and name your file using the following format:

A1_Your 8-digit IDs e.g. A1_25110888_25110999

5. The submitted assignment should be your own original work, and should not be
shared with any other student in our class or anyone outside our class, during the
semester and beyond.

You also need to provide this testimony in your own words at the start of your submitted file,
with names and IDs of all group members.

NOTE: Your assignment will not be graded without this testimony.

Q. 1 Spandex Company manufactures, assembles, and rebuilds material handling equipment used
in warehouses and distribution centers. One product, called a Knifelifter, is assembled from four
components: a frame, a motor, two supports, and a metal strap. Spandex’s production schedule calls
for 5000 Knifelifter to be made next month. Spandex purchases the motors from an outside supplier,
but the frames, supports, and straps may be either manufactured by the company or purchased from
an outside supplier. Manufacturing and purchase costs per unit are shown.

Component Manufacturing Cost Purchase Cost

Frame $38.00 $51.00
Support $11.50 $15.00
Strap $ 6.50 $ 9.50

Three departments are involved in the production of these components. The time (in minutes per
unit) required to process each component in each department and the available capacity (in hours) for
the three departments are as follows:

Component Cutting Milling Shaping

Frame 3.5 2.2 3.1
Support 1.3 1.7 2.6
Strap 0.8 - 2.5
Capacity (hours) 350 420 570

Formulate the above problem as an appropriate Linear Program.

Q. 2 Hilltop Coffee manufactures a coffee product by blending three types of coffee beans. The
cost per pound and the available pounds of each bean are as follows:

Bean Cost per Pound Available Pounds

1 $0.50 500
2 $0.70 600
3 $0.45 400

Consumer tests with coffee products were used to provide ratings on a scale of 0–100, with higher
ratings indicating higher quality.

Product quality standards for the blended coffee require a consumer rating for aroma to be at least 75
and a consumer rating for taste to be at least 80. The individual ratings of the aroma and taste for
coffee made from 100% of each bean are as follows:

Bean Aroma Rating Taste Rating

1 75 86
2 85 88
3 60 75

Assume that the aroma and taste attributes of the coffee blend will be a weighted average of the
attributes of the beans used in the blend.

Formulate the above problem as a Linear program that will determine the optimal blend
toprovide1000 pounds of the blended coffee product.
 Q. 3 As part of the settlement for a class action lawsuit, Hoxworth Corporation must providesufficient
cash to make the following annual payments (in thousands of dollars).

Year 1 2 3 4 5 6
Payment 175 215 240 285 315 460

The annual payments must be made at the beginning of each year. The judge will approve an amountthat,
along with earnings on its investment, will cover the annual payments.

Investment of the funds will be limited to savings (at 4% annually) and government securities, at prices
and rates currently quoted in The Wall Street Journal. Hoxworth wants to develop a plan for making the
annual payments by investing in the following securities (par value = $1000). Funds notinvested in these
securities will be placed in savings.

Security Current Price Rate (%) Years to Maturity

1 $1055 6.750 3
2 $1000 5.125 4

Assume that interest is paid annually. The plan will be submitted to the judge and, if approved,
Hoxworth will be required to pay a trustee the amount that will be required to fund the plan.

Formulate a Linear program to minimize the cash settlement necessary to fund the annual payments.
Q. 4 South of Border (SOB) Restaurant offers a variety of low-cost meals and quick service.
Other than management, the restaurant operates with several full-time employees who work 8
hours per day. The rest of the employees are part-time employees who are scheduled for 4-hour
shifts during peak meal times. On Saturdays the restaurant is open from 11:00 A.M. to 10:00 P.M.

SOB Management wants to develop a schedule for employees that will minimize labor costs andstill
provide excellent customer service. In order to ensure that the quality of service is not compromised,
the management wants the part-time workers to be no more than 60% of the total work force at any
time in the day. The average wage rate for the part-time employees is $7.60 per hour, while each
full-time employee receives $110 per day as wage and benefits. The total number of full-time and
part-time employees needed varies with the time of day as shown:

Total Number
Time of Employees Needed

11:00 a.m.–Noon 9
Noon–1:00 p.m. 12
1:00 p.m.–2:00 p.m. 8
2:00 p.m.–3:00 p.m. 3
3:00 p.m.–4:00 p.m. 5
4:00 p.m.–5:00 p.m. 4
5:00 p.m.–6:00 p.m. 6
6:00 p.m.–7:00 p.m. 15
7:00 p.m.–8:00 p.m. 13
8:00 p.m.–9:00 p.m. 17
9:00 p.m.–10:00 p.m. 7

One group of full-time employees comes on duty at 11:00 A.M., works 4 hours, takes an houroff,
and returns for another 4 hours. The other group of full-time employees comes to work at1:00 P.M.
and works the same 4-hours-on, 1-hour-off, 4-hours-on pattern.
Formulate an appropriate Linear Program for the above problem.
Q. 5 The Silver Star Bicycle Company will be manufacturing both men’s and women’s models forits
Easy-Pedal 10-speed bicycles during the next two months.

Management wants to develop a production schedule indicating how many bicycles of each model
should be produced in each month. Current demand forecasts call for 150 men’s and 125 women’s
models to be shipped during the first month and 200 men’s and 150 women’s models to be shipped
during the second month. Additional data are shown:

Labor Requirements (hours)

Model Production Manufacturing Assembly Current
Costs Inventory
Men’s $ 120 2.0 1.5 20
Women’s $ 90 1.6 1.0 30

Last month the company used a total of 1000 hours of labor. The company’s labor relations policywill
not allow the combined total hours of labor (manufacturing plus assembly) to increase or decrease by
more than 100 hours from month to month.

In addition, the company charges monthly inventory at the rate of 2% of the production cost based onthe
inventory levels at the end of the month. The company would like to have at least 25 units of each model
in inventory at the end of the two months.

Formulate a Linear program to develop the optimal production schedule.