OR- 2 MARKS

1. Define O.R.
a. Operations Research is the application of scientific methods, techniques
and tools to operations of systems to obtain optimal solution to the
problems,it provides a quantitative technique to the managers for making
better decisions for operations under control.

2. What is an Iconic or physical model in O.R.?

a. This is a physical or a pictorial representation of various aspects of a system.
Properties of the real system are represented by the properties themselves
with a change of scale. (e.g). Model of solar system, Scaled up model of a
cell in biology.

3. Write applications of O.R.

a. *Prodution,blending,productmix.
b. *Inventory control, demand forecast,sale and purchase.
c. *Transportation,repair and maintanance,scheduling and sequencing.
d. *Planning,scheduling and controlling of projects.
e. *Optimal allocation of men,machines,materials,time and money.
f. *Location and size of warehouses,distributions centres,retail depots,etc.
g. *Cash management so that all sections are departments receive adequate
supply of funds.

4. Define objective function and constraints in LPP?

It is a function of decision variables whose value must be optimized (maximized or
minimized). It is a set of simultaneous linear equations (or in equalities).

5. Define optimum basic feasible solution?

It is the basic feasible solution that also optimizes the objective function.

6. Define artificial variable?

Non-negative variables that are added to the constraints of(>=) or (=)type.The
purpose of introducing artificial variables is just to obtain an initial basic feasible
solution.

7. What is meant LPP?

a. Linear programming problem deals with the optimization (maximization or
minimization) of a function of decision variables subject to a set of
constraints.

8. Define a slack variable

a. Non-negative variables that are added to the left hand side of < = constraints
to convert them to equalities are called as slack variables.

9. Define a surplus variable

a. Non-negative variables that are subtracted from the left hand side of > =
constraints to convert them to equalities are called surplus variables.

10. Define Basic feasible solution.

 a. It is a Basic feasible solution that also satisfies the Non-negativity
restrictions. All variables in a Basic solution are > = 0.
11. Define a slack variable? How many slack variables would you using a LPP?
Non-negative variables that are added to the left hand side of >= constraints to
convert them to equalities are called as slack variables.
12. Write the canonical form of LPP?
The general form of LPP can be expressed in the canonical form as follows,
Maximize Z=∑ cj xj ; j=1
subject to ∑aij xj<=bi (i=1,2,3,......m)
1. xj>=0.
13. What is the relation between assignment and transportation problems?
The transportation problem deals with the transportation of a product manufactured
at different plants or factories(supply origins)to a number of different
warehouses(demand destinations).The objective is to satisfy the destination
requirement within the plant capacity at minimum transportation cost.
Given n facilities and n jobs and given the effectiveness of each facility for each
job,the problem is to assign each facility to one only job so as to optimize the given
measure of effectiveness. Examples:products to factories jobs to machines.
14. How do you convert an unbalanced assignment problem into a balanced assignment
problem?
If no.of rows>no.of columns,then add extra one column and set cost as (0),
If no.of columns>no.of rows,then add extra one row and set cost as (0), then the
unbalanced assignment problem is converted into balanced assingnment problem.

15. Define a transportation problem.

It is a special kind of linear programming problem in which goods are transported
from a set of sources to a set of destinations subject to the supply and demand of the
source and destination, respectively, such that the total cost of transportation is
minimized.

16. Write down the mathematical model for transportation problem.

Let m be the number of sources, n be the number of destinations, ai be the supply a the
source i, bj be the demand at the destination j. cij be the cost of transportation per unit
from source i to destination j. Let Xij be the number of units to be transported from the
source i to the destination j.

17. Differentiate between balanced transportation problem and unbalanced transportation

problem.
Balanced transportation problem: If the sum of the supplies of all the sources is equal
to the sum of the demands of all the destinations, then the problem is termed as
balanced transportation problem.
i.e., Σai = Σbj for all for all i = 1 to m and j = 1 to n..

Unbalanced Transportation Problem: If the sum of the supplies of all the sources is
not equal to the sum of the demands of all the destinations, then the problem is termed
as unbalanced transportation problem.
i.e., Σai ≠ Σbj for all for all i = 1 to m and j = 1 to n..
18. Mention the various methods of finding initial basic feasible solution to a
transportation problem.
Northwest Corner method
 Least cost cell method
Vogel’s approximation method[Penalty method]
19. How can you resolve an unbalanced transportation problem?
An unbalanced transportation problem can be resolved by adding a dummy row with
zeroes is added as an additional source, if the total demand is greater than the total
source.
A dummy column with zeroes is added as an additional destination , if the total source
is greater than the total demand.
20. What do you mean by degeneracy in a transportaition problem? How can you resolve
it?
Degeneracy occurs when the number of basic cells are less than (m+n-1), where m is
the number of sources and n is the number of destinations.
Degeneracy can occur either during initial solution or during iterative process. For
both the cases, allocate an infinitesimally small quantity ε , to any independent
unoccupied cell and proceed as if it is a basic cell.
21. Write the method of forming a loop in transportation problem.
Identify the non-basic cell, which has the maximum positive penalty and term that as
the new basic cell. Starting from the new cell, draw a closed loop consisting of only
horizontal and vertical lines passing through some basic cells.[The change of direction
of the loop should be with 90o only at some basic cell].Starting from the new basic
cell, alternatively assign positive and negative signs at the corners of the closed loop.

22. What is an assignment problem?

It is a special kind of transportation problem in which each source should have the
capacity to fulfill the demand of any of the desitnations. Let m be number of jobs as
well as the number of operators and cij be the processing time of the job i if it is
assigned to the operator j. Here, the objective is to assign the jobs to the operators
such that the total processing time is minimized.

23. Differentiate between transportation problem and an assignment problem.

TRANSPORTATION PROBLEM ASSIGNMENT PROBLEM
1. It is a special kind of linear 1. It is a special kind of
programming problem in which transportation problem in which
goods are transported from a set of each source should have the
sources to a set of destinations capacity to fulfill the demand of any
subject to the supply and demand of of the desitnations
the source and destination,
respectively, such that the total cost
of transportation is minimized
2. The cost matrix is not necessarily 2. The cost matrix must be a square
a square matrix matrix.[rows = columns]
3. Xi j , the quantity is transported 3. Xi j ,the jth job is assigned to the
from ith origin to jth ith person and can take either the
destination.Hence it can take only value of one or zero.
positive values and satisfied the rim
requirements.
4. The capacity and the requirement 4.The capacity and the requirements
value is equal to ai and bj for ith value is exactly one
source and jth destination
5. The TP is unbalanced if the total 5. The AP is unbalanced if the cost
 supplyexceeds or is lesser than total matrix is not a square matrix.
demand

24. What is an assignment problem?

a. Given n facilities and n jobs and given the effectiveness of each facility for
each job, the problem is to assign each facility to one and only job so as to
optimize the given measure of effectiveness.

25. What is an unbalanced assignment problem?

a. An assignment problem is an unbalanced problem if the number of jobs is
not equal to no.of facilities.The Hungarian method of solution requires a
square matrix.Hence fictitious facilities or jobs are added and assigned 0
costs to the corresponding cells of the matrix.These cells are treated the
same way as the real cost cells during the solution procedure.

26. Mention some of the special cases of transportation problem.

Unbalanced TP
Alternative optimal solution
Prohibited transportation routes
Maximization transportation problem.
27. What do you mean by Prohibited transportation problem.
Situation may arise such as road hazards such as snow, flood etc traffic regulations,
when it is not possible to transport goods from certain sources to certain destinations.
Such problems can be handled by assigning a very large cost say M to that route/cell.

28. When does degenaracy happen in transportation problem?

a. In transportation problem with m orgins and n destinations, if a IBFS has
less than m+n-1 allocations, the problem is said to be a degenerate problem.

29. What is an unbalanced transportation problem?

a. *If the total availability from all origins is not equal to the total demand of
all destinations,then it is called unbalanced transportation problem.
b. *The transportation problem is balanced if the total availability is equal to
total demand.
c. *An IBFS can be obtained only for balanced transportation problem.

30. How do you solve a maximization transportation problem?

The maximization problem, can be solved by converting it into minimization problem
by subtracting all the cell values from the largest cost/profit in the matrix.

31. Define integer programming.

It is an LPP problem in which some or all of the variables in the optimal solution are
restricted to assume non-negative integer values.
32. What are the two types of integer programming?
Pure integer programming and mixed integer programming are the two types of
integer programming.
33. Differentiate between pure and mixed integer programming.
 Pure Integer Programing: In a LPP, if all the variables in the optimal solution are
restricted to asuume non-negative integer values, then it is called Pure integer
programming problem
Mixed integer Programming: If only some of the variables in the optimal solution are
restrict ted to assume non-negative integer values, while the remaining are free to take
any non-negative values, then it is mixed IPP.
34. What is a 0-1 integer programming?
If all the variables in the optimum solution are allowed to take values either 0 or 1 as
‘do or do not’ type decisions, then the problem is called the 0-1 programming or
standard discrete programming problem.
35. What are the applications of Integer Programming?
a. IPP occur quite frequently in business and industry.
b. All transportation problem, assignment and traveling salesman problems are
IPP, since the decision variables are either 0 or 1.
c. All sequencing and routing decisions are IPP as it requires the integer values
of the decision variables.
d. Capital budgeting and production scheduling problems are IPP.
e. All allocation problems involving the allocation of goods, men, machines,
give rise to IPP
36. Mention the methods of solving an IPP.
Cutting method and Branch & Bound method
37. Briefly explain what is cutting plane method in IPP.
It is a systematic procedure for solving pure and mixed IPP. It consists in first solving
the IPP as ordinary LPP by ignoring the integrality restriction and then introducing
additional constraints one after the other to cut certain part of the solution until an
integral solution is obtained.
38. What is branching in branch and bound technique?
If the solution to the LPP contains non-integer values for some or all decision
variables, then the solution the solution space is reduced by introducing constraints
with respect to any one of those decision variables.
39. When is a problem said to be fathomed in integer programming ?
A problem is said to be fathomed if any one of the following three conditions is true.
The values of the decision variables of the problem are integer
The upper bound of the problem which has non-integer values for its decision
variables is not greater than the current best lower bound
The problem has infeasible solution.

40. What is GPP?

Goal programming is an approach used for solving any multi-objective optimization
problem that balances trade-off in multiple and often conflicting incommensurable
goals at different priority levels.

41. What are deviational variables?

They represent the amount by which the objective is below or above the target.

42. Define Simulation.

Simulation is a numerical technique for conducting experiments on a digital
computer, which involves certain types of mathematical and logical relationships
necessary to describe the behaviour and structure of a complex real world system over
extended periods of time.
 43. -Naylor et al.
44. What are the applications of simulation?
Location of ambulances
Design of computer systems
Shop floor management
Design of optimal replenishment policy
Design of a queuing system

45. What are the advantages of simulation?

Suitable to analyze large and complex real life problems
Useful for sensitivity analysis of complex systems
Allows inclusion of additional information
Used as a pre-service test before new policy introduction

46. What is a Markov Chain?

A markov chain is a mathematical system that transits from one state to another, out
of a finite or countable number of possible states, in a chain like manner. It is a
random process endowed with the property that the next state depends only on the
current state and not on the past state.

47. List out the uses of Markov chains

Markov chains are used extensively in the field of marketing, finance, accounting,
production, education and so on.
It is used to understand the changes in the random variable over time, when discrete
possibilities are possible.
Helps identify the probability that a customer using a brand would continue to do so
after a period of week.

48. What is absorbing state?

This refers to the state from where the process would never leave.

49. What is stochastic process?

This is a process wherein the random variable evolves over a period of time and can
fall into any mutually exclusive states.

50. What do you understand by steady state probability?

The probability of a stabilized system in equilibrium, or after system has reached a
maturity point after a large number of transitions.

51. What is transition probability?

These are the probabilities associated with the moves in an uncertain environment.

52. What is transient state?

This refers to a state to which a process may never return.