AOR (Tutorial Questions)

1. State the features of O.R.

2. What are the components of a linear programming model?
3. Define basic feasible solution.
4. What is infeasible solution? Illustrate it graphically.
5. What is meant by unbalanced transportation problem?
6. Write down the condition for the existence of a feasible solution to a transportation problem.
7. Give the mathematical formulation of an assignment problem.
8. What is an assignment problem?
9. State the objective of network analysis.
10. Define total float and free float.
11. What do you understand by queue discipline?
12. Write a short note on M/M/1 queue.
13. Define ‘ maximin criterion’ in decision theory.
14. What is a decision tree?
15. What is group replacement?
16. State the two types of replacement policy.
17. Define the term saddle point in game theory.
18. Define a two-person zero-sum game.
19. Define the problem of sequencing.
20. Give an example of a sequencing model.

1.Describe briefly the different phases of Operations Research.

2. Use graphical method to solve the following L.P.P.:

Maximize z = 6x1+x2

Subject to the constraints: 2x1+x2 ≥ 3 , x2-x1≥0 and x1, x2 ≥ 0

3. The manager of anoil refinery must decide on the optimum mix of two possible blending processes

of which the input and output production runs are as follows:

Input Output
Process Crude A Crude B Crude A Crude B
1 6 4 6 9
2 5 6 5 5
The maximum amounts available of crudes A and B are 250 units and 200 units

respectively. Market demand shows that at least 150 units of gasoline X and 130 units of

gasoline Y must be produced . The profits per production run from process 1 and process 2 are

Rs. 5 respectively. Formulate the problem for maximizing the profit.

4. How do you conclude that an LPP has an infeasible solution while using simplex method?

5.. Obtain an initial basic solution to the following transportation problem using North-West corner

Rule:
I II III IV Availability

A 11 13 17 14 250

B 16 18 14 10 300

C 21 24 13 10 400

Reqiurement 200 225 275 250

6.. Solve the following Assignment problem using Hungarian method,

Machine

A B C D
Operator
10 12 19 11
I
5 10 7 8
II
12 14 13 11
III
8 15 11 9
IV

7. Consider the following transportation problem. Determine an initial basic feasible solution using
matrix minima method.
Destination

D1 D2 D3 D4 Supply

1 20 22 17 4 120

Source 24 37 9 7 70
2

32 37 20 15 50
3

Demand 60 40 30 110
8. A department head has four tasks to be performed and three subordinates , the subordinates differ
in efficiency. The estimates of the time , each subordinate would take to perform , is given below
in the matrix. How should he allocate the tasks one to each man, so as to minimize the total
man-hours?

Men

Task 1 2 3

I 9 26 15

II 13 27 6

III 35 20 15

IV 18 30 20

9. Distinguish between PERT and CPM . What is a critical path?

10.Explain the following terms used in PERT :

(i) Pessimistic time (ii) Optimistic time (iii) Most likely time
11. Briefly explain the important characteristics of queuing system.

12.Explain the single channel and multi- channel queuing models.

13. A manager has a choice between (i) a risky contract promising Rs. 7 lakhs with probability 0.6 and

Rs.4 lakhs with probability 0.4 and (ii) A diversified portfolio consisting of two contracts with

independent outcomes each promising Rs. 3.5 lakhs with probability 0.6 and Rs. 2 lakhs with

probability 0.4. Construct a decision-tree for using EMV criteria. Can you arrive at the decision

using EMV criteria?

14. A business man has three alternatives open to him each of which can be followed by any of the

four possible events. The conditional payoffs (in Rs.) for each action –event combination are

given below:

Payoffs conditional on events

Alternative A B C D
 X 8 0 -10 6

Y -4 12 18 -2

Z 14 6 0 8

Determine which alternative should the businessman choose, if he adopts

(i)Maximin criterion (ii) Maximax criterion (iii) Minimax regret criterion

15.Discuss in brief replacement procedure for the items that deteriorate with time.

16. Write a note on group replacement and individual replacement policies.

17.Solve the following two-person zero-sum game:

.
Player B

I II

I 5 1
Player A
II 3 4

18.. For the game with the following payoff matrix, determine the optimum strategies and the value of

the game:

Player B
1 2 3

Player A 1 10 5 -2

2 6 7 3

3 4 8 4

19.. How will you solve the sequencing of ‘n’ jobs on three machines?

20. Describe the method of processing n jobs through two machines.

1. What are the limitations of O.R.? Suggest three advantages of O.R. approach in decision-making.

2. Use Two- phase simplex method to Maximize z = 5x1+ 3x2

Subject to the constraints: 2x1+x2 ≤ 1, x1+4x2 ≥ 6 and x1 ,x2 ≥ 0

3. Illustrate graphically the following special cases of linear programming problems.

(i)Multiple optimal solutions (ii) No feasible solution,(iii)Unbounded problem.

4. Use penalty (or Big M) method to

Maximize z = 3x1+2x2

Subject to the constraints : 2x1+x2 ≤ 2 , 3x1+ 4x2 ≥ 12 , x1 , x2 ≥ 0

5. A company has factories at F1 , F2 and F3 which supply warehouses at W1 ,W2 and W3 . Weekly
factory capacities are 200,160 and 90 units respectively. Weekly warehouses requirements are 180 , 120
and 150 units respectively. Unit shipping costs ( in rupees) are as follows : Determine the optimum
distribution for this company to minimize shipping costs.

Factory Warehouse Supply

W1 W2 W3
F1
16 20 12 200
F2
14 8 18 160
F3
26 24 16 90

Demand 180 120 150

6. Solve the following Assignment problem using Hungarian method,

Machine

A B C D
Operator
1 4 6 3
I
9 7 10 9
II
4 5 11 7
III
8 7 8 5
IV
7.. Find the initial basic feasible solution to the following transportation problem by using Vogel’s

Approximation Method.

D1 D2 D3 D4 Supply

S1 20 25 28 31
200

S2 32 28 32 41
180

S3 18 35 24 32
110

Demand 150 40 180 170

8.. A pharmaceutical company is producing a single product and is selling it through five agencies

located in different cities. All of a sudden , there is a demand for the product in another five cities

not having any agency of the company . The company is faced with the problem of deciding on

how to assign the existing agencies to dispatch the product to needy cities in such a way that the

travelling distance is minimized. The distance between the surplus and deficit cities (in km) is

given in the following table : Determine the optimum assignment schedule.

Deficit Cities
Surplus
I II III IV V
cities
A 85 75 65 125 75

B 90 78 66 132 78

C 75 66 57 114 69

D 80 72 60 120 72

E 76 64 56 112 68
9.. The following are the details of estimated times of activities of a certain project.

Activity Immediate predecessors Normal time

(days)
A __ 16
B __ 20
C A 8
 D A 10
E B,C 6
(i) F D,E 12
(ii)

i. Find the critical path and expected time of the project

ii. Find the total float and free float for each activity.

10. A project consists of eight activities with the following relevant information:

iii.
Activity Immediate Estimated Duration (days)
predecessor Optimistic Most likely Pessimistic
iv.
A __ 1 1 7
v.
B __ 1 4 7
C __ 2 2 8
vi.
D A 1 1 1
vii.
E B 2 5 14
viii.
F C 2 5 8
ix.
G D,E 3 6 15
x.
H F,G 1 2 3
(i)Draw the PERT network and find out the expected project completion time.

(ii)What is the probability of completing the project on or before 24 weeks?

(For standard normal z≤ 1.65, area under the standard normal curve is 0.9505)

11.. In a railway marshalling yard, goods trains arrive at a rate of 30 trains per day . Assuming that the

inter-arrival time follows an exponential distribution and the service time distribution is also

exponential with an average 36 minutes. Calculate the following:

(i) the mean queue size (line length)

(ii) the probability that the queue size exceeds 10.

If the input of trains increases to an average 33 per day , what will be the change in (i) and (ii) ?

12. With respect to the queue system , explain the following :

(i) Queue discipline (ii) Capacity of the system (iii) Balking (iv) Jockeying

13. A farmer wants to decide which of the three corps he should plant on his 100-acre farm. The

profit from each is dependent on the rainfall during the growing season. The farmer has categorized
 the amount of rainfall as high, medium and low. His estimated profit for each is shown in the table

below:

Estimated conditional profit (Rs.)

Rainfall
Crop A Crop B Crop C
High 8,000 3,500 5,000

Medium 4,500 4,500 5,000

Low 2,000 5,000 5,000

If the farmer wishes to plant only one crop , decide which should be his best crop using :

(i) Maximax criterion (ii) Maximin criterion (iii) Laplace criterion (iv) Minimax regret

criterion

14. The research department of a company has recommended to the marketing department to launch a

shampoo of three different types . The marketing manager has to decide one of the types of

shampoo to be launched under the following estimated payoffs for various levels of sales:

Estimated levels of sale (units)

Types of Shampoo
15,000 10,000 5,000
Egg shampoo 30 10 10

Clinic shampoo 40 15 5

Delux shampoo 55 20 3
What will be the marketing manager’s decision if (i) Maximin (ii) Minimax (iii) Maximax

and (iv) Laplace criteria are applied?

15. A firm is considering replacement of a machine whose cost price is Rs. 12,000 and the scrap

value , Rs.200 . The running (maintenance and operating) cost in rupees are found from

experience to be as follows :

Year 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
Running
200 500 800 1200 1800 2500 3200 4000
cost
 When should the machine be replaced?

16. The following failure rates have been observed for a certain type of transistors in a digital

End of the week 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

Probability of
failure to date 0.05 0.13 0.25 0.43 0.68 0.88 0.96 1.00

computer:

The cost of replacing an individual failed transistor is Rs. 1.25. The decision is made to

replace all these transistors simultaneously at fixed intervals , and to replace the individual

transistors as they fail in service . If the cost of group replacement is 30 paise per transistor , what

is the best interval between group replacements ? At what group replacement price per transistor

would a policy of strictly individual replacement become preferable to the adopted policy?

17. The following table represents the payoff matrix with respect to player A . Solve it optimally by

using dominance property.

Player B

1 2 3 4 5

1 4 6 5 10 6

2 7 8 5 9 10

Player A 3 8 9 11 10 9

4 6 4 10 6 4

18. Use graphical method to obtain the optimum solution to the following game :

Player B

I II III IV V

Player A I -4 2 5 -6 6

II 3 -9 7 4 8
19. A book binder has one printing press , one binding machine and the manuscripts of a number

of different books . The time required to perform the printing and binding operations for each

book is shown below. Determine the order in which books should be processed , in order to

minimize the total time required to turn out all the books :

Book 1 2 3 4 5 6
Printing time (hrs.) 30 120 50 20 90 100
Binding time (hrs.) 80 100 90 60 30 10

20. In a factory , there are six jobs to perform , each of which should go through two machines A

and B , in the order A, B. The processing timings (in hours) for the jobs are given here . You are

require to determine the sequence for performing the jobs that would minimize the total elapsed

time , T. What is the value of T?

Job J1 J2 J3 J4 J5 J6
Machine A 1 3 8 5 6 3
Machine B 5 6 3 2 2 10