Linear Programming Models

Linear Programming
 Linear – All the mathematical functions in this model are linear
 Programming - The standard problems are known as programmed problems
 Programmed problems are well structured in their solution strategy, ex. assignment of
workers to jobs, fixing product mix,
 LP model seeks to maximize or minimize a linear function, subject to a set of linear
constraints.

• Steps involved in mathematical programming

• Conversion of stated problem into a mathematical model that abstracts all the essential
elements of the problem.
• Exploration of different solutions of the problem.
• Finding out the most suitable or optimum solution.
Linear Programming - Mathematical Formulation and Assumptions
Let: X1, X2, X3, ………, Xn = decision variables
Z = Objective function or linear function
Requirement: Maximization of the linear function Z.
Z = c1X1 + c2X2 + c3X3 + ………+ cnXn …..Eq (1)
subject to the following constraints:

m
Linear Programming – Terminology for solution of the model
 Solution – any specification of values for the decision variables (X1, X2, ………Xn)
 A feasible solution – A solution for which all the constraints are satisfied
 An infeasible solution – Is a solution for which at least one constraint is violated
 Feasible region – Is a collection of all feasible solutions
 Optimal solution - Is a feasible solution that has the most favorable value of the objective
function
 Most favorable value – Is the largest value if the objective function is to be maximized,
• It is the smallest value if the objective function is to be minimized.
 A Corner point Feasible Solution (CPF) – Is a solution that lies at a corner of the feasible
region. Also know as extreme points or vertices.

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Basic assumptions of the linear programming
1. Certainty: In all LP models, it is assumed that all model parameters such as availability
of resources, profit (or cost) contribution of a unit of decision variable and
consumption of resources by a unit of decision variable must be known and constant.
2. Divisibility (or continuity) : The solution values of decision variables and resources are
assumed to have either whole number (integer) or mixed numbers (integers or fractions)
However, if only integer variables are desired, e.g. machine, equipment, employees etc,
then the integer programming method may be applied to get the desired value
3. Additivity: The value of the objective function for the given values of decision
variables and the total sum of resources used, must be equal to the sum of contribution
(profit or cost) earned from each decision variable and the sum of the resources used
by each decision variable respectively.
4. Linearity: All relationships in the LP model (i.e. in both objective function and
constraints) must be linear, e.g. the amount of particular resource say, i used and its
contribution to the cost in objective function must be proportional to its amount.

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1. A Product Mix Problem

• A manufacturer has fixed amounts of different resources such as raw material, labor, and
equipment.
• These resources can be combined to produce any one of several different products.
• The quantity of the ith resource required to produce one unit of the jth product is known.
• The decision maker wishes to produce the combination of products that will maximize
total income.
2. A Blending Problem

• Blending problems refer to situations in which a number of components (or commodities)

are mixed together to yield one or more products.
• Typically, different commodities are to be purchased. Each commodity has known
characteristics and costs.
• The problem is to determine how much of each commodity should be purchased and
blended with the rest so that the characteristics of the mixture lie within specified bounds
and the total cost is minimized.
3. A Production Scheduling Problem

• A manufacturer knows that he must supply a given number of items of a certain product
each month for the next n months.
• They can be produced either in regular time, subject to a maximum each month, or in
overtime. The cost of producing an item during overtime is greater than during regular
time. A storage cost is associated with each item not sold at the end of the month.
• The problem is to determine the production schedule that minimizes the sum of
production and storage costs.
4. A Transportation Problem
• A product is to be shipped in the amounts al, a2, ..., am from m shipping
origins and received in amounts bl, b2, ..., bn at each of n shipping
destinations.
• The cost of shipping a unit from the ith origin to the jth destination is known
for all combinations of origins and destinations.
• The problem is to determine the amount to be shipped from each origin to
each destination such that the total cost of transportation is a minimum.
5. A Flow Capacity Problem

• One or more commodities (e.g., traffic, water, information, cash, etc.) are flowing from
one point to another through a network whose branches have various constraints and flow
capacities.
• The direction of flow in each branch and the capacity of each branch are known.
• The problem is to determine the maximum flow, or capacity of the network.
 Example 1 Production allocation problem
A manufacturer of wooden articles produces tables and chair which require two types of
inputs, they being wood and labor,
Each table requires 3 units of wood and 1 unit labor
Each chair requires 2 units of wood and 2 units of labor
Profit from each table is Rs 20 and profit from each chair is Rs 16
Total available resources for manufacturing tables and chair are 150 units of wood and 75
units of labor.
The manufacturer wants to maximize his profit by distributing his resources for each table
and chair.
Formulate the problem mathematically
example 1 - Production allocation problem
Let the table be X1 and chair be X2 (as decision variables)
Profit from each table is Rs 20 and profit from each chair is Rs 16
objective function, Maximize Z = 20 X1 + 16 X2
Available resources
wood required for X1 tables = 3X1
Labor required for X1 tables = X1
Wood required for X2 chairs = 2X2
Labor required for X2 chairs = 2X2

Constraints

Total available resources for manufacturing tables and chair are 150 units of wood and 75
units of labor. (Constraints)
3X1 + 2X2  150
X1 + 2X2  75
X1  0, X2  0 (number of tables and chairs can not be negative)
Example 2 Transport problem
A trucking company has received an order to move 3,000 tones of material to a destination
of 1,000 km away. The firm has available, at the moment, a fleet of 150 class A, 15 tones
trucks and and another fleet of 100 class B, 10 tones trucks. The operating cost of these
trucks are Rs 3 and Rs 4 per tone per Km. The company has a policy to keep at least one
class A truck with every two class B trucks in reserve. The company wants to know how
many of these trucks to rent to move 3,000 tones material at minimum cost.
Formulate this problem as an LP problem.

Let number class A and Class B trucks be X1 and X2

Objective is to minimize total cost Z = 3X1 + 4 X2

Constraints
15X1 + 10X2  3,000
X1  149
X2  98
X1, X2  0
Example 3, Material allocation problem
A company can manufacture three types of cloth namely, A,B and C, Three types of wool is
required for it – red, green and blue.

1 unit length of type A cloth needs 2 yards of red wool and 3 yards of blue wool
1 unit length of type B cloth needs 3 yards of red, 4 yards of blue and 2 yards of green wool
and
1 unit length of type C cloth needs 5 yards of green, 4 yards of blue wool

Company has a stock of 8 yards of red wool,

10 yards of green wool and
15 yards of blue wool.

The income obtained by the firm from one unit length of cloth of type A is Rs.3, type B is
Rs.5 and that of C is Rs.4
How should the company allocate the available material so as to maximize total income
from the finished cloth ?
Example 3, Material allocation problem
Let the cloth type A, B and C represent, X1, X2 and X3 (as solution variables of wool)

Maximize Z = 3X1 + 5X2 + 4X3

Subject to 2X1 + 3X2  8

3X1+ 4X2 + 4X3  15
2X2 + 5X3  10

X1  0, X2  0 and X3  0
Example 4 Marketing problem
An advertising company wishes to plan a campaign for three different media, TV radio and magazine. The
purpose of the advertising is to reach as many potential customers as possible. Following are the results of a
market study.
TV Radio Magazine
Prime Day Prime Time
Cost of an Ad unit (Rs) 40,000 75,000 30,000 15,000
No. of potential customers reached per unit 4,00,000 9,00,000 5,00,000 2,00,000

No. of women customers reached per unit 3,00,000 4,00,000 2,00,000 1,00,000

a. The company does not want to spend more than Rs.8,00,000 on advertising. It is further required that,
b. At least 2 million exposures take place among women
c. Cost on TV advertisement be limited to Rs. 5,00,000
d. At least 3 advertising units be bought on prime day and 2 units during prime time
e. The number of advertising units on the radio and the magazine should each be between 5 and 10

Formulate this problem as LP model to maximize potential customer reach

Example 4 Marketing problem
Formulation, let X1, X2,X3 and X4 be No. of advertising units brought in Prime day, prime
time, Radio and Magazine respectively.
Maximize (potential customer reach) = 4,00,000 X1+ 9,00,000X2 +5,00,000X3 + 2,00,000 X4

Subject to constraints
a. Advertisement budget is limited to 8,00,000
40,000 X1 + 75,000X2 + 30,000X3 + 15,000 X4  8,00,000
b. Number of women customers reached by advertisement campaign
3,00,000 X1 + 4,00,000X2 + 2,00,000 X3 + 1,00,000X4  20,00,000
c. 40,000 X1 + 75,000X2  5,00,000
d. X1  3, and X2  2 X1, X2,X3 and X4  0 (non-negative constraint)
e. 5  X3  10 and 5  X4  10
Example 5 Finance problem
An investment company, to aid its investment decision has developed the investment
alternatives for 10 year period, as given in the following table. The return on investment is
expressed as an annual rate of return on the invested capital. The risk coefficient and growth
potential are subjective estimates made by the portfolio manager of the company. The terms of
investment is the average length of time period required to realize the return on investment as
indicated
Investment Length of Annual rate of Risk Coefficient Potential return
alternative investment (years) return (%) (growth %)
A 4 3 1 0
B 7 12 5 18
C 8 9 4 10
D 6 20 8 32
E 10 15 6 20
F 3 6 3 7
Cash 0 0 0 0
Example 5 Finance problem (contd.)
The objective of the company is to maximize the return on its investments. The guidelines for
selecting the port folios are
a.Formulate this problem as an LP model to maximize the return
b.The average length of investment for the portfolio should not exceed 7 years
c.The average risk for the portfolio should not exceed 5 years
d.The average growth potential for the portfolio should be at-least 10%
e. At least 10% of all available funds must be retained in the form of cash, at all times.

Proportion of funds be X1+ X2+X3+ X4+ X5+ X6 + X7 = 1

a). Maximize the annual rate of return
Z = 0.03X1 +0.12X2+ 0.09X3 + 0.20X4 + 0.15X5 +0.06X6 + 0.00X7
Example 5 Finance problem (contd.)
Constraints
b). The average length of investment for the portfolio should not exceed 7 years
4X1 + 7X2+ 8X3 + 6X4 + 10X5 + 3X6 + 0X7  7
c). The average risk for the portfolio should not exceed 5 years
X1 + 5X2+ 4X3 + 8X4 + 6X5 + 3X6 + 0X7  5
d). The average growth potential for the portfolio should be at-least 10%
0X1 + 0.18X2+ 0.10X3 + 0.32X4 + 0.20X5 + 0.07X6 + 0X7  0.10
e). X7  0.10
Assumption
Let the investment alternatives be X1, X2,X3, X4, X5 X6, X7  0 (non negative constraint)
Example 6 - HR problem
Evening shift resident doctors in a government hospital work five consecutive days and have
two consecutive days off. Their five days of work can start on any day of the week and their
schedule rotates indefinitely. The hospital requires the following minimum number of doctors
to work on the given day
sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat

35 55 60 50 60 50 45

No more than 40 doctors can start their five working days on the same day.
Formulate this problem as an LP model to minimize the number of doctors to work on the
given days
Let the Xj be number of doctors who start their duty on day j
Minimize total number of doctors Z= X1+X2+X3+X4+ X5 + X6 + X7
Constraints
five days of work can start on any day of the week and their schedule rotates indefinitely.
Constraints
five days of work can start on any day of the week and their schedule rotates indefinitely.
i). X1+X4+X5 +X6 +X7  35 (2 and 3 are on off)
ii).X2+X5 +X6 + X7 +X1  55 (3 and 4 are on off)
iii).X3+X6+X7 +X1+X2  60 (4 and 5 are on off)
iv).X4+X7 +X1+X2+X3  50
v).X5 +X1+X2+X3+X4  60
vi).X6 +X2+X3+X4 +X5 50
vii).X7+X3+X4+ X5 +X6  45 (1 and 2 are on off)

Xj  0 for all j (non negative constraint)

No more than 40 doctors can start their five working days on the same day
Xj  40
Example 7, Production / blending problem
Three grades of coal, A, B and C contain ash and phosphorous as impurities. In a particular
industrial process a fuel obtained by blending the above grades containing not more than
25% ash and 0.03% phosphorous is required. The maximum demand of the fuel is 100
tons.
Percentage of impurities and costs of the various grades of coal are shown in the table.
Assuming that there is an unlimited supply of each grade of coal and there is no loss in
blending, formulate the blending problem to minimize the cost

Coal Grade % Ash % Phosphorous Cost per ton (Rs)

A 30 0.02 240

B 20 0.04 300

C 35 0.03 280
Example 7, Blending problem (example – minimize)
Decision variables
Let,
grade A coal be X1
grade B coal be X2
grade C coal be X3

Objective function
Minimize Z = 240X1+300X2+280X3

Constraints
0.3X1+0.2X2+0.35X3  0.25(X1+X2+X3) - Ash

0.0002X1+0.0004X2+0.0003X3  0.0003(X1+X2+X3) - Phosphorous

maximum demand is 100 tons
X1+X2+X3  100
Example 7, Blending problem (example – minimize)
Constraints
0.3X1+0.2X2+0.35X3  0.25(X1+X2+X3) – Ash

0.3X1+X2 +0.35X3 = 0.25(X1+X2+X3)

100{0.3X1 +0.2X2+0.35X3 }= 100{0.25X1 + 0.25X2+0.25X3)}
(30X1– 25X1)+ (20X2– 25X2)+ (35X3–25X2)  0
5X1- 5X2+10X3  0
X1-X2+2X3  0

0.0002X1+0.0004X2+0.0003X3  0.0003(X1+X2+X3) - Phosphorous

0.0002X1+0.0004X2+0.0003X3 = 0.0003(X1+X2+X3)
1000{0.0002X1+0.0004X2+0.0003X3} = 1000{0.0003(X1+X2+X3)}
2X1+4X2 +3X3 = 3X1+3X2+3X3
-X1+X2  0
maximum demand is 100 tons
X1+X2+X3  100
X1, X2 and X3  0
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Solving Linear Programming Problem by Graphical Method