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Klein Industries manufactures three types of portable air compressors: small, me

ID: 2698617 • Letter: K

Question

Klein Industries manufactures three types of portable air compressors: small, medium, and large, which have unit profits of $20.50, $34.00, and $42.00, respectively. The projected monthly sales are:


Small Medium Large


Minimum 14,000 6,200 2,600


Maximum 21,000 12,500 4,200


The production process consists of three o activities: bending and forming, welding, and painting. The amount of time in minutes needed to process each product in each department is shown below:


Small Medium Large Available Time


Bending/


Forming 0.4 0.7 0.8 23,400


Welding 0.6 1.0 1.2 23,400


Painting 1.4 2.6 3.1 46,800


How many of each type of air compressor should the company produce to maximize profit?


a. Formulate and solve a linear optimization model using the auxiliary variable cells method and write a short memo to the production manager explaining the sensitivity information.


b. Solve the model without the auxiliary variables and explain the relationship between the reduced costs and the shadow prices found in part a.

Explanation / Answer

let quantity for small, medium and large be x1, x2 and x3 respectively.

So Maximize Z = 20.5 x1 + 34 x2 + 42 x3

such that, 14,000 < x1 < 21000

6,200 < x2 < 12500

2,600 < x3 < 4200

0.4 x1 + 0.7 x2 + 0.8 x3 < 23,400

0.6 x1 + 1.0 x2 + 1.2 x3 < 23,400

1.4 x1 + 2.6 x2 + 3.1 x3 < 46,800