4.II.14D

Optimization | Part IB, 2001

Dumbledore Publishers must decide how many copies of the best-selling "History of Hogwarts" to print in the next two months to meet demand. It is known that the demands will be for 40 thousand and 60 thousand copies in the first and second months respectively, and these demands must be met on time. At the beginning of the first month, a supply of 10 thousand copies is available, from existing stock. During each month, Dumbledore can produce up to 40 thousand copies, at a cost of 400 galleons per thousand copies. By having employees work overtime, up to 150 thousand additional copies can be printed each month, at a cost of 450 galleons per thousand copies. At the end of each month, after production and the current month's demand has been satisfied, a holding cost of 20 galleons per thousand copies is incurred.

Formulate a transportation problem, with 5 supply points and 3 demand points, to minimize the sum of production and holding costs during the two month period, and solve it.

[You may assume that copies produced during a month can be used to meet demand in that month.]

Typos? Please submit corrections to this page on GitHub.