[SOLVED] The Electrocomp Corporation

7-14 The Electrocomp Corporation manufactures two electrical products: air conditioners and large fans. The assembly process for each is similar in that both require a certain amount of wiring and drilling. Each air conditioner takes 3 hours of wiring and 2 hours of drilling. Each fan must go through 2 hours of wiring and 1 hour of drilling. During the next production period, 240 hours of wiring time are available, and up to 140 hours of drilling time may be used. Each air conditioner sold yields a profit of $25. Each fan assembled may be sold for a $15 profit. Formulate and solve this LP production mix situation to find the best combination of air conditioners and fans that yields the highest profit. Use the corner point graphical approach.
Note: means the problem may be solved with QM for Windows; means the problem may be solved with Excel; and means the problem may be solved with QM for Windows and/or Excel.

7-17 The Outdoor Furniture Corporation manufactures two products, benches and picnic tables, for use in yards and parks. The firm has two main resources: its carpenters (labor force) and a supply of redwood for use in the furniture. During the next production cycle, 1,200 hours of labor are available under a union agreement. The firm also has a stock of 3,500 board feet of good-quality redwood. Each bench that Outdoor Furniture produces requires 4 labor hours and 10 board feet of redwood; each picnic table takes 6 labor hours and 35 board feet of redwood. Completed benches will yield a profit of $9 each, and tables will result in a profit of $20 each. How many benches and tables should Outdoor Furniture produce to obtain the largest possible profit? Use the graphical LP approach.

7-18 The dean of the Western College of Business must plan the school’s course offerings for the fall semester. Student demands make it necessary to offer at least 30 undergraduate and 20 graduate courses in the term. Faculty contracts also dictate that at least 60 courses be offered in total. Each undergraduate course taught costs the college an average of $2,500 in faculty wages, and each graduate course costs $3,000. How many undergraduate and graduate courses should be taught in the fall so that total faculty salaries are kept to a minimum?

7-22 Solve the following LP problem using the corner point graphical method. At the optimal solution, calculate the slack for each constraint:

7.26 The seasonal yield of olives in a Piraeus, Greece, vineyard is greatly influenced by a process of branch pruning. If olive trees are pruned every two weeks, output is increased. The pruning process, however, requires considerably more labor than permitting the olives to grow on their own and results in a smaller size olive. It also permits olive trees to be spaced closer together. The yield of 1 barrel of olives by pruning requires 5 hours of labor and 1 acre of land. The production of a barrel of olives by the normal process requires only 2 labor hours but takes 2 acres of land. An olive grower has 250 hours of labor available and a total of 150 acres for growing. Because of the olive size difference, a barrel of olives produced on pruned trees sells for $20, whereas a barrel of regular olives has a market price of $30. The grower has determined that because of uncertain demand, no more than 40 barrels of pruned olives should be produced. Use graphical LP to find

a.    the maximum possible profit.

b.    the best combination of barrels of pruned and regular olives.

c.    the number of acres that the olive grower should devote to each growing process.

 

7.30 Examine the LP formulation in Problem 7-29. The problem’s second constraint reads

6X + 4Y ≤ 24 hours (time available on machine 2)

If the firm decides that 36 hours of time can be made available on machine 2 (namely, an additional 12 hours) at an additional cost of $10, should it add the hours?

7.29 Graphically analyze the following problem: (no answer needed)

a.    What is the optimal solution?
b.    If the first constraint is altered to X + 3Y ≤ 8, does the feasible region or optimal solution change?

Mexicana Wire Works case study 1

Ron Garcia felt good about his first week as a management trainee at Mexicana Wire Winding, Inc. He had not yet developed any technical knowledge about the manufacturing process, but he had toured the entire facility, located in the suburbs of Mexico City, and had met many people in various areas of the operation.

Mexicana, a subsidiary of Westover Wire Works, a Texas firm, is a medium-sized producer of wire windings used in making electrical transformers. José Arroyo, the production control manager, described the windings to Garcia as being of standardized design. Garcia’s tour of the plant, laid out by process type (see f 7.20), followed the manufacturing sequence for the windings: drawing, extrusion, winding, inspection, and packaging. After inspection, good product is packaged and sent to finished product storage; defective product is stored separately until it can be reworked.

On March 8, Vivian Espania, Mexicana’s general manager, stopped by Garcia’s office and asked him to attend a staff meeting at 1:00 p.m.

“Let’s get started with the business at hand,” Vivian said, opening the meeting. “You all have met Ron Garcia, our new management trainee. Ron studied operations management in his MBA program in southern California, so I think he is competent to help us with a problem we have been discussing for a long time without resolution. I’m sure that each of you on my staff will give Ron your full cooperation.”

 

Vivian turned to José Arroyo, the production manager. “José, why don’t you describe the problem we are facing?”

“Well,” José said, “business is very good right now. We are booking more orders than we can fill. We will have some new equipment on line within the next several months, which will take care of our capacity problems, but that won’t help us in April. I have located some retired employees who used to work in the drawing department, and I am planning to bring them in as temporary employees in April to increase capacity there. Because we are planning to refinance some of our long-term debt, Vivian wants our profits to look as good as possible in April. I’m having a hard time figuring out which orders to run and which to back order so that I can make the bottom line look as good as possible. Can you help me with this?”

Garcia was surprised and apprehensive to receive such an important, high-profile assignment so early in his career. Recovering quickly, he said, “Give me your data and let me work with it for a day or two.”

April Orders
Product W0075C
1,400 units
Product W0033C
250 units
Product W0005X
1,510 units
Product W0007X
1,116 units
Note: Vivian Espania has given her word to a key customer that we will manufacture 600 units of product W0007X and 150 units of product W0075C for him during April.

Standard Cost
PRODUCT
MATERIAL
LABOR
OVERHEAD
SELLING PRICE
W0075C
$33.00
$ 9.90
$23.10
$100.00
W0033C
25.00
7.50
17.50
80.00
W0005X
35.00
10.50
24.50
130.00
W0007X
75.00
11.25
63.75
175.00

Selected Operating Data
Average output per month =2,400 units

Average machine utilization = 63%,

Average percentage of production sent to rework department = 5%, (mostly from winding department)

Average no. of rejected units awaiting rework = 850 (mostly from winding department)

Plant Capacity (Hours)
DRAWING
EXTRUSION
WINDING
PACKAGING
4,000
4,200
2,000
2,300
Note: Inspection capacity is not a problem; we can work overtime, as necessary, to accommodate any schedule.

Bill of Labor (Hours/Unit)
PRODUCT
DRAWING
EXTRUSION
WINDING
PACKAGING
W0075C
1.0
1.0
1.0
1.0
W0033C
2.0
1.0
3.0
0.0
W0005X
0.0
4.0
0.0
3.0
W0007X
1.0
1.0
0.0
2.0

Discussion Questions
1.    What recommendations should Ron Garcia make, with what justification? Provide a detailed analysis with charts, graphs, and computer printouts included.
2.    Discuss the need for temporary workers in the drawing department.
3.    Discuss the plant layout.