Chapter 6-Distribution and Network Models: Multiple Choice
Chapter 6-Distribution and Network Models: Multiple Choice
MULTIPLE CHOICE
1. The problem which deals with the distribution of goods from several sources to several destinations is
the
a. maximal flow problem
b. transportation problem
c. assignment problem
d. shortest-route problem
ANS: B PTS: 1 TOP: Transportation problem
5. Which of the following is not true regarding the linear programming formulation of a transportation
problem?
a. Costs appear only in the objective function.
b. The number of variables is (number of origins) x (number of destinations).
c. The number of constraints is (number of origins) x (number of destinations).
d. The constraints' left-hand side coefficients are either 0 or 1.
ANS: C PTS: 1 TOP: Transportation problem
9. Which of the following is not true regarding an LP model of the assignment problem?
a. Costs appear in the objective function only.
b. All constraints are of the ³ form.
c. All constraint left-hand side coefficient values are 1.
d. All decision variable values are either 0 or 1.
ANS: B PTS: 1 TOP: Assignment problem
10. The assignment problem constraint x31 + x32 + x33 + x34 £ 2 means
a. agent 3 can be assigned to 2 tasks.
b. agent 2 can be assigned to 3 tasks.
c. a mixture of agents 1, 2, 3, and 4 will be assigned to tasks.
d. there is no feasible solution.
ANS: A PTS: 1 TOP: Assignment problem
16. Consider a maximal flow problem in which vehicle traffic entering a city is routed among several
routes before eventually leaving the city. When represented with a network,
a. the nodes represent stoplights.
b. the arcs represent one way streets.
c. the nodes represent locations where speed limits change.
d. None of the alternatives is correct.
ANS: B PTS: 1 TOP: Maximal flow problem
18. If a transportation problem has four origins and five destinations, the LP formulation of the problem
will have
a. 5 constraints
b. 9 constraints
c. 18 constraints
d. 20 constraints
ANS: B PTS: 1 TOP: Transportation problem
TRUE/FALSE
1. Whenever total supply is less than total demand in a transportation problem, the LP model does not
determine how the unsatisfied demand is handled.
2. Converting a transportation problem LP from cost minimization to profit maximization requires only
changing the objective function; the conversion does not affect the constraints.
4. If a transportation problem has four origins and five destinations, the LP formulation of the problem
will have nine constraints.
5. The capacitated transportation problem includes constraints which reflect limited capacity on a route.
6. When the number of agents exceeds the number of tasks in an assignment problem, one or more
dummy tasks must be introduced in the LP formulation or else the LP will not have a feasible solution.
7. A transshipment constraint must contain a variable for every arc entering or leaving the node.
9. Transshipment problem allows shipments both in and out of some nodes while transportation problems
do not.
10. A dummy origin in a transportation problem is used when supply exceeds demand.
11. When a route in a transportation problem is unacceptable, the corresponding variable can be removed
from the LP formulation.
12. In the LP formulation of a maximal flow problem, a conservation-of-flow constraint ensures that an
arc's flow capacity is not exceeded.
13. The maximal flow problem can be formulated as a capacitated transshipment problem.
14. The direction of flow in the shortest-route problem is always out of the origin node and into the
destination node.
16. The assignment problem is a special case of the transportation problem in which all supply and
demand values equal one.
17. A transportation problem with 3 sources and 4 destinations will have 7 variables in the objective
function.
19. In a transportation problem with total supply equal to total demand, if there are four origins and seven
destinations, and there is a unique optimal solution, the optimal solution will utilize 11 shipping routes.
20. In the general assignment problem, one agent can be assigned to several tasks.
21. In a capacitated transshipment problem, some or all of the transfer points are subject to capacity
restrictions.
SHORT ANSWER
1. Explain how the general linear programming model of the assignment problem can be modified to
handle problems involving a maximization function, unacceptable assignments, and supply not equally
demand.
ANS:
Answer not provided.
2. Define the variables and constraints necessary in the LP formulation of the transshipment problem.
ANS:
Answer not provided.
ANS:
Answer not provided.
ANS:
Answer not provided.
5. How is the assignment linear program different from the transportation model?
ANS:
Answer not provided.
6. Define the variables and constraints necessary in the LP formulation of the maximal flow problem.
ANS:
Answer not provided.
ANS:
Answer not provided.
PROBLEM
ANS:
PTS: 1 TOP: Transportation problem
3. Canning Transport is to move goods from three factories to three distribution centers. Information
about the move is given below. Give the network model and the linear programming model for this
problem.
Destination
Source X Y Z
A 3 2 5
B 9 10 --
C 5 6 4
(Source B cannot ship to destination Z)
ANS:
4. The following table shows the unit shipping cost between cities, the supply at each source city, and the
demand at each destination city. The Management Scientist solution is shown. Report the optimal
solution.
Destination
Source Terre Haute Indianapolis Ft. Wayne South Bend Supply
St. Louis 8 6 12 9 100
Evansville 5 5 10 8 100
Bloomington 3 2 9 10 100
Demand 150 60 45 45
TRANSPORTATION PROBLEM
*****************************
OBJECTIVE: MINIMIZATION
ORIGIN SUPPLY
---------- -----------
1 100
2 100
3 100
DESTINATION DEMAND
------------------- -------------
1 150
2 60
3 45
4 45
FROM TO DESTINATION
ORIGIN 1 2 3 4
---------- ----- ----- ----- -----
1 8 6 12 9
2 5 5 10 8
3 3 2 9 10
OPTIMAL TRANSPORTATION SCHEDULE
****************************************
SHIP
FROM TO DESTINATION
ORIGIN 1 2 3 4
---------- ----- ----- ----- -----
1 0 10 45 45
2 100 0 0 0
3 50 50 0 0
ANS:
Ship 10 from St. Louis to Indianapolis, 45 from St. Louis to Ft. Wayne, 45 from St. Louis to South
Bend, 100 from Evansville to Terre Haute, 50 from Bloomington to Terre Haute, and 50 from
Bloomington to Indianapolis. The total cost is 1755.
5. After some special presentations, the employees of the AV Center have to move projectors back to
classrooms. The table below indicates the buildings where the projectors are now (the sources), where
they need to go (the destinations), and a measure of the distance between sites.
Destination
Source Business Education Parsons Hall Holmstedt Hall Supply
Baker Hall 10 9 5 2 35
Tirey Hall 12 11 1 6 10
Arena 15 14 7 6 20
Demand 12 20 10 10
a. If you were going to write this as a linear programming model, how many decision
variables would there be, and how many constraints would there be?
The solution to this problem is shown below. Use it to answer the questions b - e.
TRANSPORTATION PROBLEM
*****************************
OPTIMAL TRANSPORTATION SCHEDULE
****************************************
SHIP
FROM TO DESTINATION
ORIGIN 1 2 3 4
----------- ------ ------ ------ ------
1 12 20 0 3
2 0 0 10 0
3 0 0 0 7
ANS:
6. Show both the network and the linear programming formulation for this assignment problem.
Task
Person A B C D
1 9 5 4 2
2 12 6 3 5
3 11 6 5 7
ANS:
ANS:
8. A professor has been contacted by four not-for-profit agencies that are willing to work with student
consulting teams. The agencies need help with such things as budgeting, information systems,
coordinating volunteers, and forecasting. Although each of the four student teams could work with any
of the agencies, the professor feels that there is a difference in the amount of time it would take each
group to solve each problem. The professor's estimate of the time, in days, is given in the table below.
Use the computer solution to see which team works with which project.
Projects
Team Budgeting Information Volunteers Forecasting
A 32 35 15 27
B 38 40 18 35
C 41 42 25 38
D 45 45 30 42
ASSIGNMENT PROBLEM
************************
OBJECTIVE: MINIMIZATION
TASK
AGENT 1 2 3 4
---------- ----- ----- ----- -----
1 32 35 15 27
2 38 40 18 35
3 41 42 25 38
4 45 45 30 42
ANS:
Team A works with the forecast, Team B works with volunteers, Team C works with budgeting, and
Team D works with information. The total time is 131.
ANS:
Min 3x16 + 2x14 + 3x15 + 5x24 + 6x25 + 2x32 + 8x 34 + 10x35 + 5x46 + 9x47 + 12x56 + 15x57
10. Peaches are to be transported from three orchard regions to two canneries. Intermediate stops at a
consolidation station are possible.
Shipment costs are shown in the table below. Where no cost is given, shipments are not possible.
Where costs are shown, shipments are possible in either direction. Draw the network model for this
problem.
R SS OF W N S M
Riverside 1 5 3
Sunny Side 4 5
Old Farm 6 3
Waterford 2 2 4
Northside 5 9
Sanderson 2
Millville
ANS:
ANS:
a.
12. Consider the network below. Formulate the LP for finding the shortest-route path from node 1 to node
7.
ANS:
13. Consider the following shortest-route problem involving six cities with the distances given. Draw the
network for this problem and formulate the LP for finding the shortest distance from City 1 to City 6.
Path Distance
1 to 2 3
1 to 3 2
2 to 4 4
2 to 5 5
3 to 4 3
3 to 5 7
4 to 6 6
5 to 6 2
ANS:
Min 3X12 + 2X13 + 4X24 + 5X25 + 3X34 + 7X35
+ 4X42 + 3X43 + 6X46 + 5X 52 + 7X53 + 2X56
14. A beer distributor needs to plan how to make deliveries from its warehouse (Node 1) to a supermarket
(Node 7), as shown in the network below. Develop the LP formulation for finding the shortest route
from the warehouse to the supermarket.
ANS:
15. Consider the following shortest-route problem involving seven cities. The distances between the cities
are given below. Draw the network model for this problem and formulate the LP for finding the
shortest route from City 1 to City 7.
Path Distance
1 to 2 6
1 to 3 10
1 to 4 7
2 to 3 4
2 to 5 5
3 to 4 5
3 to 5 2
3 to 6 4
4 to 6 8
5 to 7 7
6 to 7 5
ANS:
Min 6X12 + 10X13 + 7X14 + 4X23 + 5X25 + 4X32 + 5X34 + 2X35 + 4X36
+ 5X43 + 8X46 + 5X52 + 2X53 + 7X57 + 4X63 + 8X64 + 5X67
16. The network below shows the flows possible between pairs of six locations. Formulate an LP to find
the maximal flow possible from Node 1 to Node 6.
ANS:
Min X61
17. A network of railway lines connects the main lines entering and leaving a city. Speed limits, track
reconstruction, and train length restrictions lead to the flow diagram below, where the numbers
represent how many cars can pass per hour. Formulate an LP to find the maximal flow in cars per hour
from Node 1 to Node F.
ANS:
Min XF1
18. Fodak must schedule its production of camera film for the first four months of the year. Film demand
(in 1,000s of rolls) in January, February, March and April is expected to be 300, 500, 650 and 400,
respectively. Fodak's production capacity is 500 thousand rolls of film per month. The film business is
highly competitive, so Fodak cannot afford to lose sales or keep its customers waiting. Meeting month
i 's demand with month i +1's production is unacceptable.
Film produced in month i can be used to meet demand in month i or can be held in inventory to meet
demand in month i +1 or month i +2 (but not later due to the film's limited shelflife). There is no film
in inventory at the start of January.
The film's production and delivery cost per thousand rolls will be $500 in January and February. This
cost will increase to $600 in March and April due to a new labor contract. Any film put in inventory
requires additional transport costing $100 per thousand rolls. It costs $50 per thousand rolls to hold
film in inventory from one month to the next.
a. Modeling this problem as a transshipment problem, draw the network representation.
b. Formulate and solve this problem as a linear program.
ANS:
a.
19. Find the maximal flow from node 1 to node 7 in the following network.
ANS:
Decision variables:
xij = amount of flow from node i to node j
Objective function:
Maximize the flow through the network: Max x71
Constraints:
Conservation of flow for each node:
(1) x12 + x13 + x14 - x 71 = 0 (node 1)
(2) x24 + x25 - x12 - x42 - x52 = 0 (node 2)
(3) x34 + x36 - x13 - x43 = 0 (node 3)
(4) x42 + x 43 + x45 + x46 + x47 - x14 - x24 - x34 - x54 - x64 = 0 (node 4)
(5) x52 + x54 + x57 - x25 - x45 = 0 (node 5)
(6) x64 + x67 - x36 - x46 = 0 (node 6)
(7) x71 - x47 - x57 - x67 = 0 (node 7)
Capacity for each arc:
(8) x12 £ 4 (14) x36 £ 6 (20) x52 £ 3
(9) x13 £ 3 (15) x42 £ 3 (21) x54 £ 4
(10) x14 £ 4 (16) x43 £ 5 (22) x57 £ 2
(11) x24 £ 2 (17) x45 £ 3 (23) x64 £ 1
(12) x25 £ 3 (18) x46 £ 1 (24) x67 £ 5
(13) x34 £ 3 (19) x47 £ 3
Nonnegativity:
All xij ³ 0
The LP was solved using The Management Scientist. Two solutions are given below.
20. A foreman is trying to assign crews to produce the maximum number of parts per hour of a certain
product. He has three crews and four possible work centers. The estimated number of parts per hour
for each crew at each work center is summarized below. Solve for the optimal assignment of crews to
work centers.
Work Center
WC1 WC2 WC3 WC4
Crew A 15 20 18 30
Crew B 20 22 26 30
Crew C 25 26 27 30
ANS:
OBJECTIVE FUNCTION VALUE = 82.000