MOMBASA POLYTECHNIC UNIVERSITY COLLEGE

DEPARTMENT OF MATHEMATICS AND PHYSICS

FOURTH YEAR SECOND SEMESTER EXAMINATION FOR THE DEGREE OF

BACHELOR OF SCIENCE IN ELECTRICAL AND ELECTRONICS ENGINEERING.

SMA 2472: OPERATIONS RESEARCH

DECEMBER : 2011 TIME: 2 HOURS

INSTRUCTIONS. Attempt Question One and any other Two Questions.

Question ONE (30 marks) compulsory.

a) Explain any four limitations of operations research. (4 marks)

b) Write the following linear programming problem in standard form, maximize

x0  3 x1  2 x 2  5 x3 x1  2 x 2  x3  430
subject to

3 x1  2 x3  460

x1  4 x 2  420

hence using simplex method find the optimal solution. (6 marks)

c) A bicycle shop estimates the annual demand for its Hero brand of bicycles to be 384. The hold
cost per bicycle is ksh 20 per year. The ordering cost is ksh 60 per product.

Determine (i) E.O.Q (3 marks)

(ii) The annual holding and ordering casts (2 marks)

(iii) The number of orders per year (2 marks)

d) Coastal electrical development ltd (ced) has identified the following activities / tasks in the
regions electricity projects ced has also established the precedent relationship and duration of this
activities. This information is in the following table.

Activity A B C D E F G H I J K
Immediately - - - A A B,G A,C A,C D E,F,H E,F,H
preceeded by
Duration 8 5 3 5 6 6 3 10 8 12 11
(days)

i) Draw the network diagram for these projects. (5 marks)

ii) Identify the critical path for these projects. (2
marks)

iii) Find the duration to complete all the projects. (2 marks)

e) An organization buys 400 units of an item in a year at a purchase cost of shs 5000 per unit and
an ordering cost of shs 2000 per order placed, the carrying cost has been determined to be 20% of
the cost of average stock. The organization has received a 2% discount offer for purchases of 100
or more units required. Determine the best inventory policy for the item. (4 marks)

Question TWO (20 marks)

a) Explain what the following terms mean in network analysis.

i) Project (1 mark)
ii) Activity (1 mark)
iii) Free float (1 mark)
iv) Independent float (1 mark)
v) Critical path (1 mark)

b) Using the simplex method find the optimal basic feasible solution and hence the optimal value
x0 x0  3 x1  5 x 2  2 x3
of for a linear programming problem to, maximize

x1  2 x 2  2 x3  10, 2 x1  4 x 2  3 x3  15 x1  0 x 2  0 x3  0
subject to and , , . (6 marks)

c) Bandari development co. ltd is using network planning for one of their building project; the
network consists of 10 activities A to J whose duration depends on the number of craftsmen
available. Those required for each activity are given in the table below.

Activity Preceded by Duration in weeks No. of craftsmen

A - 6 0
B - 8 3
C - 9 0
D A 5 1
E A,B 4 0
F C,E 3 2
G C,E 2 1
H C 4 1
I D,F,G 7 1
J H 3 1
i) Draw the network for the project and determine the critical path. (5
marks)

ii) Given that 3 craftsmen only are available thought the project, schedule the activities so that the
earliest project completion date is achieved. (Splitting of activities is allowed) (4 marks)

Question THREE (20 marks)

a) Briefly explain any five roles of Operations research in business and industries. (5 marks)

b) Jericho ltd manufactures B2b on a special lathe for use in a continuous assembly. The
assembles that use B2b are manufactured at a lower rate, this allows time for doing odd jobs on
the special lathe when it is not being used for B2b parts. When parts are being run deliveries are
made to the assembly area, otherwise the assembly department draws parts from the inventory.
The following data is given for B2b parts:

production rate = 4000 pieces a day.

Assembly requirement = 2000 pieces a day.

Inventory holding cost = kshs 20 per unit per year

Unit variable production cost =kshs 2000

Set up cost = kshs 110,000 per set up

Acquisition lead time = 10 working days ( 1 year = 250 working days)

i) calculate the production EBQ. (2 marks)

ii) determine the length of a production run (1 mark)

iii) determine the length of break between production runs. (2 marks)

iv) what is the TC associated with the inventory policy formulated in i), ii) and iii) above.

(2 marks)

v) determine assembly departments reorder level. (1 mark)

vi) suppose it turns out that actual holding cost is kshs 16 per unit/ year and set up cost is kshs
180,000 per set up and yet the policyabove is implemented for one year. Determine the cost of
prediction error. (3 marks)

c1
c2 z  5 x1  4 x 2
c) Determine the range of optimality, for a maximization function with a
6 x1  4 x 2  24, and x1  2 x 2  6
solution at the intersecting point of . (4 marks)

Question FOUR (20 marks)

a) Explain what the following praises mean in operations research;

i) Non degenerate solution.

ii) Feasible solution.

iii) Constrains

iv) Slack variables (4 marks)

b) A paint manufacturer produces both interior and exterior paints from two raw materials, M and
N. the following table provides the basic data of the company.

| Tons of raw material per ton of paint

| Exterior paints. | Interior paints | maximum daily
Row material for M | 6 | 4 | 24
Row material for N | 1 | 2 | 6
Profit per ton (M ksh) | 5 | 4 |
A market survey restricts the maximum daily demand of interior paints to 2 tons, the daily
demand for interior paint cannot exceed that of exterior paint by more than 1 ton. The
manufacturer wants to determine the optimum product mix, by graphical method maximize the
total daily profit. (7 marks)

c) Using the Queuing theory advice a company that as a certain type of machines breaking down
at an average rate of 5 times a month. The breakdowns are in accordance of poisson’s process.
Cost of idle machine hour comes to kshs 150 per hour. Two repairmen V and W have been
interviewed: V charges kshs 80 per hour and services broken down machines at the rate of 7 per
month whereas W charges kshs 100 per hour and services the same at a rate of 9 per month,
which repairman’s services should be hired and why. (9 marks)

Question FIVE (20 marks)

a) The manager of an oil refinery must decide on the optimal mix of 2 possible blending process
of which the inputs and outputs per production run are as follows

in put out put

Process Crude A Crude B Gasoline X Gasoline Y
1 5 3 5 8
2 4 5 4 4
The maximum amount available of crude A and B are 200 units and 150 units respectively.
Market requirements show that at least 100 units of gasoline X and 80 units of Y must be
produced. The profit per production run from process 1 and 2 are 3 and 4 Mkshs respectively.
Form a linear optimization model and use the graphical method to determine the maximum profit
in Mkshs. (10 marks)

b) Given the following information

- Arrival and services follow poison process.

- Customers arrive at a rate of 8 per hour.
- Service rate is 10 customers per hour.
i) What is the average time of customers waiting for service? (2 Marks)
ii) What is the average time for a customer must wait in the queue? (2 Marks)
iii) What is the average time for a customer to be in the system? (1 Mark)

c) A certain production produces on average 7 % defective items, and they occur randomly. Items
are packaged for sale in lots of five. The production manager wants to know what percentage of
the lots contains no defectives, using the Monte Carlo simulation advice. (Stimulate at least 10
lots of 5 item using 2 digit tables) (5 marks)

THE END