Question

Leach Distributors packages and distributes industrial supplies. A standard shipment can be packaged using a mix of class A, class K and class T containers. A shipment in a single class A container yields a profit of $180; in a single class K container, a profit of $70; and in a single class T container, a profit of $150. Each container requires a certain amount of packing material as well as packing time, as shown below.

RESOURCES REQUIRED PER CLASS OF CONTAINER
Class of Container	Packing Material (Pounds)	Packing Time (Hours)
A	3	1
K	1	6
T	3	4

Hugh Leach, head of the firm, must decide the optimal number of each class of container to use for his weekly shipment. Each week, his supplier can supply him with 128 pounds of packing materials; additionally, each of his six full-time packers provides 40 hours of labor. Finally, Hugh has 25 class A, 14 class K, and 34 class T containers available to him each week.

Part A: Explicitly provide the following aspects of the problem in business terms:

• Goal/objective
• Decisions to be made
• Operational constraints

Part B: Formulate and solve this problem using Excel.

Answer 1

Leach Distributor
				GOAL	OBJECTIVE
Class of Container	Yields From 1 Container	Packing Material (Pounds)	Packing Time (Hours)	CONTAINERS AVAILABLE	CONTAINER TO BE SHIPPED	MATERIAL	TIME	YEILD
A	180	3	1	25	25	75	25	4500
K	70	1	6	14	14	14	84	980
T	150	3	4	34	13	39	52	1950
					TOTAL USED	128	161	7430
					TOTAL AVAILABLE	128	240
					BALANCE	0	-79
CONTAINER A IS HIGHLY YIELD MAKING CONTAINER HENCE WE HAVE TO SHIPP MAXIMUM NO OF CONTAINER A
CONTAINER K IS USING MINIUM QUANTITY OF MATERIAL AND MAXIMUM QUANTITY OF HOURS HENCE AND IT ALSO CONTAINES GOOD YIELD HENCE WE HAVE TO SHIPP MAXIMUM NO OF CONTAINER K
AS PER THE CONSTRAINS AVAILABLE OF MATERIAL AND LABOUR BALANCE MATERIAL AND HOURS TO BE USED FOR CONTRAINER T