Question

Explain why you believe sensitivity analysis is an important part of modelling using linear programming.

Answer 1

Sensitivity Analysis deals with finding out the amount by which we can change the input data for the output of our linear programming model to remain comparatively unchanged. This is crucial as we want to ensure that there is balance between input such as cost and output such as the optimal objectives.

This helps in determining how sensitive the data is to the changes.

If a small change in the input (for example change in the availability of some raw material) produces a large change in the optimal solution for some model then we can say that the model is not robust and more sensitive to changes. Such models are rarely preferred by experimenters.

On the other hand if a corresponding small change in the input for some other model doesn't affect its optimal solution as much, we can conclude that the second model is more robust and less sensitive to changes than the first.

Sensitivity thus is very crucial and helps in deciding the appropriate linear programming model which is robust.