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Please answer within 30 minutes as my assignment is timed! Also Round correctly

ID: 376517 • Letter: P

Question

Please answer within 30 minutes as my assignment is timed! Also Round correctly as to not get a thumbs down.

A potato processing company has four plants in Southeast Idaho and sources potatoes from three different farms. You need to help them develop a sourcing plan which minimizes transportation costs. The tables below show (1) how many tons of potatoes can be supplied be each farm, (2) the monthly demand for each plant, and (3) the cost per ton of shipping from each farm to each plant.

Plant 1

Plant 2

Plant 3

Plant 4

40

70

50

30

Source

Supply

Farm 1

50

Farm 2

80

Farm 3

65

From To

Plant 1

Plant 2

Plant 3

Plant 4

Farm 1

8

11

9

11

Farm 2

9

10

9

7

Farm 3

7

6

8

8

a.When assigning farms to plants, which of the following would be the best place to start? (In the answer field below write the number that corresponds to your selection. Do not put a period after the number.)

Farm 2 to Plant 4

Farm 3 to Plant 2

Farm 3 to Plant 1

Farm 1 to Plant 1

b.Which farm or farms will be required to supply potatoes to Plant 2? (In the answer field below write the number that corresponds to your selection. Do not put a period after the number.)

Farm 1

Farm 2

Farm 3

Farms 1 and 2

Farms 2 and 3

Farms 1 and 3

Farms 1, 2 and 3

c.After satisfying all the demand, which farm will have some unassigned potatoes? (In the answer field below write the number that corresponds to your selection. Do notput a period after the number.)

Farm 1

Farm 2

Farm 3

None. There is no excess supply of potatoes.

d.What is the lowest cost for transporting potatoes to the four plants while meeting all the demand requirements? (Display your answer as a whole number.)

Plant 1

Plant 2

Plant 3

Plant 4

40

70

50

30

Explanation / Answer

Ans a) Total maximum possible cost for each of the 4 options are as follows:

A good place to start would be Farm 3 to Plant 2 since Plant 2 has maximum demand

Farm 2 to Plant 4 = (7 * 30) = 210

Farm 3 to Plant 2 = (6 * 70) = 420

Farm 3 to Plant 1 = (7 * 40) = 280

Farm 1 to Plant 1 = (8 * 40) = 320

Ans b) Farm 2 ( since it has maximum produce, it can afford to supply to 2 plants)

Ans c)

Total demand for all 4 plants = (40+70+50+30) = 190 tons

Total supply from 3 farms = (50+80+65) = 195 tons

Total excess = 5 Tons

Now considering plant 2 supplies to 2 plants and has no excess in the end, Farm 3 is most likely to have this excess.

Ans d) following the considerations from ans c,

Total minimum transport cost for 80 tons from Farm 2 = (7*40)+ (9*40) = 280 + 360 = 640 units of currency

Total minimum transport cost for 50 tons from Farm 1 = (8*40) + (9*11) = 320 + 99 = 419 units of currency

Total minimum transport cost for 60 tons from Farm 3 = (8*30)+ (6*30) = 240+180 = 420 units of currency

So, total minimum cost of transportation = 640 + 419 + 420 = 1479 units of currency