Consider the sensitivity analysis below. You are given the option to add 5 more
ID: 456835 • Letter: C
Question
Consider the sensitivity analysis below. You are given the option to add 5 more units of capacity to any of the constraints. How much would you choose to add where, and why? The software you use to solve linear programs is only able to solve minimization problems, but you need to solve a maximization problem. You ask your professor, who is in a bad mood and tells you it's not a problem and to figure it out yourself. Is she right, and, if so, how can you use your software to solve the problem? Give an example of where decisions that appear good in the short-term may not be beneficial in the long-term. Explain your example. In the linear programming shipping problems discussed in class and the homework, why was it necessary to specify some of the constraints as strict equalities, rather than the inequalities that perhaps made more sense from the perspective of the formulation?Explanation / Answer
2. She is right.
A linear programming problem in standard form, the objective function is to be maximized, not minimized.
The basic procedure used to solve such a problem is to convert it to a maximization problem in standard form and then apply the software.