GAMS Training

Mathematical Modeling

1.

Examples:

Example 1: The Outdoor Furniture Corporation manufactures two products, benches and
picnic tables, for use in yards and parks. The firm has two main resources: its carpenters
(labor force) and a supply of redwood for use in the furniture. During the next production
cycle, 1,200 hours of labor are available under a union agreement. The firm also has a stock
of 3,500 feet of good-quality redwood. Each bench that Outdoor Furniture produces requires
4 labor hours and 10 feet of redwood; each picnic table takes 6 labor hours and 35 feet of
redwood. Completed benches will yield a profit of $9 each, and tables will result in a profit
of $20 each. The manufacturer wishes to find the number of benches and tables to produce in
order to maximize its profit. Formulate the problem as a mathematical program.
Solution: Let x1 and x2 represent the number of benches and tables to be produced,
respectively, and let z represents the total profit. Then, the problem can be modeled as a
linear program such that:

Maximize z = 9x1 + 20x2

subject to:
4x1 + 6x2 1200
10x1 + 35x2 3500

(labor hours constraint)

(available redwood constraint)

x1 , x2 0, and integers

Example 2: The Hardrock Concrete Company has plants in three locations and is currently
working on three major construction projects, each located at a different site. The shipping cost
per truckload of concrete, daily plant capacities, and daily project requirements are provided
in the table below. formulate the problem as a mathematical program?

Prepared by Dr. Hussam Alshraideh

Solution: This general class of transportation problems can be modeled as follows. Let xij be
the amount of goods moved from source i to destination j. Let cij be the transportation cost
of one unit from source i to destination j and let z be the total transportation cost. Then:

Minimize z =

XX
i

cij xij

subject to:
X
xij Supply(i)
j

xij Demand(j)

xij 0, and integers

For our specific problem the model will be:

Maximize z = 10x11 + 4x12 + 11x13 + 12x21 + 5x22 + 8x23 + 9x31 + 7x32 + 6x33
subject to:
x11 + x12 + x13 70

(plant 1 supply)

x21 + x22 + x23 50

(plant 2 supply)

x31 + x32 + x33 30

(plant 3 supply)

x11 + x21 + x31 40

(project A demand)

x12 + x22 + x32 50

(project B demand)

x13 + x23 + x33 60

(project C demand)

xij 0, and integers

Prepared by Dr. Hussam Alshraideh

2.

Exercises:

Problem 1: The campaign manager for a politician who is running for reelection to a political
office is planning the campaign. Three ways to advertise have been selected: TV ads, radio
ads, and newspaper ads. The cost of these are $900 for each TV ad, $500 for each radio ad
and $180 for each newspaper ad. The audience reached by each type of advertising has been
estimated to be 40000 for each TV ad, 32000 for each radio ad and 17000 for each newspaper
ad. The total monthly advertising budget is $16000. It is required to maximize the number of
people reached subjected to the following constraints:
1. The total monthly advertising budget should not be exceeded.
2. Together, the number of ads on either TV or radio should be at least 6.
3. No more than 10 ads of any one type of advertising should be used.
Formulate the problem as a mathematical program.
Problem 2: Ashleys Furniture manufactures tables in facilities located in three cities: Reno,
Denver, and Pittsburgh. The tables are then shipped to three retail stores located in Phoenix,
Cleveland, and Chicago. Management wishes to develop a distribution schedule that will meet
the demands at the lowest possible cost. The shipping cost per unit from each of the sources
to each of the destinations is shown in the following table:

The available supplies are 120 units from Reno, 200 from Denver, and 160 from Pittsburgh.
Phoenix has a demand of 140 units, Cleveland has a demand of 160 units, and Chicago has a
demand of 180 units. Formulate the problem as a mathematical program?

Prepared by Dr. Hussam Alshraideh