Case Problem Operation Research, Summer Sports Camp at State University & Spring Garden Tools
Case Problem Operation Research, Summer Sports Camp at State University & Spring Garden Tools
Case Problem Operation Research, Summer Sports Camp at State University & Spring Garden Tools
Week
Registered Campers
115
210
250
Week
Registered Campers
230
260
300
250
190
Mary's major at State is management science, and she wants to develop a plan for purchasing
and cleaning sheets by using linear programming. Help Mary formulate a linear programming
model for this problem and solve it by using the computer.
Case Problem 2:
SPRING GARDEN TOOLS
The Spring family has owned and operated a garden tool and implements manufacturing
company since 1952. The company sells garden tools to distributors and also directly to
hardware stores and home improvement discount chains. The Spring Company's four most
popular small garden tools are a trowel, a hoe, a rake, and a shovel. Each of these tools is
made from durable steel and has a wooden handle. The Spring family prides itself on its highquality tools.
The manufacturing process encompasses two stages. The first stage includes two
operationsstamping out the metal tool heads and drilling screw holes in them. The completed
tool heads then flow to the second stage, which includes an assembly operation where the
handles are attached to the tool heads, a finishing step, and packaging. The processing times
per tool for each operation are provided in the following table:
[Page 177]
Tool (hr./unit)
Operation
Trowel
Hoe
Rake
Shovel
Stamping
0.04
0.17
0.06
0.12
500
Drilling
0.05
0.14
0.14
400
Assembly
0.06
0.13
0.05
0.10
600
Finishing
0.05
0.21
0.02
0.10
550
Packaging
0.03
0.15
0.04
0.15
500
The steel the company uses is ordered from an iron and steel works in Japan. The company
has 10,000 square feet of sheet steel available each month. The metal required for each tool
and the monthly contracted production volume per tool are provided in the following table:
Trowel
1.2
1,800
Hoe
1.6
1,400
Rake
2.1
1,600
Shovel
2.4
1,800
The primary reasons the company has survived and prospered are its ability always to meet
customer demand on time and its high quality. As a result, the Spring Company will produce
on an overtime basis in order to meet its sales requirements, and it also has a long-standing
arrangement with a local tool and die company to manufacture its tool heads. The Spring
Company feels comfortable subcontracting the first-stage operations because it is easier to
detect defects prior to assembly and finishing. For the same reason, the company will not
subcontract for the entire tool because defects would be particularly hard to detect after the
tool is finished and packaged. However, the company does have 100 hours of overtime
available each month for each operation in both stages. The regular production and overtime
costs per tool for both stages are provided in the following table:
Stage 1
Regular Cost
Stage 2
Overtime Cost
Regular Cost
Overtime Cost
Trowel
$ 6.00
$ 6.20
$3.00
$3.10
Hoe
10.00
10.70
5.00
5.40
Rake
8.00
8.50
4.00
4.30
10.00
10.70
5.00
5.40
Shovel
The cost of subcontracting in stage 1 adds 20% to the regular production cost.
The Spring Company wants to establish a production schedule for regular and overtime
production in each stage and for the number of tool heads subcontracted, at the minimum
cost. Formulate a linear programming model for this problem and solve the model using the
computer. Which resources appear to be most critical in the production process?