Question: Please include the conceptual model and excel model using Solver A number of technical issues had to be solved to implement the Mars procurement auction.

Please include the conceptual model and excel model using Solver

A number of technical issues had to be solved to implement the Mars procurement auction. The most difficult of these was the problem of finding the cost-minimizing set of bids that met Mars business requirements and determined the winning suppliers. Exhibit 1 contains an illustrative example of the first round of an auction. How could Mars determine the winning bids? Further, when the auction went live, Mars would have just a few minutes to determine the winning bids for larger problems (up to 500 items and 5,000 bids). How could the low-cost set of bids that satisfied Mars business criteria be found in one or two minutes?

Items in the auction (all items can be oversupplied):

Mars display boxes:

1,000 large

2,500 medium

4,000 small

M&M display boxes:

800 large

1,500 medium

2,500 small

Snickers display boxes:

400 large

750 medium

1,200 small

3 Musketeers display boxes:

100 large

100 medium

50 small

First Round Bids received:

1:05 p.m. Supplier 1 bids $2,050 to supply all Mars display boxes.

1:06 p.m. Supplier 2 bids $350 to supply Snickers small display boxes.

1:10 p.m. Supplier 3 bids $1,199 to supply all large display boxes.

1:11 p.m. Supplier 1 bids $220 to supply Snickers large, and all 3 Musketeers display boxes.

1:14 p.m. Supplier 4 bids $4,639 to supply everything.

1:20 p.m. Supplier 2 bids $199 to supply 3 Musketeers medium and small display boxes.

1:26 p.m. Supplier 5 bids $1,199 to supply all M&M, and 3 Musketeers medium and small display boxes.

1:35 p.m. Supplier 6 bids $1,350 to supply Mars, M&M and 3 Musketeers small display boxes.

1:40 p.m. Supplier 3 bids $350 to supply Snickers medium display boxes.

1:41 p.m. Supplier 7 bids $2,200 to supply Mars and M&M large and medium display boxes.

1:52 p.m. Supplier 2 bids $999 to supply M&M medium and small display boxes.

1:59 p.m. Supplier 5 bids $1,700 to supply all small display boxes.

2:00 p.m. Auction first round closes.

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