Problem 15-7 (Algorithm)

Bindley Corporation has a one-year contract to supply motors for all washing machines produced by Rinso Ltd. Rinso manufactures the washers at four locations around the country: New York City, Fort Worth, San Diego, and Minneapolis. Plans call for the following numbers of washing machines to be produced at each location:

New York City	60,000
Fort Worth	68,000
San Diego	99,000
Minneapolis	84,000

Bindley has three plants that can produce the motors. The plants and production capacities are

Boulder	115,000
Macon	116,000
Gary	124,000

Due to varying production and transportation costs, the profit Bindley earns on each 1,000 units depends on where they were produced and where they were shipped. The following table gives the accounting department estimates of the dollar profit per unit. (Shipment will be made in lots of 1,000.)

	SHIPPED TO
PRODUCED AT	NEW YORK CITY	FORT WORTH	SAN DIEGO	MINNEAPOLIS
Boulder	14	10	12	14
Macon	18	20	19	16
Gary	23	11	22	18

Given profit maximization as a criterion, Bindley would like to determine how many motors should be produced at each plant and how many motors should be shipped from each plant to each destination.

a. Develop a transportation grid for this problem.

From/To	New York City	Fort Worth	San Diego	Minneapolis	Supply
Boulder
Macon
Gary
Requirements

b. Find the optimal solution using Microsoft Excel. (Leave no cells blank - be certain to enter "0" wherever required.)

Candidate solutions
Boulder
Macon
Gary
Total supplied

Profit
Boulder
Macon
Gary
Total profit	$