Determine how to meet General Ford's weekly demands at minimum cost. Can you make table?25. |General Ford has two plants, two warehouses, and three customers. The locations of these are as
follows:
Plants: Detroit and Atlanta
‘Warehouses: Denver and New York
Customers: Los Angeles, Chicago, and Philadelphia
Cars are produced at plants, then shipped to warehouses, and finally shipped to customers.
Detroit can produce 200 cars per week, and Atlanta can produce 150 cars per week. Los
Angeles requires 70 cars per week; Chicago, 60; and Philadelphia, 50. It costs $10,000 to
produce a car at each plant, and the cost of shipping a car between two cities is given in the
table below. Determine how to meet General Ford's weekly demands at minimum cost.
ere
Question:
Determine how to meet General Ford's weekly demands at minimum cost. Can you make table?25. |General Ford has two plants, two warehouses, and three customers. The locations of these are as
follows:
Plants: Detroit and Atlanta
‘Warehouses: Denver and New York
Customers: Los Angeles, Chicago, and Philadelphia
Cars are produced at plants, then shipped to warehouses, and finally shipped to customers.
Detroit can produce 200 cars per week, and Atlanta can produce 150 cars per week. Los
Angeles requires 70 cars per week; Chicago, 60; and Philadelphia, 50. It costs $10,000 to
produce a car at each plant, and the cost of shipping a car between two cities is given in the
table below. Determine how to meet General Ford's weekly demands at minimum cost.
ere
This is AI generated Response.
Asked by: coochbehar
Created at: 2025-06-02 21:25:53
Final Answer:
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Certainly! **This is a classic transportation (network flow) problem with two stages:**
1. From **plants to warehouses**
2. From **warehouses to customers**
### **Step 1: Data Summary**
#### **Plants and Capacities**
| Plant | Capacity (cars/week) |
|---------|---------------------|
| Detroit | 200 |
| Atlanta | 150 |
#### **Warehouses**
- Denver
- New York
#### **Customers and Demands**
| Customer | Demand (cars/week) |
|---------------|-------------------|
| Los Angeles | 70 |
| Chicago | 60 |
| Philadelphia | 50 |
| **Total** | **180** |
#### **Production Cost**
- $10,000 per car at each plant
#### **Shipping Costs**
- **From Plants to Warehouses (per car):**
| | Denver | New York |
|-----------|--------|----------|
| Detroit | $1400 | $600 |
| Atlanta | $1600 | $900 |
- **From Warehouses to Customers (per car):**
| | Los Angeles | Chicago | Philadelphia |
|-----------|-------------|---------|--------------|
| Denver | $1200 | $1000 | $1700 |
| New York | $3000 | $800 | $100 |
---
### **Step 2: Decision Variables**
Let:
- \( x_{ij} \) = Number of cars shipped from plant \( i \) to warehouse \( j \)
- \( y_{jk} \) = Number of cars shipped from warehouse \( j \) to customer \( k \)
---
### **Step 3: Table for Calculations**
#### **a) Plant to Warehouse (Stage 1)**
| From/To | Denver | New York | Supply (max) |
|----------|--------|----------|--------------|
| Detroit | | | 200 |
| Atlanta | | | 150 |
| Demand | ? | ? | |
#### **b) Warehouse to Customer (Stage 2)**
| From/To | Los Angeles | Chicago | Philadelphia | Supply (from Stage 1) |
|---------|-------------|---------|--------------|-----------------------|
| Denver | | | | ? |
| New York| | | | ? |
| Demand | 70 | 60 | 50 | |
---
### **Step 4: Cost Table**
**Total Cost per car from Plant to Customer via Warehouse = Production Cost + Shipping (Plant to Warehouse) + Shipping (Warehouse to Customer)**
#### **Example Calculation Table**
| Route (Plant → Warehouse → Customer) | Cost Formula | Cost ($) |
|--------------------------------------|-------------------------------|----------|
| Detroit → Denver → LA | 10,000 + 1,400 + 1,200 | 12,600 |
| Detroit → Denver → Chicago | 10,000 + 1,400 + 1,000 | 12,400 |
| Detroit → Denver → Philadelphia | 10,000 + 1,400 + 1,700 | 13,100 |
| Detroit → New York → LA | 10,000 + 600 + 3,000 | 13,600 |
| Detroit → New York → Chicago | 10,000 + 600 + 800 | 11,400 |
| Detroit → New York → Philadelphia | 10,000 + 600 + 100 | 10,700 |
| Atlanta → Denver → LA | 10,000 + 1,600 + 1,200 | 12,800 |
| Atlanta → Denver → Chicago | 10,000 + 1,600 + 1,000 | 12,600 |
| Atlanta → Denver → Philadelphia | 10,000 + 1,600 + 1,700 | 13,300 |
| Atlanta → New York → LA | 10,000 + 900 + 3,000 | 13,900 |
| Atlanta → New York → Chicago | 10,000 + 900 + 800 | 11,700 |
| Atlanta → New York → Philadelphia | 10,000 + 900 + 100 | 11,000 |
---
### **Step 5: Table Format for Solution**
Here is the structured table to help you fill in the flows:
#### **a) Flows from Plants to Warehouses**
| | To Denver | To New York | Total shipped (≤ capacity) |
|-------------|-----------|-------------|---------------------------|
| From Detroit| | | ≤ 200 |
| From Atlanta| | | ≤ 150 |
#### **b) Flows from Warehouses to Customers**
| | To LA | To Chicago | To Philadelphia | Total received (from plants) |
|-------------|-------|------------|-----------------|------------------------------|
| From Denver | | | | |
| From New York| | | | |
#### **c) Customer Demand (must be met):**
| Customer | Demand |
|---------------|--------|
| Los Angeles | 70 |
| Chicago | 60 |
| Philadelphia | 50 |
---
### **Step 6: Constraints**
- Supply at each plant cannot exceed capacity.
- Shipments into each warehouse must equal shipments out.
- Customer demands must be met.
---
### **Step 7: Table for Final Flows and Costs**
| Route (Plant → Warehouse → Customer) | Number of Cars | Cost per Car | Total Cost |
|--------------------------------------|---------------|--------------|------------|
| Detroit → Denver → LA | | $12,600 | |
| Detroit → Denver → Chicago | | $12,400 | |
| ... | | | |
| Atlanta → New York → Philadelphia | | $11,000 | |
| **TOTAL** | | | |
---
**You can use these tables to set up and solve the problem using the transportation simplex method or using Excel Solver. Would you like help setting this up in Excel or with a full step-by-step solution?**
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