Deck 9: Optimization and Simulation Modeling

Question 1

One component of a linear programming problem assumes that all mathematical equations or inequalities are represented as straight lines.

Answer 1

True

Question 2

The graphical solution to a linear programming problem can be used when there are only two decision variables.

Answer 2

True

Question 3

A product-mix problem often involves maximizing profits by producing the optimal combination of items produced.

Answer 3

True

Question 4

Constraints place limits or restrictions on a given optimization problem.

Question 5

A constraint that is not binding has been completely used.

Question 6

Companies have little downside with experimenting with new procedures on actual customers.

Question 7

The objective function of a linear program provides the criterion by which all decisions should be evaluated.

Question 8

Simulation models are often used in decision making because testing proposed new operating procedures in an actual operation can be expensive.

Question 9

The goal of operations research techniques is to optimize organizational performance.

Question 10

When the state of a system needs to be known at specific times,numerical simulation is a viable option for a decision maker.

Question 11

Optimization always implies finding the maximum point of a mathematical function.

Question 12

Maximizing transportation costs between production facilities and customer locations or distribution centers is a common application of linear programming.

Question 13

Only minimization problems can be solved graphically.

Question 14

The optimal solution of a linear programming problem will always be outside of the feasible regions.

Question 15

A nonnegativity constraint should never be applied to a linear programming optimization problem.

Question 16

The optimal solution of a linear programming problem will always occur on a corner of the feasible region.

Question 17

Consider the following constraint: X₃ ³ 33.This implies that at most 33 units of product X₃ can be produced.

Question 18

The sensitivity analysis can help a manager to estimate the value of obtaining additional resources.

Question 19

The shadow price for a constraint is the amount the objective function will increase if one more unit of the constraint is obtained.

Question 20

Slack in a constraint means that additional units of the constraint are available.

Question 21

If a company is trying to maximize profit while selling two products,Bigpods with $10 profit and Smallpods with $7 profit,and if 100 assembly hours are split equally between the two products and one hour assembly is required for each pod,what is the maximum profit?

A)$17
B)$700
C)$850
D)$1000
E)$1700

Question 22

Uniformly distributed random numbers cannot easily be translated to other specific distributions.

Question 23

Common spreadsheet applications are not adequate for performing relevant or useful simulations.

Question 24

Linear programming is commonly used to solve all the following types of problems except

A)Production planning
B)Transportation planning
C)Project planning
D)Labor scheduling
E)Capacity planning

Question 25

A computer simulation is generally appropriate for process analysis if the objective is to observe the system over a period of time.

Question 26

Once a region is identified in an LP problem that satisfies all conditions,where will the optimum solution be found with relation to the feasible region?

A)Any place within the region
B)A point outside the region
C)At the origin
D)On one of the corners of the region
E)None of these options

Question 27

If the marketing department would like at least 100 white blenders to be produced,the sign for this constraint would be:

A)£
B)³
C)<
D)>
E)=

Question 28

Modeling the check-in process at a hotel is an example of a discrete-event simulation.

Question 29

A computer simulation is seldom appropriate if system dynamics are extremely complex.

Question 30

Recently developed simulation programs are generally easy to use,but require an understanding of logic and statistics.

Question 31

The focus in numerical simulations is the aggregate behavior associated with managers' decisions.

Question 32

Extremely complex linear programs can be solved with which mathematical tool?

A)Algorithms
B)Simulations
C)Probabilities
D)Regression
E)Decision trees

Question 33

Animated computer simulations allow users to quickly create and evaluate them without actually changing the real operations system.

Question 34

Which of the following is not considered to be a component of linear programming?

A)An objective function
B)Decision variables
C)Constraints
D)Nonnegativity
E)Restricted to integers

Question 35

If the maximization objective function is evaluated at three corner points of a graphically solved LP problem,and Point A yields a profit of $20,000,Point B yields a profit of $55,000,and point C yields a profit of $41,000,what point produces the optimum solution?

A)The origin
B)Point A
C)Point B
D)Point C
E)Cannot be determined

Question 36

Random chance makes it difficult to predict outcomes in complex,real-world operating environments.

Question 37

The intersection point of two constraints in an LP solution is obtained using what method?

A)Solving simultaneous equations
B)Enumeration
C)Repetition
D)Trial and error
E)Equation reiteration

Question 38

Which of the following means arriving at a maximum or minimum point of a mathematical function?

A)Linear programming
B)Constraints
C)Optimization
D)Linearity
E)Best-case scenario planning

Question 39

The graphical solution to a linear programming problem can be used when there are how many decision variables?

A)One
B)Two
C)Three
D)Any number of decision variables
E)One more than the constraints

Question 40

Computer simulations should be avoided for validating proposed decision models.

Question 41

What is an advantage of using spreadsheet-based simulation models?

A)The amount of programming required
B)The cost of the spreadsheet software
C)The time to run the simulation
D)The time to develop the models
E)All are advantages of using spreadsheet-based models

Question 42

A transportation problem has a nonnegativity constraint; what two other constraints does it have?

A)Production capacity and demand constraints
B)Fuel and mileage constraints
C)Storage capacity and truck capacity constraints
D)Manufacturing costs and transportation distances
E)Production locations and store locations

Question 43

Describe what a translator function does in a simulation.

Question 44

Which of the following describes business simulations?

A)Simulations are only numerical.
B)Animation simulations are too sophisticated for business applications.
C)Simulations are too complex to run on spreadsheets.
D)Highly educated specialists are required to conduct simulations.
E)None of these options describe business simulations.

Question 45

Which term describes the additional amount a company will make if one more unit of a constrained resource is added?

A)Shadow price
B)Slack
C)Binding
D)Final value
E)Sensitivity value

Question 46

Which Microsoft Excel tool can be used to develop linear programming solutions?

A)The lookup wizard
B)Solver module
C)Security macro
D)Data analysis
E)XML expansion pack

Question 47

What is a translator function?

A)Converts uniformly distributed random numbers to another probability distribution
B)Translates from English to simulation language
C)Changes values to a negative amount
D)Enables computers to read FORTRAN
E)Identifies distribution of a given arrival pattern

Question 48

Although recent simulation programs do not require knowledge of a programming language,they do require that users have a basic understanding of what?

A)Modeling concepts
B)Logic
C)Statistics
D)All of these options
E)None of these options

Question 49

The Excel function "=RAND()" will generate uniformly distributed pseudorandom numbers that are:

A)Positive
B)Less than 1
C)Between -1 and 1
D)Greater than or equal to 0 and less than 1
E)Integers

Question 50

For a company that makes short-term loans,20 minutes are required to review the loan,and 30 minutes to check credit; 10 employees who can check credit and 5 employees who can review loans are available,and it costs $50 for each loan.Which of the following would be included in the objective function?

A)The 20 minutes to review
B)The 30 minutes to credit check
C)10 employee credit checkers
D)5 employee reviewers
E)$50 loan cost

Question 51

Describe how a simulation can be used to validate models.

Question 52

Briefly describe the graphical method of solving a linear programming problem.

Question 53

When using Microsoft Excel to solve an LP problem,the software package provides an answer report and what other report?

A)Solution analysis report
B)Slack analysis report
C)Constraint optimization report
D)Adjustable cell report
E)Sensitivity report

Question 54

The shadow price of constraint will be provided on what Microsoft Excel output?

A)Answer report
B)Solver options report
C)Gradient report
D)Sensitivity report
E)Limits report

Question 55

Which of the following is not a common application of a simulation?

A)Determining the flow of raw materials in a factory
B)Determining effective deployment of expensive resources
C)Customer arrivals at a service location
D)Processing time for a banking facility
E)Determining economic order quantity for inventory

Question 56

Identify and briefly describe the five main components of a linear programming problem.

Question 57

In addition to management decision-making games and model validation,discrete-event simulation can be used for what other purpose?

A)Cost evaluation
B)Model selection
C)Company comparisons
D)Process design
E)All of these options

Question 58

To simulate the group size of groups of people attending a movie screening,the following translator function is used: Group size 1 = 0 to less than 0.21
Group size 2 = 0.21 to less than 0.65
Group size 3 = 0.65 to less than 0.84
Group size 4 = 0.84 to less than 0.95
Group size of 5 or more = 0.95 to less than 1
What is the simulated group size if the random number 0.59 is generated?

A)1
B)2
C)3
D)4
E)5

Question 59

Which of the following is not a technique similar to linear programming?

A)Integer linear programming
B)Nonlinear programming
C)Dynamic programming
D)Goal programming
E)Simulation programming

Question 60

Identify three key values found on an Excel answer report.

Question 61

Why are simulation models used in decision making?

Question 62

Identify three applications (types of problems)of linear programming.

Question 63

If a transportation problem has suppliers at four locations and customers at six locations,how many decision variables are required to solve the transportation problem?

Question 64

Identify three conditions when computer simulation is an appropriate tool for process analysis.

Question 65

A process has two constraints.Constraint A is 2X + 2Y £ 14.Constraint B is 4X + 10Y £ 40.All variables are nonnegative.What are the corner points of the feasible region?

Question 66

For the following sensitivity report,how much would your objective function increase if you acquired more of constraint A? How much would your objective function increase if you acquired more of constraint B?
A.The shadow price is 5 for constraint B,so the objective function will increase $15 for every additional unit of constraint

Question 67

Sam's Sawmill makes two products.One product is a wood bench (B)and the other product is a wood stool (S).Sam has a sawmill,so having the right material on hand is never a problem.However,production is limited.Sam's brother Chris is the carpenter,and he cannot work more than 240 hours a month.It takes Chris 4 hours to make a bench and 3 hours to make a stool.Sam had a limited budget,so he installed a small paint booth for staining the products.Sam does the painting,but he only has 100 hours a month available.It takes Sam 2 hours to paint a bench and 1 hour to paint a stool.Sam makes $7 for every bench and $5 profit for every stool.
What is the objective function for Sam's product mix problem?

Question 68

Sam's Sawmill makes two products.One product is a wood bench (B)and the other product is a wood stool (S).Sam has a sawmill,so having the right material on hand is never a problem.However,production is limited.Sam's brother Chris is the carpenter,and he cannot work more than 240 hours a month.It takes Chris 4 hours to make a bench and 3 hours to make a stool.Sam had a limited budget,so he installed a small paint booth for staining the products.Sam does the painting,but he only has 100 hours a month available.It takes Sam 2 hours to paint a bench and 1 hour to paint a stool.Sam makes $7 for every bench and $5 profit for every stool.
What are the constraints for Sam's Sawmill in terms of Chris's time and Sam's time?

Question 69

For the following sensitivity report,what is the range that the decision variable for product X is valid? What is the range that the decision variable for product Y is valid? What is the range that constraint A is valid? What is the range that constraint B is valid?

Question 70

Identify three disadvantages to building simulation models in spreadsheets.

Question 71

Three stores are supplied from three distribution centers.Shipping costs,store demand,and distribution center (DC)capacity are shown in the following table.

Question 72

Three stores are supplied from three distribution centers.Shipping costs,store demand,and distribution center (DC)capacity are shown in the following table.

Question 73

Sam's Sawmill makes two products.One product is a wood bench (B)and the other product is a wood stool (S).Sam has a sawmill,so having the right material on hand is never a problem.However,production is limited.Sam's brother Chris is the carpenter,and he cannot work more than 240 hours a month.It takes Chris 4 hours to make a bench and 3 hours to make a stool.Sam had a limited budget,so he installed a small paint booth for staining the products.Sam does the painting,but he only has 100 hours a month available.It takes Sam 2 hours to paint a bench and 1 hour to paint a stool.Sam makes $7 for every bench and $5 profit for every stool.
Identify the corner points of the feasible region.

Question 74

Draw the feasible region if at least 200 units of product A are required and at least 100 units of product B are required by a company.

Question 75

Sam's Sawmill makes two products.One product is a wood bench (B)and the other product is a wood stool (S).Sam has a sawmill,so having the right material on hand is never a problem.However,production is limited.Sam's brother Chris is the carpenter,and he cannot work more than 240 hours a month.It takes Chris 4 hours to make a bench and 3 hours to make a stool.Sam had a limited budget,so he installed a small paint booth for staining the products.Sam does the painting,but he only has 100 hours a month available.It takes Sam 2 hours to paint a bench and 1 hour to paint a stool.Sam makes $7 for every bench and $5 profit for every stool.
What is the profit at the corner points of the feasible region? What point maximizes the objective function?