A Manufacturer of Electrical Consumer Products, with Its Headquarters in Burlington

Essay

A manufacturer of electrical consumer products, with its headquarters in Burlington, Iowa, produces electric irons at Manufacturing Plants 1, 2, and 3. The irons are shipped to Warehouses A, B, C, and D. The shipping cost per iron, the monthly warehouse requirements, and the monthly plant production levels are: $\begin{array}{lccccc} &&\text { Thatehouse }&&&\text { Monthly Plant }\\& \mathrm{A} & \mathrm{B} & \mathrm{C} & \mathrm{D} & \text { Froduction (units) } \\\hline \text { Plant 1 } & \$ .20 & \$ .25 & \$ .15 & \$ .20 & 10,000 \\\text { Plant 2 } & .15 & .30 & .20 & .15 & 20,000 \\\text { Plant 3 } & .15 & .20 & .20 & .25 & 10,000\\\hline\text { Monthly Warehouse } & 12,000 & 8,000 & 15,000 & 5,000 \\\text { Requirements (units) }\\\end{array}$ How many electric irons should be shipped per month from each plant to each warehouse to minimize monthly shipping costs?
a.Use the minimum cost method to find an initial feasible solution.
b.Can the initial solution be improved?
c.Compute the optimal total shipping cost per month.