Question

Horsetown produces buckles (B) and knives (K), both made from stainless steel (S) and mother-of-pearl
(P). Horsetown has 18 ounces of mother-of-pearl and 20 ounces of steel. Each buckle requires three
ounces of mother-of-pearl and two ounces of steel, whereas each knife requires two ounces of mother-
of-pearl and four ounces of steel. The demand for knives is no more than four. A buckle earns $300 in
profit and a knife, $400. The store wants to determine the number of buckles and knives to make in
order to maximize profit.
Solve the linear programming problem using Excel’s solver.

Answer 1

Objective function: Maximize Profit (Z) = 300B + 400K

Subject to:

3B + 2K <= 18

2B + 4K <= 20

B >= 0

0 <= K <= 4

Solving this using Excel Solver:

B = 4 units, K = 3 units and maximum profit = $2400.