A supply chain-a problem in transshipment.Note: It would be good idea to have solved the p...

A supply chain-a problem in transshipment.

Note: It would be good idea to have solved the previous problem correctly before trying this problem.

A corporation is engaged in producing and marketing a consumer good. The company has two factories that produce the good and also four intermediate warehouses from which the good is delivered to the final link in the chain, retail stores of which there are many, Factories only ship to warehouses and not directly to retail stores. The warehouse intervenes in the supply chain so that rapid response (overnight truck delivery) can deliver the goods to stores. The warehouses are, of course, more geographically dispersed than the plants are. The dispersed supply network eliminates the need for the more distant, and hence slower, shipment that would occur if the stores ordered replenishment stock from the factory. The manufacturing plants are in place and producing goods; the maximum monthly production rates from factories 1 and 2 are a1, a2. Warehouses are positioned in key locations and are currently in operation. The maximum monthly throughputs at the four warehouses are bl. b2... b3 and b4. The monthly demands at the 40 retail stores are d1, d2, d3,…and d10 The cost of a unit shipped from plant i to warehouse j is cij and the cost of a unit shipped from warehouse j to store k is kij. Each unit manufactured at plants 1 and 2 costs e1 and e2 respectively. to manufacture Processing and stocking cost at the warehouses all cost g per unit that moves through the warehouse each month. All goods that enter the warehouse in any month that exit it in that same month as there is not enough storage capacity to operate with carryover goods. Structure is a linear programming optimization model, using summation notation where it is convenient to do so, that seeks to manufacture and distribute the goods in the supply chain at the least total cost. The decision variable will tell you which warehouse serve which plant and retail stores. Other than the set of assignments and minimum total cost, can you think of additional valuable information that would come from solution of this problem?