Quantitative Analysis for Management, 13/e

7.5 Solving Minimization Problems

Many LP problems involve minimizing an objective such as cost instead of maximizing a profit function. A restaurant, for example, may wish to develop a work schedule to meet staffing needs while minimizing the total number of employees. A manufacturer may seek to distribute its products from several factories to its many regional warehouses in such a way as to minimize total shipping costs. A hospital may want to provide a daily meal plan for its patients that meets certain nutritional standards while minimizing food purchase costs.

Minimization problems with only two variables can be solved graphically by first setting up the feasible solution region and then using either the corner point method or an isocost ...