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Tuba Kataralis Overview and Analysis

This document outlines an individual homework assignment for Module 10, requiring students to complete a spreadsheet model for Photon Technologies, Inc. to optimize battery pack production costs. Students must enter formulas, establish constraints, and utilize the Solver tool to find the optimal production plan while adhering to specified production quantities and costs. The assignment includes two parts, with specific instructions for verifying total costs and submitting the completed work.

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ajmalfarid077
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0% found this document useful (0 votes)
2 views3 pages

Tuba Kataralis Overview and Analysis

This document outlines an individual homework assignment for Module 10, requiring students to complete a spreadsheet model for Photon Technologies, Inc. to optimize battery pack production costs. Students must enter formulas, establish constraints, and utilize the Solver tool to find the optimal production plan while adhering to specified production quantities and costs. The assignment includes two parts, with specific instructions for verifying total costs and submitting the completed work.

Uploaded by

ajmalfarid077
Copyright
© All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd

Module 10 Homework Prompt

Introduction

This is an individual assignment; while you are permitted to ask the instructor or a classmate
specific questions if you get stuck, you are to complete your own work.

This assignment comes with a template; no template is perfect, but this one follows my
convention of input parameters in blue, decision variables in red, constraints are in simple black
borders with relation symbols in between, and the objective function is double-bordered in black.

The information below will provide the context you need to set up the what-if model required for
this assignment. The overall template has been provided for you, and all the input parameters
have been entered into the template, so now you must complete the spreadsheet model by
entering the formulas necessary to calculate what is missing and entering relation symbols (e.g.
<=) between the constraints. Read the Problem Statement below to understand the problem
setting, then follow the instructions to complete the assignment.

Remember that your spreadsheet should be built containing formulas to calculate all values using
the input parameters – hard-coding is NOT permitted!

Once you are finished, upload your completed workbook to the Module 10 Linear Programming
I Homework folder. If you wish to make changes to your submission, you may click on the title
of the assignment to begin a new submission, but completing a new submission will overwrite
the previous one. As you always should, make sure you save early and often!

Problem Statement

Photon Technologies, Inc., a manufacturer of batteries for mobile phones, signed a contract with
a large electronics manufacturer to produce three models of lithium-ion battery packs for a new
line of phones. The contract calls for the following:

Battery Pack Production


Quantity
PT-100 200,000
PT-200 100,000
PT-300 150,000

Photon Technologies can manufacture the battery packs at manufacturing plants located in the
Philippines and Mexico. The unit cost of the battery packs differs at the two plants because of
differences in production equipment and wage rates. The unit costs for each battery pack at each
manufacturing plant are as follows:
Plant
Product Philippines Mexico
PT-100 $0.95 $0.98
PT-200 $0.98 $1.06
PT-300 $1.34 $1.15

The PT-100 and PT-200 battery packs are produced using similar production equipment
available at both plants. However, each plant has a limited capacity for the total number of PT-
100 and PT-200 battery packs produced. The combined PT-100 and PT-200 production
capacities are 175,000 units at the Philippines plant and 160,000 units at the Mexico plant (so for
example, Mexico could not produce 100,000 PT-100’s and 80,000 PT-200’s because this adds up
to 180,000 total units of PT-100 and PT-200, which is more than their 160,000 maximum). The
PT-300 production capacities are 75,000 units at the Philippines plant and 100,000 units at the
Mexico plant. To be clear, the limits on PT-300 are separate from the limits on the other two.
The cost of shipping from the Philippines plant is $0.18 per unit, and the cost of shipping from
the Mexico plant is $0.10 per unit.
Part 1
Suppose that both facilities will, for now, be producing 100,000 units of PT-100, 80,000 units of
PT-200, and 75,000 units of PT-300; enter these numbers as the starting values for your decision
variables. Build the what-if model according to the instructions above, and enter relation
symbols (e.g. <= ) below each label.
What total cost can management expect using this plan? To make sure your model is working
properly, make sure that your total cost computed at this point is $614,350. Once you verify this,
proceed to Part 2.
Part 2
Use the Data Analysis > Solver tool to build an optimization model based of the what-if model
you created in Part 1. Use the optimization model to calculate the optimal Production Plan that
satisfies the production requirements for each product at the lowest possible cost. Validate your
optimization model by making sure it finds the optimal total cost of $535,000. Once you have
verified that your optimization model is correct, then take a screenshot of the Solver dialog box
and paste it onto the spreadsheet next to the what-if model. For an example of how this might
look, consider the screenshot from a different problem on the next page.
Once Part 2 is completed, save and upload your completed Template to the Module 10 Linear
Regression I Homework.

Common questions

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Altering the initial assigned production values can lead to different cost structures and may affect the overall efficiency of the production plan. Changes might increase or decrease costs depending on the plant capacity limits and shipping costs. If the adjustments lead to exceeding plant capacities or not meeting production quotas, it will require re-evaluation to ensure all constraints are met and the minimized cost objective is achieved .

The Solver tool assists in finding the optimal production plan by enabling one to input constraints and objective functions and then compute the optimal production levels that minimize costs. By adjusting variables within set constraints, Solver identifies the best solution that reduces the total production cost while meeting all production requirements. For example, it helps verify that the computed optimal total cost of $535,000 aligns with expectations .

A strategy to ensure the completion of the assignment with the fewest errors includes thoroughly understanding the problem statement, diligently using the provided template without hard-coding values, frequently checking calculations for accuracy, and utilizing tools like Solver for model optimization. Regular saving and incremental submission validations can mitigate data loss and ensure compliance with the assignment requirements .

The template supports effective decision-making by systematically organizing input parameters, decision variables, constraints, and the objective function in a clear framework. This structure allows for efficient computation of results, easy modification of inputs, and visualization of relationships between variables and constraints. As a result, decision-makers can quickly simulate various scenarios, assess trade-offs, and determine optimal strategies without manual recalculations .

When determining the optimal production plan for Photon Technologies' battery packs, constraints include the production capacities at each plant and the requirement to meet contracted production quantities. Specifically, the combined PT-100 and PT-200 production capacities are limited to 175,000 units at the Philippines plant and 160,000 units at the Mexico plant. The PT-300 production capacities are 75,000 units at the Philippines plant and 100,000 units at the Mexico plant. Additionally, the production plan must satisfy the contracted quantities of 200,000 PT-100, 100,000 PT-200, and 150,000 PT-300 units .

Shipping costs significantly affect the total production cost, as they differ between the two plants. The shipping cost from the Philippines plant is $0.18 per unit, whereas from the Mexico plant, it is $0.10 per unit. Therefore, choosing the plant with the lower shipping cost can help reduce the overall cost in the optimization model .

Verifying the computed total cost in both parts is crucial for confirming the accuracy and integrity of the model. Part 1 ensures that the set-up of initial values and constraints calculates correctly, while Part 2 validates the functionality of the optimization model in achieving the desired cost minimization. Ensuring correctness in each part fosters confidence in the results, highlighting the reliability of the model in real-world applications .

It is important for the production model not to contain hard-coded values to maintain flexibility and adaptability. Hard-coded values prevent dynamic adjustments and comparisons in the model, making it less useful for 'what-if' analyses. Instead, formulas should be used to automatically calculate values based on input parameters, thus allowing for easy updates and sensitivity analysis when input variables change .

The separation of PT-300 production limits is significant because it means that these constraints are treated independently from those of PT-100 and PT-200, allowing for distinct production capacity limitations. This separation allows for more targeted and efficient allocation of production resources specific to the manufacturing capabilities and demands of PT-300, thus ensuring compliance with production requirements without affecting the PT-100 and PT-200 production constraints .

The availability of production equipment impacts the production of PT-100 and PT-200 battery packs, which use similar equipment at both the Philippines and Mexico plants. This shared usage creates a production constraint because both plants have limited total production capacities for these two battery types combined, which must not be exceeded to fit within the available equipment usage .

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