OPTIMAL DESK PRODUCTION
Burger Office Equipment Co. produces two types of desks: standard and deluxe. Deluxe desks
have oak tops and more expensive hardware and require additional time for finishing and
polishing. Standard desks require 80 square feet of pine and 10 hours of labor, while deluxe
desks require 60 square feet of pine, 18 square feet of oak, and 16 hours of labor. For the next
week, the company has 5,000 square feet of pine, 750 square feet of oak, and 400 hours of labor
available. Standard desks net a profit of $150, while deluxe desks net a profit of $320. All desks
can be sold to national chains such as Staples or Office Depot.
Use Microsoft Excel to answer all the questions below. Please upload one single Excel
solution file on Blackboard by the due date, with each question answered on a separate
sheet of the same Excel file. Submission of the Excel solution file via email is not acceptable.
Questions
1. Formulate a linear programming optimization model to determine how many of each type
of desk the company should make next week to maximize profit contribution.
2. Put the formulated model in Excel, identify the optimal solution, and explain it.
3. The shop supervisor is suggesting that his workforce be allowed to work an additional 50
hours at an overtime premium of $12/hour. Is this a good suggestion? Why or why not?
Explain.
