BATANGAS STATE UNIVERSITY
College of Engineering, Architecture and Fine Arts
Gov. Pablo Borbon Campus II,
Alangilan, Batangas City, Philippines 4200
[Link] Telefax: (043) 300-4044 locs. 106-108
CHEMICAL AND FOOD ENGINEERING DEPARTMENT
IE 531
Quantitative Methods in Management
Bersabe, Julius M.
Cervana, Jean Charisse L.
Magsino, Ivee Dyan S.
Misteola, Sarah Elaine B.
Pepito, Alyssa C.
ChE- 5201
Dr. Eufronia M. Magundayao
Instructor
May 10, 2019
1. RentCar is developing a replacement policy for its car fleet for a 4-year period. At the
start of the first year, the RentCar must purchase a car. At the start of each subsequent
year, a decision can be made as to keep a car or to replace it. The car has to be in service
for at least 1 year and no more than 3 years. The replacement cost is shown in the table
below as a function of the period when it is purchased and the years kept in operation.
Years in Operation
Starts of a Year 1 2 3
1 4,000 5,400 9,800
2 4,300 6,200 8,700
3 4,800 7,100 -
4 4,900 - -
The problem is to determine the best decision that minimizes the total cost incurred over
the period of 4 years.
Decision ( By a Cost Total Cost
Car in Years) 1 2 3 4
1,2,3,4 4,000 4,300 4,800 4,900 18,000
1,2,3 4,000 4,300 7,100 X 15,400
1,2,4 4,000 6,200 X 4,900 15,100
1,3,4 5,400 X 4,800 4,900 15,100
1,2 4,000 8,700 X X 12,700
1,3 5,400 X 7,100 X 12,500
1,4 9,800 X X 4,900 14,700
The problem of determining the optimal decision can be formulated as shortest path!
ANSWER: The best decision corresponds to the shortest path from node 1 to node 5,
which is 1 → 3 → 5 with the cost of 5400 + 7100 = 12500. This path corresponds to the
decision of purchasing the car in years 1 and 3.
2. We have an 8-gallon jug filled with water. We also have two empty jugs, one 5-gallon
and one 3-gallon. We want to divide 8 gallons of water into two 4-gallon parts using the
three jugs. No other measuring devices are available.
What is the smallest number of transfers needed to achieve the result? We can formulate
the problem as shortest path.
• Construct a network with each node representing the amount of water in the jugs
• A node is an ordered tuple representing the amount of water in 8-gallon, 5-gallon,
and 3-gallon jug.
• Place a link from node a to node b when it is possible to move from node a to
node b in one transfer (i.e, by pouring water from one jug to another jug)
ANSWER: Each link counts for one transfer. Assign cost of 1 to each link, and find the
shortest path from node (8,0,0) to (4,4,0).
The shortest path is shown below. The minimal number of transfers is 7.
3. The Stagecoach Shipping Company transports oranges by six trucks from Los
Angeles to six cities in the West and Midwest. The different routes between Los
Angeles and the destination cities and the length of time, in hours, required by a truck
to travel each route are shown in Figure 1. The shipping company manager wants to
determine the best routes (in terms of the minimum travel time) for the trucks to take
to reach their destinations.
Figure 1. Shipping routes from Los Angeles
Shortest Route Solution:
Network of shipping routes
Network with node 1 in the permanent set
Network with nodes 1 and 3 in the permanent set
Network with nodes 1, 2, and 3 in the permanent set
Network with nodes 1, 2, 3, and 4 in the permanent set
Network with nodes 1, 2, 3, 4, and 6 in the permanent set
Network with nodes 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6 in the permanent set
Network with optimal routes from Los Angeles to all destinations
Shortest travel time from origin to each destination
From Los Angeles to: Route Total Hours
Salt Lake City (node 2) 12 16
Phoenix (node 3) 13 9
Denver (node 4) 134 24
Des Moines (node 5) 1345 38
Dallas (node 6) 136 31
St. Louis (node 7) 1347 43
4. Use the shortest path algorithm to find the shortest route from A to F.
Finding the sum of the shortest path:
E 8 Path A-B-C-E-F = 17
1 F
C E 8 F Path A-B-C-D-E-F = 23
2 5
6 D 3
B F Path A-B-C-D-F = 13
2 3 E 8 Path A-B-E-F = 13
F
A D 3 F Path A-C-D-F = 13
2
8 C
F Path A-C-E-F = 17
1 E 8
5 3 Path A-C-E-D-F = 17
F
D
PATH A-B-C-D-F, PATH A-B-E-F, AND PATH A-C-D-F are the shortest path from A
to F with the value of 13.
5. Use the shortest path method to determine the shortest distance from S to each other
vertices.
Network of route:
I
3
2 2 1
S J
5
4 2
3
K
Network with S in the permanent set
I
2 2 PERMANENT SET BRANCH DISTANCE
S S S–I
S–K 4
4
K
Network with node S, and I in the permanent set
I
PERMANENT SET BRANCH DISTANCE
S, I S–K
Network with node S, I, and K in the permanent set
I
2 PERMANENT SET BRANCH DISTANCE
2 S, I, K I–J
S J K–J 6
2
K
Network with node S, I, J, and K in the permanent set
2 PERMANENT SET BRANCH DISTANCE
2 4 1 N
S, I, J, K I–N 5
4 J J-N
Note: Path with lower value is much more
favorable path.
Network with node S, I, J, K, and N in the permanent set
2 PERMANENT SET BRANCH DISTANCE
2 1 N
S, I, J, K, N N–L
J 1 J–L 9
5 L
4
4
Network with optimal route to each vertices
2
I
5
2
2 1 N
J 1
4 L
4
6
K
4
Shortest distance from S to each other vertices
From S to: Route Total Distance
I SI 2
K SK 4
J SIJ 4
N SIJN 5
L SIJNL 6
Reference:
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