A blood bank wants to determine the least expensive way to transport available blood donations from Pittsburg

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A blood bank wants to determine the least expensive way to transport available blood donations from Pittsburg and Staunton to hospitals in Charleston, Roanoke, Richmond, Norfolk, and Suffolk. Figure shows the possible shipping paths between cities along with the per unit cost of shipping along each possible arc. Additionally, the courier service used by the blood bank charges a flat rate of $125 any time it makes a trip across any of these arcs, regardless of how many units of blood are transported. The van used by the courier service can carry a maximum of 200 units of blood. Assume that Pittsburg has 600 units of blood type O positive (O+) and 800 units of blood type AB available. Assume that Staunton has 500 units of O+ and 600 units of AB available. The following table summarizes the number of units of each blood type needed at the various hospitals:



A blood bank wants to determine the least expensive way


a. Create a spreadsheet model for this problem.
b. What is the optimal solution?
c. Suppose that the courier service switches to a new type of van that can carry no more than 1000 units of blood between any two cities. What is the optimal solution to this revisedproblem?

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