Each year, Comfy Shoes faces demands (which must be met on time) for pairs of shoes as shown in the file P03_39.xlsx. Employees work 3 consecutive quarters and then receive 1 quarter off. For example, a worker might work during quarters 3 and 4 of one year and quarter 1 of the next year. During a quarter in which an employee works, he or she can produce up to 500 pairs of shoes. Each worker is paid $5000 per quarter.

At the end of each quarter, a holding cost of $10 per pair of shoes is assessed.

a. Determine how to minimize the cost per year

(labor plus holding) of meeting the demands for shoes. To simplify matters, assume that at the end of each year, the ending inventory is