1. Agilent Corporation purchases components from three suppliers. Components purchased from supplier 1 are priced at $5 per unit and used at the rate of 220,000 units per year. Components purchased from supplier 2 are priced at $4 each and are used at the rate of 36,000 units per year and components purchased from supplier 3 are priced at $3 per unit and are used at the rate of 27,000 units per year. Agilent incurs a unit holding cost of 20% of the unit price per year. Currently Agilent orders separately from each supplier. The trucking company charges a fixed cost of $400 for the truck and a product specific cost of $50 for each stop. Evaluate the options of separate ordering and joint ordering for Agilent and suggest an optimal replenishment strategy.

a. Express the cost functions in mathematical form and define all components of the functions

b. Develop an EXCEL decision model and optimize costs using SOLVER

3. Propose an optimal replenishment strategy for Agilent