2

(a) Ah Ming Furniture is well known for its quality tables made from rose wood. These tables are manufactured in facilities located in three cities-Malacca, Seremban, and Ipoh. The tables are then shipped to three retail stores located in Kuala Lumpur, Johor Baru, and Kuantan. The facilities located in Malacca, Seremban, and Ipoh can produce 10,18 and 14 tables per month, respectively. The monthly demands at the three retail stores located in Kuala Lumpur, Johor Baru, and Kuantan are 18 , 14 and 10, respectively. The shipping cost per unit from each of the facilities to each of the retail stores is shown in the following table: Ah Ming Furniture wishes to develop a distribution schedule that will meet the stores +demands at the lowest possible cost. (i) Ascertain the initial tableau. (2 marks) (ii) Determine the optimal distribution schedule (9 marks) (iii) What is the lowest possible transportation cost? (4 marks) (15marks) (b) In a job shop operation, four technicians can work on any of the four machines. The time required, in minutes, for each technician to complete the work on each machine are presented in the following table. (i) Find the optimal assignment that will minimize the total time taken. (8 marks) (ii) Compute such minimum time. (2 marks) (10 marks) [Total 25 marks]