Exercise 1: TelecomOne and HighOptie are two different manufacturers of telecommunication equipment. TelecomOne which has focused on the eastern half of the USA has plants in Baltimore, Memphis, and Wichita and serves markets in Atlanta, Boston, and Chicago. Highoptic which has targeted the western half of the country serves markets in Denver, Omaha, and Portland from plants located in Cheyenne and Salt Lake City. Plant capacities, market demands, variablo production and transportation cost per thousand units shipped and fixed costs per month at each plant are shown in the table below. 1. Each year, managers in both companies must decide how to allocate the demand to their production facilities as demand and costs change. 2. Management executives at both firms have decided to merge the two companies into a single entity to be called TelecomOptic. Management of the new company is debating whether all five factories are needed. 3. Suppose that the company executives prefer to have 2 plants. 4. It is required that each market should be served by a single plant