Management now wants to determine a distribution plan (number of truckloads shipped per month from each plant to each warehouse and from each warehouse to each outlet shop) that will minimize the total shipping cost.

(a) Draw a network that depicts the companys distribution network. Identify the supply nodes, transshipment nodes, and demand nodes in this network. (hand draw)

(b) Formulate and solve a spreadsheet model for this problem. It is essential to show all the details in computation formulas of each cell in the spreadsheet. (Use excel)

2. A fully integrated company both produces goods and sells them at its retail outlets. After production, the goods are stored in the company's two warehouses until needed by the outlet shops. Trucks are used to transport the goods from the two plants to the warehouses, and then from the warehouses to the three outlet shops. Using units of full truckloads, the following table shows each plant's monthly output, its shipping cost per truckload sent to each warehouse, and the maximum amount that it can ship per month to each warehouse. (25 marks) For each outlet shop, the following table shows its monthly demand, its shipping cost per truckload from each warehouse, and the maximum amount that can be shipped per month from each warehouse. Management now wants to determine a distribution plan (number of truckloads shipped per month from each plant to each warehouse and from each warehouse to each outlet shop) that will minimize the total shipping cost. (a) Draw a network that depicts the company's distribution network. Identify the supply nodes, transshipment nodes, and demand nodes in this network. (b) Formulate and solve a spreadsheet model for this problem. It is essential to show all the details in computation formulas of each cell in the spreadsheet