Problem $15-7($Algo$)$

Bindley Corporation has a one$-$year contract to supply motors for all washing machines produced by Rinso Ltd$.$ Rinso manufactures the

washers at four locations around the country: New York City, Fort Worth, San Diego, and Minneapolis. Plans call for the following

numbers of washing machines to be produced at each location:

Bindley has three plants that can produce the motors. The plants and production capacities are

Due to varying production and transportation costs, the profit Bindley earns on each $1,000$ units depends on where they were

produced and where they were shipped. The following table gives the accounting department estimates of the dollar profit per unit.

$($Shipment will be made in lots of $1,000.)$

Given profit maximization as a criterion, Bindley would like to determine how many motors should be produced at each plant and

how many motors should be shipped from each plant to each destination.

a$.$ Develop a transportation grid for this problem.

b$.$ Find the optimal solution using Microsoft Excel. $($Leave no cells blank $-$ be certain to enter $"0"$ wherever required.$)$