LEGO MY SIMPLEX

(Pendegraft, 1997)

Directions

You (Teams,groups of students usually no more than 4) are invited

to produce two different products, Tables and Chairs (see Fig. 1,

next slide), using the parts received in a bag.

You will work with two different products: the COMMERCIAL

(bright colors) and MILITARY (camouflage colors), made

identically but with different selling prices. One half of the class will

produce military products and the other half, commercial (public)

products.

Products: Tables and Chair

Tables require two large blocks and two small blocks. The chair requires one large and two small blocks.

From Pendegraft, 1997

The question

Each team has 30 minutes to determine

the optimal number of tables and chairs

taking account the respective prices and

cost given in table I (next slide).

Data – Table I

Salwa A., Ronald W. Experiential learning activities in Operations .Intl. Trans. in Op. Res. 6 (1999) 183‑197 )

Table ILego simplex data

Product: Tables and chairsClient: Commercial (bright colors)

Military (camouflage)Raw material: large blocks - total available 6

small blocks - total available 8Public Military

Selling price: Table $57 $61Chair $37 $41

Costs: Large block $8 $8Small block $5 $5

Debriefing

The game can then extend to cover analysis such as:

Task Purpose Technique

Develop a mathematical model and solve it using excel software

Find the best product basket and compare it with the results found empirically in class

Simplex/Solver

Model debugging Find errors and weakness in the model Re-optimization

Final managerial decision on resource allocation

Make appropriate division of organizational resources between activities under study and other important activities

Shadows prices

Evaluate estimates of model parameters

Determine crucial estimates that may affect optimal solution for further study

Sensitivity analysis

Evaluate trade-offs between model parameters

Determine the best trade-offs Parametric linear programming

Reference

Pendegraft, N., 1997. Lego My Simplex. OR/MS Today 24, 8.

Salwa A., Ronald W. Experiential learning activities in Operations .Intl. Trans. in Op. Res. 6 (1999) 183‑197 )

Hillier, F. S.; Lierberman, G. J. Introduction to Operations Research. McGraw-Hill, 1990, (Chapter 4)