Quantitative Methods Assignment
BUS107

Quantitative Methods

Tutor-Marked Assignment

July 2020 Presentation

BUS107 Tutor-Marked Assignment

SINGAPORE UNIVERSITY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES (SUSS) Page 2 of 5

TUTOR-MARKED ASSIGNMENT (TMA)

This assignment is worth 18% of the final mark for BUS107 Quantitative Methods.

The cut-off date for this assignment is 30 September 2020, 2355hrs.

Note to Students:

You are to include the following particulars in your submission: Course Code, Title of the

TMA, SUSS PI No., Your Name, and Submission Date.

BUS107 Tutor-Marked Assignment

SINGAPORE UNIVERSITY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES (SUSS) Page 3 of 5

Important Note: Grading of TMA/GBA/ECA Submissions

Marks awarded to your assignment are based on the following guidelines:

1. 80% of the marks are allocated to the content of your answers:

? The marks awarded to what your answers cover depend on the extent to which they cover the key points that correctly and comprehensively address each question.

? The key points should be supported by evidence drawn from course materials and, wherever relevant, from other credible sources.

2. 20% of the marks are allocated to the presentation of your answers: Wherever applicable, the marks awarded to how your answers are presented depend

on the extent to which your answers:

? form a sound reasoning by developing those key points in a clear, logical and succinct manner;

? provide proper and adequate in-text citations and referencing to content drawn from course materials and other credible sources;

? strictly follow APA formatting and style guidelines1, in particular for:

? in-text citations and end-of-report references;

? the identification of figures and tables;

? use, wherever relevant, the specialised vocabulary and terminology commonly used in discussions about the topic(s) covered by each question;

? provide a reference or bibliography at the end of the main report;

? include the less relevant details in an Appendix;

? use sentence constructions that are grammatically and syntactically correct;

? are free from spelling mistakes; present the workings, numerical formulations and results in a logical manner that follows the APA formatting and style guidelines;

? design and present graphs, diagrams and plots that follow the APA formatting and style guidelines;

? are highly original;

? have proper formatting, which may:

? include a properly formatted cover page;

? respect the answer length/word count set out in the assignment guidelines, if any is prescribed;

? present answers in paragraphs with proper spacing and page margins;

? include page numbers and appendices, if necessary.

1 You can find a short tutorial on the APA formatting and style guidelines here: https://is.gd/mgEOnC .

Additional details (pertaining to tables and figures) can be found here: https://is.gd/O4vDdT .

https://is.gd/mgEOnC
https://is.gd/O4vDdT
BUS107 Tutor-Marked Assignment

SINGAPORE UNIVERSITY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES (SUSS) Page 4 of 5

Question 1

Johnson Food Pte Ltd produces canned corn for the local and overseas markets. They have

four raw corn suppliers as part of their strategy to reduce the risk of exposure to a single

supplier. Each day, Supplier 1, 2, 3 and 4 can provide 140kg, 100kg, 80kg and 60kg of raw

corn, respectively.

The purchased raw corn can be shipped to any of the three processing plants to be cooked and

canned. The processing capacity for Plant 1, Plant 2 and Plant 3 is 180kg, 140kg and 120kg

per day, respectively. Due to recent landslide, it resulted in the following logistical situations:

Supplier 3 can only ship to Plant 2 and Plant 3, while Supplier 4 can only ship to Plant 3.

Supplier 4’s owner is a long-time family friend and there is an agreement that Johnson Food

Pte Ltd will purchase all that Supplier 4 could provide (i.e. it will purchase exactly 60kg of

raw corn from Supplier 4 every day).

The canned corn will eventually be sent to three warehouses for further distribution to the

local and overseas distributors. Warehouse 1 serves as the storage facility for the overseas

market while Warehouse 2 and 3 serves as the storage facility for the local market. Based on

projected demand, the amount of canned corn needed daily at Warehouse 1, 2 and 3 are at

least 160kg, 100kg and 120kg, respectively.

Table 1 shows the transportation cost ($/kg) from each corn supplier to the processing plants:

Table1

Processing Plant 1 Processing Plant 2 Processing Plant 3

Raw Corn Supplier 1 10 8 12

Raw Corn Supplier 2 8 9 10

Raw Corn Supplier 3 8 7 8

Raw Corn Supplier 4 8 9 14

Table 2 shows the transportation and storage cost ($/kg) from each processing plants to the

warehouses:

Table 2

Warehouse 1 Warehouse 2 Warehouse 3

Processing Plant 1 20 18 16

Processing Plant 2 18 20 18

Processing Plant 3 16 22 20

As the in-house analyst, you have been tasked by the Operations Manager to provide him

with the necessary advice.

BUS107 Tutor-Marked Assignment

SINGAPORE UNIVERSITY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES (SUSS) Page 5 of 5

(a) Develop a relevant Linear Programming (LP) model that represents the problem.

Please clearly state the decision variables, objective and constraints. Please limit the

answer to within one page.

(30 marks)

(b) Solve the LP model using Microsoft Excel. Please provide the Answer Report and the

Sensitivity Report and state the assumptions you have made and present the relevant

advice to the Operations Manager.

(30 marks)

(c) Describe a business problem that can be solved by using LP. Please explain why LP is

suitable for solving the problem. Please also provide any limitations to the use of LP,

if any. You do not need to solve it. Please limit the answer to within 500 words.

(40 marks)

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