Solutions Plus Case Problem Essay Example

Solutions Plus Case Problem Paper Great North American railroad is taking bids for delivery of a cleaning fluid for its locomotives at eleven different locations. Solutions Plus can produce the cleaning fluid for $1. 20 per gallon at their Cincinnati plant. The management team has elected to limit capacity at the Cincinnati plant to 500,000 gallons. Solutions Plus also negotiated with an industrial chemical company in Oakland, California to produce and ship up to 50,000 gallons to the locomotive cleaning fluid at $1. 65 per gallon. Higher cost at the Oakland plant can be offset by lower shipping costs to some of the customers locations. Total supply of cleaning fluid available to Solutions Plus equates to 550,000 gallons, Great North American railroad demand for the cleaning fluid for the eleven locations is approximately 990,000 gallons. Bid Recommendation The available data avgas analyzed to make a decision on how to distribute the available resources based on the freight and production costs of the cleaning fluid at each plant. Based on the cost information provided, Solutions Plus has determined that not all locations can be serviced. Thus, considerations for the transportation problem are evaluated in order to find a feasible solution that also minimizes total cost for Solutions Plus. The main issues that constrain the feasible solution are total supply is not equal to total demand, and unacceptable routes. The first issue of total demand at the eleven locomotive locations exceeding total capacity at the two supply locations is addressed by adding a dummy supply location to meet the excess demand of,ASS gallons. This also leads into the route capacity constraint. We will write a custom essay sample on Solutions Plus Case Problem specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Solutions Plus Case Problem specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Solutions Plus Case Problem specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer Oakland capacity is limited to 50,000 gallons and Cincinnati capacity to 500,000 gallons. The shipping cost and/or unavailability of transportation benzene the plants and some locomotive actions will eliminate some of the routes due to cost inefficiency. These routes are the unacceptable routes and will not be considered for distribution from the specified plant. By removing unacceptable routes, Solutions Plus is able to build a linear programming solution to determine which plant}locomotive location combinations are optimal. Based on the shipping cost provided, the routes that are eliminated are as follows: I) Prom Cincinnati to Santa Ana, Los Angels, Glendale, and Sacramento 2) From Oakland to Houston, Kansas City, Jacksonville, Little Rock, and Bridgeport In order to minimize cost, the 500,000 loans of cleaning fluid from the Cincinnati plant will be distributed as follows: 1) El Paso 6,583 at a cost of $13,429. 67 2) Pendleton 80,290 at a cost of SASS,988. 70 3) Houston 100,447 at a cost of $165,737. 55 4) Kansas City 105279 at a cost of $165,795. 9 5) Jacksonville 48,285 at a cost of $74,359. 33 6) Little Rock 88,335 at a cost of S135036. 33 7) Bridgeport 69,780 at a cost of $107,460. 86 The 50,000 gallons of cleaning fluid from the Oakland plant will be distributed as follows: 1) II Paso- 190 cost$ASS. 02 2) Sacramento 49,810 at a cost of $89,657. 30 Total capacity tort both plants will service seven locomotive locations at a minimum cost of $915,920. 77. This final bid for Solutions Plus, w hich includes a 15% markup, for Great North American, should be $1,053,656. 60. Decision Factors The bid recommendation above is based upon current information and prior management team decisions. However we strongly recommend that management consider the following points before submitting a bid ;k Capacity: Will great North American seriously entertain a bid that meets only part of their demand? Management previously decided to limit the number of gallons of leaning fluid produced at the Cincinnati Plant. This decision should be reevaluated to determine fife could improve our chances of having an acceptable bid by increasing our capacity. In addition we should examine the possibility of contracting with another industrial chemical company to produce and ship additional product. As a result Of our analysis there is unmet demand at the following locomotive locations; Santa Ana, El Paso, Kansas City, Los Angels, Glenda, Jacksonville, Little Rock, Bridgeport, and Sacramento. If we contract with another supplier. These locations should be kept in mind. Fuel Cost: Our analysis was based on current shipping costs.