Textbook Problem

The Great Threads Company is capable of manufacturing shirts, shorts, pants, skirts, and jackets. Each type of clothing requires that Great Threads have the appropriate type of machinery available. The machinery needed to manufacture each type of clothing must be rented at the weekly rates shown in Table 6.2. This table also lists the amounts of cloth and labor required per unit of clothing, as well as the selling price and the unit variable cost for each type of clothing. In a given week, 4000 labor hours and 4500 square yards (sq.yd.) of cloth are available. The company wants to find a solution that maximizes its weekly profit.

Table 6.2 Data for the Great Threads Example

In the optimal solution to the Great Threads model, no pants are produced. Suppose Great Threads has an order for 300 pairs of pants that must be produced. Modify the model appropriately and use Solver to find the new optimal solution. (Is it enough to put a lower bound of 300 on the production quantity in cell D16? Will this automatically force the binary value in cell D14 to be 1? Explain.) How much profit does the company lose because of having to produce pants?