Reference no: EM13340944

AlwaysRain Irrigation's marketing department will undertake an intense ad campaign for the bronze sprinklers, which are more expensive but also more durable than the plastic ones. Currently two production lines are in place for making bronze and plastic sprinklers. Three types of sprinklers are available in both bronze and plastic: 90-degree nozzle sprinklers, 180-degree nozzle sprinklers, and 360-degree nozzle sprinklers. Forecast demand for the next four years is


YEARLY DEMAND
1 (in 000s) 2 (in 000s) 3 (in 000s) 4 (in 000s)
Plastic 90 32 42 54 60
Plastic 180 16 14 15 16
Plastic 360 45 54 69 68
Bronze 90 12 11 19 24
Bronze 180 7 3 5 10
Bronze 360 11 14 13 20

Both production lines can produce all the different types of nozzles. The bronze machines needed for the bronze sprinklers require four operators and can produce up to 16,000 sprinklers. The plastic injection molding machine needed for the plastic sprinklers requires two operators and can produce up to 260,000 sprinklers. Three bronze machines and only one injection molding machine are available.

Suppose that operators have enough training to operate both the bronze machines and the injection molding machine for the plastic sprinklers. Currently AlwaysRain has 13 such employees. In anticipation of the above ad campaign, management approved the purchase of two additional bronze machines.