Major steps in formulation of LPP

Major steps in formulation of LPP.  (Oct 2004)

Formulation of LPP involves basically three steps-

1. Identification of decision variables. (X1, X2, etc.) Decision variables are equal to total number of profit or cost centres in the problem. If there are two products giving profit, there will be two decision variables.
2. Identification of objective function. (Max. Z or Min. Z) Objective function is maximization if it is a profit problem and it is minimization if it is a cost problem. E.g. Max. Z = 3X1 + 5X2.
3. Formulation of constraints. Constraints are restrictions imposed on the problem Constraints can be of three types- 1. Less than or equal to 2. Greater than or equal to 3. Equal to.