Problem 14-9 (Algo)
Sycamore Plastics (SP) is a manufacturer of polyethylene plastic pellets used as a raw material by manufacturers of plastic goods around the United States. SP currently operates four manufacturing centers in Philadelphia, PA; Atlanta, GA; St. Louis, MO; and Salt Lake City, UT. The plants have different capacities and production costs as indicated in the table below.

PLANT MAXIMUM CAPACITY (× 100,000 POUNDS) PRODUCT COST (PER 1,000 POUNDS)
Philadelphia 8.0 $321.00
Atlanta 9.2 $271.00
St. Louis 12.1 $301.00
Salt Lake City 10.4 $246.00
SP currently has six contract customers located in New York City; Birmingham, AL; Terre Haute, IN; Dallas, TX; Spokane, WA; and San Diego, CA. Transportation costs between the plants and various customers, as well as contracted demand from each customer, are shown in the table below.

FROM OR TO TRANSPORT COSTS PER 1,000 POUNDS
NYC BIRMINGHAM TERRE HAUTE DALLAS SPOKANE SAN DIEGO
Philadelphia $46 $53 $57 $63 $73 $84
Atlanta 56 43 59 60 75 81
St. Louis 58 61 51 55 60 69
Salt Lake City 73 72 68 58 53 59
Total Demand (× 1,000 pounds) 524 414 924 599 351 399
Create a solver model and find the optimal solution to help SP develop a distribution plan that will minimize costs to supply the customers’ demand.

Note: Enter your answers in terms of cost per 1,000 lbs and shipment quantities per 1,000 lbs. Round your answers to the nearest whole number. Leave the cells blank, whenever zero (0) is required.