Linear Programming by Hand: Graphical Method, Corner Points & Transportation
Formulate an LP, check plans for feasibility, draw constraint lines, solve corners with Cramer's rule, read shadow prices, build a northwest-corner shipping plan and enumerate an assignment: 8 graded labs plus Solver how-tos for a fictional brewery.
The first lesson is free — no account needed.
About this course
A linear programming course that solves one fictional brewery's production, shipping and staffing problems by hand in a spreadsheet, with Solver how-tos alongside, for operations research and business students and analysts who want to see what Solver does. You turn a word problem into decision variables, an objective and one formula per constraint, test eight candidate production plans for feasibility with AND, compute every constraint line and the iso-profit line and chart the feasible region as an XY scatter, intersect boundary lines with Cramer's rule to find the corner points, price every corner and watch a price change move the optimum, read shadow prices by relaxing each constraint by one unit, build a starting shipping plan with the northwest corner rule and enumerate an assignment problem before checking a tea blend against its specs. The first lab is free.
Lessons
- Formulating an LP: Variables, Objective & Constraints as FormulasFree
- Feasibility Check: Which Candidate Plans Break a Constraint? Pro
- The Graphical Method: Constraint Lines & the Iso-Profit Line Pro
- Corner Points: Intersecting Two Lines with a 2×2 Solve Pro
- Evaluate the Objective at Every Corner & Pick the Best Pro
- Shadow Prices: What Is One More Hour Worth? Pro
- The Transportation Problem: Northwest Corner Rule & Cost Pro
- Assignment by Enumeration & a Blend Problem Check Pro