Homewood Masonry is considering expanding its operation and entering into the local structural concrete market. Management has decided to produce and distribute one batch of each of two different grades of concrete. Each grade is a different mixture or cement. sand. and gravel as indicated by the amounts of each material needed for a given week’s production as specified in the following table.

For example. this week ·s batch of Grade I concrete produced requires 1 ton of cement. 2 tons of sand. and 4 tons of gravel. If this new business is to be profitable for Homewood Masonry. these materials must be procured as cost effectively as possible. Your job is to develop a strategy for purchasing these materials. You have received bids from two regional suppliers that include the cost/ton (including transportation) shipped to your site:

For example. a ton of cement from Supplier A costs $150.00, and Supplier A has a total of 3 tons available for your operation.

formulate a linear program that will suggest an optimal strategy for purchasing raw materials for the production of these concrete mixtures.