Linear Programming And Its Applications

In life, we are often faced with one form of constraint or the other, we deal with quite a lot of limitations and every day we try to find ways to maximise these limitations to our advantage. These limitations vary from money, time, space, and food among others and because these resources are limited, we try to find a way to optimally use same.

The process of determining how best to optimise any given situation given its peculiar set of limited resources also known as resource constraints is known as Linear programming.

Linear programming also known as linear optimisation is a mathematical optimisation technique, used in identifying the best solution to a problem with linear constraints.

Linear programming has also been defined as a technique in algebra, which uses linear equations to figure out how to arrive at the optimal situation (maximum or minimum), as an answer to a mathematical problem, assuming limited resources and the quantifiable nature of the end optimisation goal. https://www.spiceworks.com/tech/it-strategy/articles/linear-programming/

In everyday life, this area of research is used to allocate resources and how best to manage the same. Linear programming is often used in business, engineering, economics and every other field to help decision-makers maximise their limited resources such as getting the maximum profit; minimising cost; and how best to allocate their limited resource (raw materials, depending on the industry/field) efficiently.

The application of linear programming to different fields /industries is important because resources are generally scarce and, in such situations, limits solutions to challenges that may present themselves, at times.

As noted above, linear programming and its application vary from one industry to another. For example:

1. Financial Planning- Linear programming is used in making the best investment strategies, portfolio management and risk management;

• Marketing- It is used to optimise pricing, advertising and promotion strategies to maximise revenue and minimise the cost of sale;

• Agriculture- In agriculture, liner programming is used in best crop selection, land use and resource allocation to maximise yields and profitability;

• Energy Industry- To generate and distribute energy, linear programming is used to optimise energy production and distribution while taking into account, factors such as the availability of fuel used to generate energy and its environmental impact;

• Logistics and Transportation- Linear programming is used in route planning, that is which route would be best and less problematic; vehicle scheduling, inventory management (e.g. knowing and having spare parts that would be readily available to meet demands and not depending on external suppliers, per time, which could affect operations); and

• Production planning- Linear programming is used to determine optimal production levels and resource allocation to meet demand while minimising direct cost and cost of sale.

The above examples are a few, of the wide range of how linear programming could be applied across various fields and how it is used as a powerful tool in decision-making and resource allocation in simple (our individual, everyday life) and complex systems.