ITPEC IP April 2018 Question 66
In order to manufacture one (1) unit of a product, 10 kg of the raw material A and 5 kg of the raw material B are needed. If the amount of raw material that can be used in one (1) month is 60 kg of raw material A and 40 kg of raw material B, what is the maximum number of units of the product that can be manufactured in one (1) month?
Explanation
6 units — each unit needs both materials, so the material that runs out first sets the limit.
- •Raw material A: 60 ÷ 10 = 6 units
- •Raw material B: 40 ÷ 5 = 8 units
- •Maximum output: the smaller figure, 6 units, using 60 kg of A and 30 kg of B
Material A is the bottleneck: a 7th unit would need 70 kg of A.
Answer (b)
Why not others:
- •(a) 4 — feasible, but it leaves 20 kg of A and 20 kg of B unused, so it is not the maximum
- •(c) 8 — the limit set by material B alone; 8 units need 8 × 10 = 80 kg of A, but only 60 kg are available
- •(d) 10 — needs 100 kg of A and 50 kg of B, more than either material allows
Key rule: When a product needs several resources, compute the output each resource allows and take the smallest; that resource is the constraint.
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