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Industrial Engineering & Manufacturing vocabulary · Operations Research

Linear programming

Meaning in industrial engineering & manufacturing, with examples

nounCommon term

In industrial engineering & manufacturing, linear programming means: A mathematical method for finding the best result, such as the lowest cost or highest profit, when the goal and all the limits can be written as linear equations.

In Turkish: doğrusal programlama, lineer programlama

How it is used

A core operations research tool, used for product mix, blending, transport and scheduling problems. Engineers formulate an LP model with decision variables, an objective function and constraints, then solve it with the simplex method (George Dantzig, 1947) or a solver such as Excel Solver.

Example sentences

  1. We used linear programming to find the product mix that gives the highest profit with the current machine hours.

  2. The linear programming model has 40 variables and 25 constraints.

Common collocations

  • linear programming model
  • formulate a linear programming problem
  • LP solver
  • simplex method
  • optimizationFinding the best possible solution among many options within given limits, for example the cheapest route, the shortest schedule or the best use of machines.
  • objective functionIn an optimization model, the formula that measures what you want to minimize or maximize, such as total cost, profit or delivery time.
  • constraintA limit that a solution must respect, such as available machine hours, budget or storage space. In the Theory of Constraints, the resource that limits the whole system.
  • simulationA computer model that imitates how a real system, such as a factory, warehouse or queue, behaves over time, so you can test changes before making them.

More terms: Operations Research

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