DETERMINISTIC MATH MODELS (550.251) CASE 2 FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

1.  GENERAL: Is there a handout to help with this case study?

ANSWER: Yes.  It is called Time-Varying Demand.  I've also created
a link to it directly from the course front page.  (It's with the
case assignment.)

2. SILVER-MEAL HEURISTIC: I'm having some problems with the heuristic.
Can you advise?

ANSWER: Well, you use the table you created for the Wagner-Whitin Algorithm
which we studied in class.  Then, take each cost and divide it by the
number of periods for which you are ordering demand.  This gives an
average cost per period.  Order out to the result that gives the lowest
average cost per period.  According to the solutions I have, the solution has
one more order placed than when the Wagner-Whitin Algorithm is used.

3.  GENERAL: Beyond the required information, what else should I include
in the report?

ANSWER: Beyond the required, it's up to you to decide what needs to be
included to make this a stron report.  Part of "modeling" is communicating 
your results to the final decision makers.  So ask yourself, what would you
like the decision makers to know so that they can make the best possible
decision?  What is the best way to present that information?