Computer
Month
Requirements
1M 2M 3M
1 800 0 300 500 800
2 1000 200 0 0 1000
3 600 0 0 100 600
4 500 0 0 400 500
5 1200 500 0 200 1200
6 800 0 0 200 800
7 800 0 0 400 800
8 600 0 0 0 600
9 400 0 0 0 400
10 500 0 0 500 500
11 800 200 100 0 800
12 600 0 0 0 600
$ 100 $ 180 $ 250 $ 737,000
900 400 2300
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has determined that during each of the
next 12 months it will need the numbers of supercomputers given in Table
1. To meet these requirements, the IRS rents supercomputers for a period
of 1, 2, or 3 months. It costs $100 to rent a supercomputer for 1 month,
$180 for 2 months, and $250 for 3 months. At the beginning of month 1, the
IRS has no supercomputers.
Determine the rental plan that meets the requirements for the next 12
months at minimum cost.