Jeff Smith, formulation analyst for New England Feed Supply Inc., was evaluating the following week's requirements for three animal feed mixes produced by the Burlington plant. A shortage of one ingredient, meat meal, meant that the company would find it difficult to meet the orders on hand. Smith needed to determine which, if any, of the mixture formulae should be altered, and in what way; alternately, he could elect to buy additional meat meal on the spot market, at a significantly higher price. (A Microsoft Excel model is available for use with this case, product 7A98E034.)
