Hello
I have a simple solver problem that I can't seem to get to work and I'm not sure why.
It is a simple distribution of resources problem, and what I'm trying to solve for is the smallest number of exchanges required to meet the constraints.
Here's a photo of the excel sheet:
So in the above example, Brad is short 996 units, Matt is owed 294 units, etc. The red cells are the variable cells. The blue cells sum the totals next to each person and the corresponding red cells. The net should equal 0. So the blue cells are constraints that must = 0.
Finally, the objective is the count cell. I want this to be the minimum number of "exchanges" that need to occur. I.e. Brad gives Matt 294 (now Matt's balance = 0), Brad gives John 143 (now Matt's balance = 0), and that's 2 exchanges.
Here is a screenshot of the solver parameter setup:
Here is a solution that I came up on my own...just plugging in numbers:
See how the count = 9, the total number of exchanges. However, when I run the solver solution, no matter if I use GRG Non Linear or Evolutionary, I get something like this...which is certainly not the minimum since I was able to find a solution for 9 exchanges just guessing...(10 is greater than 9):
What am I missing? This seems pretty simple for solver, but I can't get it to work.
Please help! Thank you,