PP.63 Jupiter, a large candy company, is having great success with its "Swan" family of candy bars. Due to a number of factors they like to plan their production at least six months into the future. The table below contains their demand projections (in tons) for April through September: Supply/Demand Info Beginning Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep
Predicted Sales 57,900 50,600 55,700 57,600 53,400 59,500
Regular production
Overtime production
Subcontract production
Ending inventory 8,900
Hired employees
Fired employees
Total employees 493

Cost variables are as follows:

Cost Variables
Labor cost/hour $14
Overtime cost/ton $37
Subcontracting cost/ton $33
Holding cost/ton/month $7
Hiring cost/employee $3,100
Firing cost/employee $5,000

Here is some additional relevant (capacity) information:

Capacity Information
Total labor hours/ton 4
Regular production tons/employee/month 100
Max regular production (tons/month) 57,300
Max overtime production (tons/month) 3,900
Max subcontractor production (tons/month) 5,900