I'm sure your explanation of the problem makes perfect sense to you,
but pretend you don't know anything about the problem and (re)read the
post.

What is the set of 3 parameters. How do these three parameters become
one operation? What does "there is a calculation next to the table for
each operation" mean? I thought the table contained three parameters
that constituted one operation.

If the sequence of operations defines setup time, how can you have a
single value for the setup time. One should need a n-dimensional
'table'.

Maybe, if you post sample data and explain how it all comes together
for the posted data set...

--
Regards,

Tushar Mehta, MS MVP -- Excel
www.tushar-mehta.com
Excel, PowerPoint, and VBA add-ins, tutorials
Custom MS Office productivity solutions

In article ,
says...
I am trying to figure out a way to use Excel to optimize
an order of operations to minimize a calculation in one
cell. Essentially, I have a table of 3 parameters. Each
set of parameters is an operation. Every operation must
be performed, but in any order. There is a calculation
next to the table for each operation showing time per
operation and set-up time. The set-up time is dependent
on the order in which operations are performed. What I
need is to use something like Solver to optimize order of
operations (optimize row order). I can't figure out how
to do that. Any ideas? Thanks.