i have 2 size shipping containers that are available
the large can hold up to 36 bags of product and the small up to 6 bags
how would i go about creating an algorithm that would calculate how many
(the least number) small and large boxes i would need to use?

I've gotten this far:

Bags Small Large
1-6 1 0
7-12 2 0
13-18 3 0
19-24 0 1
25-30 0 1
31-36 0 1
37-42 1 1
43-48 2 1
49-54 3 1
55-60 0 2
61-66 0 2
67-72 0 2
73-78 1 2
79-84 2 2
85-90 3 2
91-96 0 3
97-102 0 3
103-108 0 3
109-114 1 3
115-120 2 3
121-126 3 3
127-132 0 4
133-138 0 4
139-144 0 4
etc etc

and now i'm a bit stuck - any help is greatly appreciated

thanks!

Divide number of bags by 36 and round down = number of large containers
Divide remainder by 6 and round up if not exact = number of small containers

Sounds like a homework assignment.

Tim.


"Gixxer_J_97" wrote in message
...
i have 2 size shipping containers that are available
the large can hold up to 36 bags of product and the small up to 6 bags
how would i go about creating an algorithm that would calculate how many
(the least number) small and large boxes i would need to use?

I've gotten this far:

Bags Small Large
1-6 1 0
7-12 2 0
13-18 3 0
19-24 0 1
25-30 0 1
31-36 0 1
37-42 1 1
43-48 2 1
49-54 3 1
55-60 0 2
61-66 0 2
67-72 0 2
73-78 1 2
79-84 2 2
85-90 3 2
91-96 0 3
97-102 0 3
103-108 0 3
109-114 1 3
115-120 2 3
121-126 3 3
127-132 0 4
133-138 0 4
139-144 0 4
etc etc

and now i'm a bit stuck - any help is greatly appreciated

thanks!

wouldn't the remainder need to be multiplied by 36 and then divided by 6? (or
just multiplied by 6)?

"Tim Williams" wrote:

Divide number of bags by 36 and round down = number of large containers
Divide remainder by 6 and round up if not exact = number of small containers

Sounds like a homework assignment.

Tim.


"Gixxer_J_97" wrote in message
...
i have 2 size shipping containers that are available
the large can hold up to 36 bags of product and the small up to 6 bags
how would i go about creating an algorithm that would calculate how many
(the least number) small and large boxes i would need to use?

I've gotten this far:

Bags Small Large
1-6 1 0
7-12 2 0
13-18 3 0
19-24 0 1
25-30 0 1
31-36 0 1
37-42 1 1
43-48 2 1
49-54 3 1
55-60 0 2
61-66 0 2
67-72 0 2
73-78 1 2
79-84 2 2
85-90 3 2
91-96 0 3
97-102 0 3
103-108 0 3
109-114 1 3
115-120 2 3
121-126 3 3
127-132 0 4
133-138 0 4
139-144 0 4
etc etc

and now i'm a bit stuck - any help is greatly appreciated

thanks!

I meant "the remaining bags" not the fractional remainder....

Tim.


"Gixxer_J_97" wrote in message
...
wouldn't the remainder need to be multiplied by 36 and then divided by 6?
(or
just multiplied by 6)?

"Tim Williams" wrote:

Divide number of bags by 36 and round down = number of large containers
Divide remainder by 6 and round up if not exact = number of small
containers

Sounds like a homework assignment.

Tim.

Divide number of bags by 36 and round down = number of large containers
Divide remainder by 6 and round up if not exact = number of small containers

That doesn't work quite right. Let's say the number of bags = 32. Your
algorithm gives 6 small bags:

32/36, rounded down = 0
32/6 = 5.333, rounded up = 6

The result should be 1 large bag, not 6 small ones.

The following takes care of the problem by first rounding the number of bags
UP to a multiple of 6.

To round UP, I take advantage of the fact that the INT function always rounds
DOWN. We can force rounding UP by double negation: Negate the number, take the
INT function, then negate the result. i.e.

If X 0 and Y 0, -INT(-X/Y) will round up.

Sub NumContainers(NumBags As Long, Big As Long, Small As Long)
Dim N As Long
N = -Int(-NumBags / 6) * 6 'round up to a multiple of 6
Big = N \ 36
Small = (N Mod 36) \ 6
End Sub

or, to make it a function, it has to return an array

Function NumContainers(NumBags As Long) As Variant
Dim N As Long
N = -Int(-NumBags / 6) * 6 'round up to a multiple of 6
NumContainers = Array(N \ 36, (N Mod 36) \ 6)
End Sub




On Wed, 9 Feb 2005 10:31:05 -0800, "Gixxer_J_97"
wrote:

wouldn't the remainder need to be multiplied by 36 and then divided by 6? (or
just multiplied by 6)?

"Tim Williams" wrote:

Divide number of bags by 36 and round down = number of large containers
Divide remainder by 6 and round up if not exact = number of small
containers

Sounds like a homework assignment.

Tim.


"Gixxer_J_97" wrote in message
...
i have 2 size shipping containers that are available
the large can hold up to 36 bags of product and the small up to 6 bags
how would i go about creating an algorithm that would calculate how many
(the least number) small and large boxes i would need to use?

I've gotten this far:

Bags Small Large
1-6 1 0
7-12 2 0
13-18 3 0
19-24 0 1
25-30 0 1
31-36 0 1
37-42 1 1
43-48 2 1
49-54 3 1
55-60 0 2
61-66 0 2
67-72 0 2
73-78 1 2
79-84 2 2
85-90 3 2
91-96 0 3
97-102 0 3
103-108 0 3
109-114 1 3
115-120 2 3
121-126 3 3
127-132 0 4
133-138 0 4
139-144 0 4
etc etc

and now i'm a bit stuck - any help is greatly appreciated

thanks!

i did forget one part to it - if there's more than 3 small boxes, they can be
consolidated into 1 large box

sorry to be a pain =)

"Tim Williams" wrote:

Divide number of bags by 36 and round down = number of large containers
Divide remainder by 6 and round up if not exact = number of small containers

Sounds like a homework assignment.

Tim.


"Gixxer_J_97" wrote in message
...
i have 2 size shipping containers that are available
the large can hold up to 36 bags of product and the small up to 6 bags
how would i go about creating an algorithm that would calculate how many
(the least number) small and large boxes i would need to use?

I've gotten this far:

Bags Small Large
1-6 1 0
7-12 2 0
13-18 3 0
19-24 0 1
25-30 0 1
31-36 0 1
37-42 1 1
43-48 2 1
49-54 3 1
55-60 0 2
61-66 0 2
67-72 0 2
73-78 1 2
79-84 2 2
85-90 3 2
91-96 0 3
97-102 0 3
103-108 0 3
109-114 1 3
115-120 2 3
121-126 3 3
127-132 0 4
133-138 0 4
139-144 0 4
etc etc

and now i'm a bit stuck - any help is greatly appreciated

thanks!

Given that additional information:

Sub NumContainers(NumBags As Long, Big As Long, Small As Long)
Dim N As Long

N = -Int(-NumBags / 6) * 6 'round up to a multiple of 6
Big = N \ 36
Small = (N Mod 36) \ 6
If Small 3 Then
Big = Big + 1
Small = 0
End If
End Sub


On Wed, 9 Feb 2005 10:41:02 -0800, "Gixxer_J_97"
wrote:

i did forget one part to it - if there's more than 3 small boxes, they can be
consolidated into 1 large box

sorry to be a pain =)

"Tim Williams" wrote:

Divide number of bags by 36 and round down = number of large containers
Divide remainder by 6 and round up if not exact = number of small
containers

Sounds like a homework assignment.

Tim.


"Gixxer_J_97" wrote in message
...
i have 2 size shipping containers that are available
the large can hold up to 36 bags of product and the small up to 6 bags
how would i go about creating an algorithm that would calculate how many
(the least number) small and large boxes i would need to use?

I've gotten this far:

Bags Small Large
1-6 1 0
7-12 2 0
13-18 3 0
19-24 0 1
25-30 0 1
31-36 0 1
37-42 1 1
43-48 2 1
49-54 3 1
55-60 0 2
61-66 0 2
67-72 0 2
73-78 1 2
79-84 2 2
85-90 3 2
91-96 0 3
97-102 0 3
103-108 0 3
109-114 1 3
115-120 2 3
121-126 3 3
127-132 0 4
133-138 0 4
139-144 0 4
etc etc

and now i'm a bit stuck - any help is greatly appreciated

thanks!

Hello. If I understand the question correctly...
If A1 holds your number, then perhaps a helper column at B1 with
=MOD(A1,36)

The number of small boxes:
=MOD(1042848, CEILING(B1/6,1) + 12)

And the number of large boxes:
=FLOOR(A1/36,1) + (B1 18)

HTH. :)
--
Dana DeLouis
Win XP & Office 2003


"Gixxer_J_97" wrote in message
...
i did forget one part to it - if there's more than 3 small boxes, they can
be
consolidated into 1 large box

sorry to be a pain =)

"Tim Williams" wrote:

Divide number of bags by 36 and round down = number of large containers
Divide remainder by 6 and round up if not exact = number of small
containers

Sounds like a homework assignment.

Tim.


"Gixxer_J_97" wrote in message
...
i have 2 size shipping containers that are available
the large can hold up to 36 bags of product and the small up to 6 bags
how would i go about creating an algorithm that would calculate how
many
(the least number) small and large boxes i would need to use?

I've gotten this far:

Bags Small Large
1-6 1 0
7-12 2 0
13-18 3 0
19-24 0 1
25-30 0 1
31-36 0 1
37-42 1 1
43-48 2 1
49-54 3 1
55-60 0 2
61-66 0 2
67-72 0 2
73-78 1 2
79-84 2 2
85-90 3 2
91-96 0 3
97-102 0 3
103-108 0 3
109-114 1 3
115-120 2 3
121-126 3 3
127-132 0 4
133-138 0 4
139-144 0 4
etc etc

and now i'm a bit stuck - any help is greatly appreciated

thanks!

Gixxer_J,

Do you actually mean the least number of boxes or
the least cost?
Using the large box would always give you the
least number of boxes.

Jim Cone
San Francisco, USA

"Gixxer_J_97" wrote in message ...
i have 2 size shipping containers that are available
the large can hold up to 36 bags of product and the small up to 6 bags
how would i go about creating an algorithm that would calculate how many
(the least number) small and large boxes i would need to use?

I've gotten this far:

Bags Small Large
1-6 1 0
7-12 2 0
13-18 3 0
19-24 0 1
25-30 0 1
31-36 0 1
37-42 1 1
43-48 2 1
49-54 3 1
55-60 0 2
61-66 0 2
67-72 0 2
73-78 1 2
79-84 2 2
85-90 3 2
91-96 0 3
97-102 0 3
103-108 0 3
109-114 1 3
115-120 2 3
121-126 3 3
127-132 0 4
133-138 0 4
139-144 0 4
etc etc

and now i'm a bit stuck - any help is greatly appreciated

thanks!

no homework assignment - its part of the order entry system i'm working on to
determine packaging costs.

and this would be the least number of boxes - balanced with the lowest cost.

these containers will be used to ship frozen product overnight - so the
fewer the better and the most product packed in the least number of boxes is
my goal.

its been a while since i've been in class and my programming hasn't been
used in quite a long time.

thanks for the help!

J

"Jim Cone" wrote:

Gixxer_J,

Do you actually mean the least number of boxes or
the least cost?
Using the large box would always give you the
least number of boxes.

Jim Cone
San Francisco, USA

"Gixxer_J_97" wrote in message ...
i have 2 size shipping containers that are available
the large can hold up to 36 bags of product and the small up to 6 bags
how would i go about creating an algorithm that would calculate how many
(the least number) small and large boxes i would need to use?

I've gotten this far:

Bags Small Large
1-6 1 0
7-12 2 0
13-18 3 0
19-24 0 1
25-30 0 1
31-36 0 1
37-42 1 1
43-48 2 1
49-54 3 1
55-60 0 2
61-66 0 2
67-72 0 2
73-78 1 2
79-84 2 2
85-90 3 2
91-96 0 3
97-102 0 3
103-108 0 3
109-114 1 3
115-120 2 3
121-126 3 3
127-132 0 4
133-138 0 4
139-144 0 4
etc etc

and now i'm a bit stuck - any help is greatly appreciated

thanks!

J,

You would probably want to figure in...

cost of each box
shipping costs
product loss/damage % during shipment per size
customer preference for a particular size
your internal handling/packing costs for a particular size

Regards,
Jim Cone


"Gixxer_J_97" wrote in message
...
no homework assignment - its part of the order entry system i'm working on to
determine packaging costs.
and this would be the least number of boxes - balanced with the lowest cost.
these containers will be used to ship frozen product overnight - so the
fewer the better and the most product packed in the least number of boxes is
my goal.
its been a while since i've been in class and my programming hasn't been
used in quite a long time.
thanks for the help!
J


"Jim Cone" wrote:

Gixxer_J,
Do you actually mean the least number of boxes or
the least cost?
Using the large box would always give you the
least number of boxes.
Jim Cone
San Francisco, USA

this portion of my code is to figure out the # of boxes that will be used for
an order and thus calculate the cost of the boxes. shipping costs and
handling / packaging will depend on the # of boxes, product loss/damage is
negligable for this particular situation. customer preference is always the
cheapest possible, which is why i wanted to figure the least number of boxes.
the small box is half the cost of a large box, but the large box can contain
6 times the product as the small.


"Jim Cone" wrote:

J,

You would probably want to figure in...

cost of each box
shipping costs
product loss/damage % during shipment per size
customer preference for a particular size
your internal handling/packing costs for a particular size

Regards,
Jim Cone


"Gixxer_J_97" wrote in message
...
no homework assignment - its part of the order entry system i'm working on to
determine packaging costs.
and this would be the least number of boxes - balanced with the lowest cost.
these containers will be used to ship frozen product overnight - so the
fewer the better and the most product packed in the least number of boxes is
my goal.
its been a while since i've been in class and my programming hasn't been
used in quite a long time.
thanks for the help!
J


"Jim Cone" wrote:

Gixxer_J,
Do you actually mean the least number of boxes or
the least cost?
Using the large box would always give you the
least number of boxes.
Jim Cone
San Francisco, USA