Excel 2007 solver where is it

For instance, do you know a solution for the 3x3 square containing numbers from 1 to 9 where each row, column and diagonal adds up to 15? It's probably no big deal to solve this puzzle by trial and error, but I bet the Solver will find the solution faster.

Our part of the job is to properly define the problem. To begin with, enter the numbers from 1 to 9 in a table consisting of 3 rows and 3 columns. The Excel Solver does not actually need those numbers, but they will help us visualize the problem. What the Excel Solver add-in really needs are the SUM formulas that total each row, column and 2 diagonals:. Finally, click the Solve button, and the solution is there!

This is an example of a simple transportation optimization problem with a linear objective. More complex optimization models of this kind are used by many companies to save thousands of dollars each year. Problem : You want to minimize the cost of shipping goods from 2 different warehouses to 4 different customers. Each warehouse has a limited supply and each customer has a certain demand.

Goal : Minimize the total shipping cost, not exceeding the quantity available at each warehouse, and meeting the demand of each customer. Here is how our transportation optimization problem looks like:. To define our linear programming problem for the Excel Solver, let's answer the 3 main questions:.

The next thing for you to do is to calculate the total quantity shipped from each warehouse G7:G8 , and the total goods received by each customer B9:E9. You can do this with simple Sum formulas demonstrated in the below screenshot.

To make our transportation optimization model easier to understand, create the following named ranges:. Please pay attention that we've chosen the Simplex LP solving method in this example because we are dealing with the linear programming problem.

If you are not sure what kind of problem yours is, you can leave the default GRG Nonlinear solving method. For more information, please see Excel Solver algorithms.

Click the Solve button at the bottom of the Solver Parameters window, and you will get your answer. In this example, the Excel Solver add-in calculated the optimal quantity of goods to deliver to each customer from each warehouse with the minimal total cost of shipping:. When solving a certain model, you may want to save your Variable cell values as a scenario that you can view or re-use later. For example, when calculating the minimal service cost in the very first example discussed in this tutorial, you may want to try different numbers of projected clients per month and see how that affects the service cost.

At that, you may want to save the most probable scenario you've already calculated and restore it at any moment. Saving an Excel Solver scenario boils down to selecting a range of cells to save the data in. Loading a Solver model is just a matter of providing Excel with the range of cells where your model is saved.

In Excel for Windows , if you don't see the Solver command or the Analysis group on the Data tab, you need to load the Solver add-in. Click the File tab , click Options , and then click the Add-ins category.

In the Manage box, click Excel Add-ins , and then click Go. In the Add-ins available box, select the Solver Add-in check box. If you don't see this name in the list, click the Browse Then click OK.

Now on the Data tab, in the Analysis group, you should see the Solver command. In Excel for Macintosh , if you don't see the Solver command on the Tools menu, you need to load the Solver add-in. Click the Tools menu, then click the Add-ins command. You need to load it first. Note that you might have to keep your Office installation CD ready. Following this kb article for excel shows that you need to install the add-in:. Sign up to join this community. The best answers are voted up and rise to the top.

Stack Overflow for Teams — Collaborate and share knowledge with a private group. Create a free Team What is Teams? Learn more.

Where is the Solver add-in in Microsoft Excel ? Ask Question. Asked 10 years, 1 month ago. Active 4 years, 7 months ago. Viewed 20k times. I am looking for Solver in Microsoft Excel but cannot find it. How can I find it?