Data InsightsMulti-Source Reasoning

Free GMAT Multi-Source Reasoning Practice Question

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A hospital pharmacy manages reordering for five drugs. For each drug it tracks the current stock on hand, the average daily usage, and the supplier lead time, the number of days between placing an order and receiving it. To avoid stockouts, the pharmacy places a reorder when the projected days of cover, current stock divided by average daily usage, falls to or below the lead time.

The rule is that a drug must be reordered now if its days of cover is less than or equal to its lead time, because otherwise stock would run out before a fresh order could arrive. A drug whose days of cover exceeds its lead time has enough buffer and is not reordered this cycle.

When a drug is reordered, the standing target is to bring its total stock after delivery up to 50 days of cover, the full buffer. Separately, the pharmacy will not stockpile a drug beyond what it can use before expiry. A reorder is therefore capped so that total stock after delivery, measured in days of cover, does not exceed the drug's days of remaining shelf life. The expiry cap is checked only for drugs that are being reordered, and it binds, that is, it trims the order below the 50-day full-buffer target, only when 50 days of cover would exceed that drug's remaining shelf life.

The pharmacy reorders Dopamine and wants total stock after delivery to reach a 40-day buffer of cover, subject to the expiry cap. Using the sources, how many units should it order?

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Answer & Explanation

Correct answer

A

Dopamine uses 20 units per day. A 40-day buffer of cover is 40 × 20 = 800 units of total stock after delivery. The expiry cap allows up to 45 days of cover, which is 900 units; since the 40-day target of 800 units is below the 900-unit cap, the cap does not bind and the 40-day target governs.

Current stock is 180 units, so the order needed to reach 800 total is 800 − 180 = 620 units. The answer is 620 units.

Choice B gives the target total instead of the order, C gives current stock, and E orders to the cap rather than the requested 40-day buffer.