Excel Solver is part of the What-if-Analysis Tools in Excel commands. It is used primarily for optimization and simulation. It is used to solve linear programming problems. It is suitable in decision making as it can be used to examine all the possible solutions and then pick the best decision. It is beneficial to use Excel Solver because it enables the user to specify the cell that can be adjusted, and this can be up to 200 cells.
Similarly, with the Excel Solver, one can use the adjustable cells to set up the constraints in the problems. Finally, Excel Solver is a suitable analysis tool in decision making as it provides the user with an optimal result. Additionally, it can produce numerous solutions in complex questions.
Excel Solver differs from Goal Seek in both method and complexity. With Excel Solver, one can solve equations and formulas that have several variables. However, Goal Seek can solve only problems that have a single variable. Likewise, the values in the cell can vary in different cells with Solver while in Goal Seek, the value of a variable can differ only in a single cell. Finally, in Solver, constraints added have to be true to ensure a valid solution, and this is not possible with Goal Seek.
I had a challenge in defining the problem in Solver. The Solver parameter consists of the objective, variable and constraint cell. Thus, it was quite a challenge to specify the different associations among the constraint and the referenced cell.
A book by Mark Hammon called “Step-By-Step Optimization With Excel Solver – The Excel Statistical Master” was a helpful resource in understanding how to use Excel Solver. The book has steps on how to solve a problem using the Solver tool. Similarly, it has examples that one can use to practice.