Continuous production rate make that may be 0 (the plant is not operating) or between allowed production limits MAKEMIN and MAKEMAX
 
 - Introduce a binary variable ifmake to mean   
   
    
   
   
    
     | ifmake : | 0 if plant is shut |  
     |  | 1 plant is open |  
 MIP formulation:  
   
    
   
   
    
     | make ≥ MAKEMIN · ifmake | [1] |  
     | make ≤ MAKEMAX · ifmake | [2] |  
 Note: see Section Minimum activity level for an alternative formulation using semi-continuous variables
- The ifmake binary variable also allows us to model fixed costs
  
   - FCOST: fixed production cost 
- VCOST: variable production cost 
 MIP formulation:  
   
    
   
   
    
     | cost = FCOST · ifmake + VCOST · make | [3] |  
     | make ≥ MAKEMIN · ifmake | [1] |  
     | make ≤ MAKEMAX · ifmake | [2] |