Transportation problems
Smrita bhadouria
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Introduction
Transportation problem is a special kind of
LP problem in which goods are transported
from a set of sources to a set of destinations
subject to the supply and demand of the
source and the destination respectively,
such that the total cost of transportation is
minimized.
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Examples:
Sources Destinations
factories, Markets
finished goods Finished goods ware
warehouses , house
raw materials ware raw materials ware
houses, houses,
suppliers etc. factories,
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A schematic representation of a transportation problem is shown below
a1 S1 D1 b1
a2 D2 b2
ai
Si Dj bj
bn
Dn
am Sm
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m- number of sources
n- number of destinations
ai- supply at source i where i=1,2,….m
bj – demand at destination j=1,2, …..n
cij – cost of transportation per unit from
source i to destination j
Xij – number of units to be transported
from the source i to destination j
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Destination j
1 2 j n Supply
a1
S 1 c11 c12 c1j c1n
O 2 a2
U
R
C
E
ai
i i ci1 ci2 cij cin
m
cm1 cm2 cmn am
Demand b1 b2 6
Transportation problem: represented as a
LP model
m n
Minimize : Z cij X ij
i 1 j 1
n
subject to X
j 1
ij ai i 1,2,...., m
X i 1
ij bj j 1,2,....., n
X ij 0
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When solving the transportation problem ,the
number of possible routes should be m+n-1.
If it is <m+n-1, it is called a degenerate solution.
In such a case evaluation of the solution will
not be possible.
In order to evaluate the cells /routes (using
the u-v method or the stepping stone
method ) we need to imagine/introduce
some used cells/routes carrying /
transporting a very small quantity, say .
That cell should be selected at the correct
place.
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Example: Consider a transportation problem
involving 3 sources and 3 destinations.
Source Destination Supply
1 2 3
1 20 10 15 200
2 300
10 12 9
3 25 30 18 500
Demand 200 400 400 1000
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Some definitions
Feasible solution→ A set of non –negative values
xij i=1,2,…m ,j=1,2,….n that satisfies the
constraints is called feasible solution to the
transportation problem.
Basic feasible solution→ An Initial feasible
solution with an allocation of (m+n-1) number of
variables ,xij ; i= 1,2,…..m ; j= 1,2,3…..n, is
called basic feasible solution
Optimal solution: A feasible solution is said to
optimal if it minimizes the total transportation
cost 10
The ideal situation is shown below.,with equalities
instead of inequalities. There are “mn” unknown
variables and m+n-1 independent equations.
m n
Minimize : Z cij X ij
i 1 j 1
n
subject to X
j 1
ij ai i 1,2,...., m
X i 1
ij bj j 1,2,....., n
X ij 0 for i 1,...m and j 1,..n
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Degenerate and non -degenerate
basic feasible solution
When number of positive allocation in any
basic feasible solution is less than (m+n-1)
Than the solution is said to be degenerate
Solution, otherwise it is said to be non-
degenerate basic feasible solution.
Optimum solution:→A feasible solution is
said to be optimal if it is minimized the
total transportation cost.
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Solution of transportation problems
Two phases:
First phase:
Find an initial feasible solution
2nd phase:
Check for optimality and improve the
solution
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Find an initial feasible solution
North west corner method
Least cost method
Vogel’s approximation method
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Checking for optimality
U-V method
Stepping-Stone method
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North west corner rule:
Step1: select the north west or upper corner cell of the
transportation table and allocate as many units as
possible equal to the minimum between supply and
demand.
Step2: Adjust the supply and demand numbers in the
respective rows and columns allocation
Step3: (a) if the supply for the first row is exhausted,
then move down to the first cell in the second row and
first column and go to step2 (b) if the demand for the
column is satisfied ,then move horizontally to the next
cell in the second column and first row and go to step 2
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NWCR
Step4: if for any cell, supply equals demand, then the
next allocation can be made in cell either In the next row
or column.
Step5 : continue the procedure until the total available
quantity is fully allocated to the cells as required.
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Least cost entry method
Step1: (a) select the cell with the lowest transportation
cost among all the columns or rows
(b) if the minimum cost is not unique, then select
arbitrarily cell with this minimum cost.
Step2: Allocation as many units as possible to the cell
determined in step1 and eliminate that row or column in
which either supply or demand satisfied.
Step3: Repeat step1 and step2 for reduced table until
the entire supply and demand are not satisfied.
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Vogel‘ s approximation method
Step1: Calculate penalties for each row and each
column by taking difference between smallest and
next smallest unit of transportation cost in the
same row and same column.
Step2: Identify the row or column with the largest
penalty and allocate the maximum possible
quantity to the lowest cost cell in the selected row
or column. If tie occurs in the value of penalties,
select that row or column which has minimum
cost .If there is a tie in the minimum cost also
,select that row or column which has maximum
possible assignment.
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VAM
Step3: Adjust the supply and demand and cross out
satisfied row or column
Step4: Recompute the row and column differences for
the reduced transportation table.
Step5: Repeat step 1 to 3 until an initial feasible
solution has been obtained.
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