04/09/2020

NETWORK ANALYSIS

Operations Research II (TIN 301)

Network Analysis
• Many important optimization problems can be analyzed
by means of graphical or network representation.
• The problem is modeled and solved as network (nodes
can connected by branches)
• There are five network models algorithms:
1- Minimal Spanning Tree
2- Shortest Route Algorithms
3- Maximum Flow Algorithms
4- Minimum Cost Capacitated Network Algorithms
5- Critical Path Method (CPM) Algorithms

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Network Analysis
1- Design of an offshore gas pipeline network
connecting wellheads in gulf of Mexico to an inshore
delivery points.; the objective of the model is
minimize the cost constructing the pipeline.
• The situation represented as Minimal Spanning Tree.

2- Determination of the shortest route between two

cities in a network of roads.
• This situation is Shortest Route Algorithms

Network Analysis
3- determination the maximum capacity (in ton per year) of a
coal slurry pipeline network
• This situation is Maximum Flow Algorithms

4- determination of the minimum-cost flow schedule from oil

field to refineries through a pipeline network.
• This situation is Minimum Cost Capacitated Network
Algorithms

5- determination the time schedule (start and completion date)

for activities
• This situation is (CPM) algorithms
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Network Analysis
• The minimal
minimal--spanning tree technique
determines a path through a network that
connects all the points while minimizing the
total distance
• The maximal
maximal--flow technique finds the
maximum flow of any quantity or substance
through a network
• The shortest
shortest--route technique can find the
shortest path through a network
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Shortest-Route Technique
• The shortest
shortest--route technique finds how a person or
item can travel from one location to another while
minimizing the total distance traveled
• It finds the shortest route to a series of destinations
• Ray Design, Inc. transports beds, chairs, and other
furniture from the factory to the warehouse
• They would like to find the route with the shortest
distance
• The road network is shown in Figure 6

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Shortest-Route Technique
• Roads from Ray’s plant to warehouse

200
2 4
Plant

1 50 150 6

40
3 5 Warehouse

Figure 6

Shortest-Route Technique
• Steps of the shortest-route technique
1. Find the nearest node to the origin (plant). Put the
distance in a box by the node.
2. Find the next-nearest node to the origin and put the
distance in a box by the node. Several paths may
have to be checked to find the nearest node.
3. Repeat this process until you have gone through the
entire network. The last distance at the ending node
will be the distance of the shortest route.

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Shortest-Route Technique
• We can see that the nearest node to the plant is node 2
• We connect these two nodes
• After investigation, we find node 3 is the next nearest node
but there are two possible paths (i.e. 1-2-3 and 1-3-2)
• The shortest path is 1–2–3 with a distance of 150
• We repeat the process and find the next node is node 5 by
going through node 3
• The next nearest node is either 4 or 6 and 6 turns out to be
closer
• The shortest path is 1–2–3–5–6 with a distance of 290 miles

Shortest-Route Technique
• First iteration for Ray Design
100
200
2 4
Plant

1 50 150 6

40
3 5 Warehouse

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Shortest-Route Technique
• Second iteration for Ray Design
100
200
2 4
Plant

1 50 150 6

40
3 5 Warehouse

150

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Shortest-Route Technique
• Third iteration for Ray Design
100
200
2 4
Plant

1 50 150 6

40
3 5 Warehouse

150 190

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Shortest-Route Technique
• Fourth and final iteration for Ray Design
100
200
2 4
Plant

290

1 50 150 6

40
3 5 Warehouse

150 190

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Shortest-Route Technique
Please watch these videos to study three other
methods that we can use to find the Shortest Route.
• Tree Diagram
• Dijkstra’s Algorithms (most preferable)
• Guess and Check

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5lgLJwQXKm4

This video has been downloaded for you and can be

found in the ilearn of this class.

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Minimum Cost Flow Problems

• The Distribution Unlimited Co. Problem
– The Distribution Unlimited Co. has two factories
producing a product that needs to be shipped to
two warehouses
• Factory 1 produces 80 units.
• Factory 2 produces 70 units.
• Warehouse 1 needs 60 units.
• Warehouse 2 needs 90 units.

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Minimum Cost Flow Problems

– There are rail links directly from Factory 1 to Warehouse 1
and Factory 2 to Warehouse 2.
– Independent truckers are available to ship up to 50 units
from each factory to the distribution center, and then 50
units from the distribution center to each warehouse.

80 units F1 W1 60 units
produced needed

DC

70 units W2 90 units
F2
produced needed
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Minimum Cost Flow Problems

– The cost and capacity of each link:

– Question: How many units (truckloads) should be

shipped along each shipping lane?

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Minimum Cost Flow Problems

• A network representation

Positive value Negative value

implies supply implies demand
node node

0 value implies
Transshipment Arc Cost
node

[arc capacity]
– Flow on each arc to minimize total costs while
shipping the demand?
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Minimum Cost Flow Problems

• Assumptions:
– Flow through an arc is only allowed in the direction
indicated by the arrowhead, where the maximum amount
of flow is given by the capacity of that arc.
– The network has enough arcs with sufficient capacity to
enable all the flow generated at the supply nodes to reach
all the demand nodes.
– The cost of the flow through each arc is proportional to the
amount of that flow, where the cost per unit flow is known
(for the linear case)

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Minimum Cost Flow Problems

• Formulate an LP for the minimum cost flow
problem
– Decision variables: Flow on each arc
• Number of decision variables = Number of arcs
• X(i,j): the flow on arc (i,j)

Minimize Total Cost

Subject to Flow-Balance Constraints
Arc-Capacity Constraints
Non-negativity Constraints
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Minimum Cost Flow Problems

• Minimize Total Cost:
– Minimize
700X(F1,W1) + 300X(F1,DC) + 200X(DC,W1) +
400X(DC,W2) + 500X(F2,DC) + 1000X(F2,W2)
• Arc-capacity constraints
– One for each arc (if the arc has a capacity)
– X(i,j) <= Capacity(i,j)
X(F1,DC)<=50
X(F2,DC)<=50 No need for arc capacity
X(DC,W1)<=50 constraint for arcs with
X(DC,W2)<=50 infinite capacity
 (F1,W1) and (F2,W2)

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Minimum Cost Flow Problems

Net Flow Supply/Demand

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Minimum Cost Flow Problems

• Flow-balance constraints
– For node F1:
• What is going out: X(F1,DC) + X(F1,W1)
• What is coming in: Nothing
• Node value: 80

X(F1,DC) + X(F1,W1) = 80
– For node DC:
• What is going out: X(DC,W1) + X(DC,W2)
• What is coming in: X(F1, DC) + X(F2, DC)
• Node value: 0

[X(DC,W1) + X(DC,W2)] - [X(F1,DC) + X(F2,DC) ]=0

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Minimum Cost Flow Problems

• Flow-balance constraints
– For node F2:
• What is going out: X(F2,DC) + X(F2,W2)
• What is coming in: Nothing
• Node value: 70 X(F2,DC) + X(F2,W2) = 70

– For node W1:

• What is going out: Nothing
• What is coming in: X(F1,W1)+X(DC,W1)
• Node value: -60 -[X(F1,W1) + X(DC,W1)] = -60
– For node W2:
• What is going out: Nothing
• What is coming in: X(F2,W2)+X(DC,W2)
• Node value: -90 -[X(F2,DC) + X(F2,W2)]= -90

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Minimum Cost Flow Problems

• Mathematical formulation:
Minimize 700X(F1,W1) + 300X(F1,DC) + 200X(DC,W1) +400X(DC,W2)
+ 400X(F2,DC) + 900X(F2,W2)
Subject to X(F1,DC) + X(F1,W1) = 80
X(F2,DC) + X(F2,W2) = 70
[X(DC,W1) + X(DC,W2)] - [X(F1,DC) + X(F2,DC) ]=0
-[X(F1,W1) + X(DC,W1)] = -60
-[X(F2,DC) + X(F2,W2)]= -90
X(F1,DC)<=50
X(F2,DC)<=50
X(DC,W1)<=50
X(F2,W2)<=50
X(i,j)>=0 for all arcs (i,j)

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Minimum Cost Flow Problems

• Spreadsheet Modeling
From To Ship Capacity Unit Cost Nodes Net Flow Supply/Demand
F1 W1 30 $700 F1 80 = 80
F1 DC 50 <= 50 $300 F2 70 = 70
DC W1 30 <= 50 $200 DC 0 = 0
DC W2 50 <= 50 $400 W1 -60 = -60
F2 DC 30 <= 50 $400 W2 -90 = -90
F2 W2 40 $900

Total Cost $110,000

Net Flow
=SUMIF(From,I4,Ship)-SUMIF(To,I4,Ship)
=SUMIF(From,I5,Ship)-SUMIF(To,I5,Ship)
=SUMIF(From,I6,Ship)-SUMIF(To,I6,Ship)
=SUMIF(From,I7,Ship)-SUMIF(To,I7,Ship)
=SUMIF(From,I8,Ship)-SUMIF(To,I8,Ship)

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Minimum Cost Flow Problems

• The SUMIF formula can be used to simplify the node

flow constraints.
=SUMIF(Range A, x, Range B)
• For each quantity in (Range A) that equals x, SUMIF
sums the corresponding entries in (Range B).
• The net flow (flow out – flow in) from node x is then
=SUMIF(“From labels”, x, “Flow”) – SUMIF(“To
labels”, x, “Flow”)

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Minimum Cost Flow Problems

• The optimal solution
[80] [- 60]
(30)
F1 W1
(50) (30)
[0]

DC
(30) (50)

(40)
F2 W2
[70] [- 90]

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Minimum Cost Flow Problems

Kind of Supply Transshipment Demand

Application Nodes Nodes Nodes

Operation of a Intermediate storage

Sources of goods Customers
distribution network facilities

Solid waste Sources of solid

Processing facilities Landfill locations
management waste

Operation of a Intermediate
Vendors Processing facilities
supply network warehouses

Coordinating product Production of a Market for a specific

Plants
mixes at plants specific product product

Cash flow Sources of cash at a Short-term Needs for cash at a

management specific time investment options specific time

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Minimum Cost Flow Problems

• Properties:
– The Feasible Solutions Property
• Under the previous assumptions, a minimum-cost flow
problem will have feasible solutions if and only if the sum of
the supplies from its supply nodes equals the sum of the
demands at its demand nodes.
– The Integer Solutions Property
• As long as all the supplies, demands, and arc capacities have
integer values, any minimum-cost flow problem with
feasible solutions is guaranteed to have an optimal solution
with integer values for all its flow quantities
– Network Simplex: Modified Simplex for Min-cost flow

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Minimum Cost Flow Problems

• Some tricks
– Undirected arcs to directed arcs
$10
$10 [5]
[5] $10
[5]
• Because, in the optimum, we won’t send on both directions

– Node capacity: Suppose you cannot send more than

10 units through node X (all arcs are directed!)
• Same applies to node cost

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Minimum Cost Flow Problems

• If node X is a demand node:
-25 -25 0
$0
x a [10]
b

• If node X is a transshipment node:

0 0 0
$0
x a [10]
b

• If node X is a supply node:

25 0 25
$0
x a [10]
b

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