UNIT - II

TRANSPORTATION PROBLEM

The transportation problem is a special type of linear programming problem where the
objective is to minimise the cost of distributing a product from a number
of sources or origins to a number of destinations. Because of its special structure the usual
simplex method is not suitable for solving transportation problems. These problems require a
special method of solution. The origin of a transportation problem is the location from which
shipments are despatched. The destination of a transportation problem is the location to
which shipments are transported. The unit transportation cost is the cost of transporting one
unit of the consignment from an origin to a destination.

There are two types of Transportation Problem namely

(1) Balanced Transportation Problem and
(2) Unbalanced Transportation Problem.

Definition of Balanced Transportation Problem: A Transportation Problem is said

to be balanced transportation problem if total number of supply is same as total
number of demand.
1.Slove the following Transportation problem using North West Corner Method.

Explanation: Given three sources O1, O2 and O3 and four destinations D1, D2, D3 and D4.
For the sources O1, O2 and O3, the supply is 300, 400 and 500 respectively. The
destinations D1, D2, D3 and D4 have demands 250, 350, 400 and 200 respectively.

Solution: According to North West Corner method, (O1, D1) has to be the starting point i.e.
the north-west corner of the table. Each and every value in the cell is considered as the cost
per transportation. Compare the demand for column D1 and supply from the source O1 and
allocate the minimum of two to the cell (O1, D1) as shown in the figure.
The demand for Column D1 is completed so the entire column D1 will be cancelled. The
supply from the source O1 remains 300 – 250 = 50.
Now from the remaining table i.e. excluding column D1, check the north-west corner
i.e. (O1, D2) and allocate the minimum among the supply for the respective column and the
rows. The supply from O1 is 50 which is less than the demand for D2 (i.e. 350), so
allocate 50 to the cell (O1, D2). Since the supply from row O1 is completed cancel the
row O1. The demand for column D2 remain 350 – 50 = 50.

From the remaining table the north-west corner cell is (O2, D2). The minimum among the
supply from source O2 (i.e 400) and demand for column D2 (i.e 300) is 300, so
allocate 300 to the cell (O2, D2). The demand for the column D2 is completed so cancel the
column and the remaining supply from source O2 is 400 – 300 = 100.
Now from remainig table find the north-west corner i.e. (O2, D3) and compare the O2 supply
(i.e. 100) and the demand for D2 (i.e. 400) and allocate the smaller (i.e. 100) to the cell (O2,
D2). The supply from O2 is completed so cancel the row O2. The remaining demand for
column D3 remains 400 – 100 = 300.

Proceeding in the same way, the final values of the cells will be:
Note: In the last remaining cell the demand for the respective columns and rows are equal
which was cell (O3, D4). In this case, the supply from O3 and the demand
for D4 was 200 which was allocated to this cell. At last, nothing remained for any row or
column.
Now just multiply the allocated value with the respective cell value (i.e. the cost) and add all
of them to get the basic solution i.e. (250 * 3) + (50 * 1) + (300 * 6) + (100 * 5) + (300 * 3) +
(200 * 2) = 4400

2. Slove the following Transporation problem using Least cost Method.

Solution: According to the Least Cost Cell method, the least cost among all the cells in the
table has to be found which is 1 (i.e. cell (O1, D2)).
Now check the supply from the row O1 and demand for column D2 and allocate the smaller
value to the cell. The smaller value is 300 so allocate this to the cell. The supply from O1 is
completed so cancel this row and the remaining demand for the column D2 is 350 – 300 = 50.

Now find the cell with the least cost among the remaining cells. There are two cells with the
least cost i.e. (O2, D1) and (O3, D4) with cost 2. Lets select (O2, D1). Now find the demand
and supply for the respective cell and allocate the minimum among them to the cell and
cancel the row or column whose supply or demand becomes 0 after allocation.
Now the cell with the least cost is (O3, D4) with cost 2. Allocate this cell with 200 as the
demand is smaller than the supply. So the column gets cancelled.

There are two cells among the unallocated cells that have the least cost. Choose any at
random say (O3, D2). Allocate this cell with a minimum among the supply from the
respective row and the demand of the respective column. Cancel the row or column with zero
value.

Now the cell with the least cost is (O3, D3). Allocate the minimum of supply and demand
and cancel the row or column with zero value.
The only remaining cell is (O2, D3) with cost 5 and its supply is 150 and demand is 150 i.e.
demand and supply both are equal. Allocate it to this cell.

Now just multiply the cost of the cell with their respective allocated values and add all of
them to get the basic solution i.e. (300 * 1) + (25 * 2) + (150 * 5) + (50 * 3) + (250 * 3) +
(200 * 2) = 2400.

3. Slove the following Transporation problem using Vogel Approximation Method.

 For each row find the least value and then the second least value and take the absolute
difference of these two least values and write it in the corresponding row difference as
shown in the image below. In row O1, 1 is the least value and 3 is the second least
value and their absolute difference is 2. Similarly, for row O2 and O3, the absolute
differences are 3 and 1 respectively.
 For each column find the least value and then the second least value and take the
absolute difference of these two least values then write it in the corresponding column
difference as shown in the figure. In column D1, 2 is the least value and 3 is the second
least value and their absolute difference is 1. Similarly, for column D2, D3 and D3, the
absolute differences are 2, 2 and 2 respectively.
These value of row difference and column difference are also called as penalty. Now select
the maximum penalty. The maximum penalty is 3 i.e. row O2. Now find the cell with the
least cost in row O2 and allocate the minimum among the supply of the respective row and
the demand of the respective column. Demand is smaller than the supply so allocate the
column’s demand i.e. 250 to the cell. Then cancel the column D1.

From the remaining cells, find out the row difference and column difference.
Again select the maximum penalty which is 3 corresponding to row O1. The least-cost cell in
row O1 is (O1, D2) with cost 1. Allocate the minimum among supply and demand from the
respective row and column to the cell. Cancel the row or column with zero value.
 Now find the row difference and column difference from the remaining cells.

 Now select the maximum penalty which is 7 corresponding to column D4. The least
cost cell in column D4 is (O3, D4) with cost 2. The demand is smaller than the supply
for cell (O3, D4). Allocate 200 to the cell and cancel the column.
 Find the row difference and the column difference from the remaining cells.

 Now the maximum penalty is 3 corresponding to the column D2. The cell with the least
value in D2 is (O3, D2). Allocate the minimum of supply and demand and cancel the
column.
 Now there is only one column so select the cell with the least cost and allocate the
value.
 Now there is only one cell so allocate the remaining demand or supply to the cell

 No balance remains. So multiply the allocated value of the cells with their
corresponding cell cost and add all to get the final cost i.e. (300 * 1) + (250 * 2) + (50 *
3) + (250 * 3) + (200 * 2) + (150 * 5) = 2850.
UNBALANCED TRANSPORTATION PROBLEM.

The problem is unbalanced because the sum of all the supplies i.e. O1, O2, O3 and O4 is not
equal to the sum of all the demands i.e. D1, D2, D3, D4 and D5.
Solution:
In this type of problem, the concept of a dummy row or a dummy column will be used. As in
this case, since the supply is more than the demand so a dummy demand column will be
added and a demand of (total supply – total demand) will be given to that column i.e. 117 –
95 = 22 as shown in the image below. If demand were more than the supply then a dummy
supply row would have been added.

Now that the problem has been updated to a balanced transportation problem, it can be solved
using any one of the following methods to solve a balanced transportation problem as
discussed in the earlier :

 North west Corner Method

 Least cost cell Method
 Vogel’s Approximation Method