Transportation

Models
The Transportation Model
•The transportation model is a special class of LPPs that
deals with transporting(=shipping) a commodity from
sources (e.g. factories) to destinations (e.g. warehouses).
•The objective is to determine the shipping schedule that
minimizes the total shipping cost while satisfying supply
and demand limits.
•We assume that the shipping cost is proportional to the
number of units shipped on a given route.
 Transportation Problem
• How much should be shipped from several
sources to several destinations
– Sources: Factories, warehouses, etc.
– Destinations: Warehouses, stores, etc.
• Transportation models
– Find lowest cost shipping arrangement
– Used primarily for existing distribution systems
A Transportation Model Requires

• The origin points, and the capacity or supply

per period at each
• The destination points and the demand per
period at each
• The cost of shipping one unit from each
origin to each destination
We assume that there are m sources 1,2, …, m and n destinations 1,
2, …, n. The cost of shipping one unit from Source i to Destination
j is cij.
We assume that the availability at source i is ai (i=1, 2, …, m) and
the demand at the destination j is bj (j=1, 2, …, n). We make an
important assumption: the problem is a balanced one. That is
m n

 a  b
i 1
i
j 1
j

That is, total availability equals total demand.

 Special Case

We can always meet this condition by introducing

a dummy source (if the total demand is more than
the total supply) or a dummy destination (if the
total supply is more than the total demand).
Let xij be the amount of commodity to be shipped
from the source i to the destination j.
 Destination
1 2 . . n Supply
1 c11 c12 c1n
S a1

o c21 c22 c2n

a2
2
u
r
c .
e . cm1 cm2 cmn
am

Demand b1 b2 bn
m
definitions
• Feasible solution-any set of non negative
allocations which satisfies row and column
requirement
• Basic feasible solution-a feasible solution is called
basic feasible solution if the number of non
negative allocations is equal to m+n-1 where m is
the no of rows and n is the number of columns
Steps involved in solution of
transportation problem
• To find an initial basic feasible solution
(IBFS)
• To check the above solution for optimality
• To revise the solution
Methods to determine IBFS
• North West corner rule
• Row minima method
• Column minima method
• Matrix minima method
• Vogel’s approximation method
 North West corner rule
Warehouses
W1 W2 W3 W4 Capacity

7
F1 19 30 50 10
Factory

F2
70 30 40 60 9

F3
40 8 70 20 18

Requirement 5 8 7 14
 Warehouses
W1 W2 W3 W4
Capacity

F1 5 7
19 2 50 10
Factory

F2 30 9

70 6 3 60
F3 30 40 18

Requirement 5 8 7 14
Steps in solving a transportation
problem
1. Check whether given transportation problem is
balanced
2. Find IBFS using VAM and TTC
3. To check for optimality and find out the value of
Dij= Cij – ( ui+vj)
4. To revise the solution if obtained solution is not
optimal (i.e. if all the values of D are not positive)
5. Recheck for optimality
How to check for optimality?
• Total no of allocations=m+n-1
• Where m is the total no of rows
• n is the total no of columns
How to find out the value of Dij= Cij – ( ui+vj)?
1. To find the values of ui and vj using the
formula u + v = c
2. To find ui+vj for empty cells
3. To find Dij= Cij – ( ui+vj )
4. Where c is the original cost given in the
problem
How to revise the solution?
• Mark +θ in the place where there is a negative value
• Proceed with the loop
• Direction of loop can be changed at only places
where there is a allotment
• mark + θ and – θ where the loop changes its
direction
• Observe – θ cells and take the least allocation
• Add the value of θ where + θ is there and subtract
the value of θ where – θ is there
Model of a loop

-θ 25 +θ 35
5 2
-θ 11
LOOP
3 +θ
70 10 15
20 +θ 7 9 -θ
Different cases of transportation problem
• Unbalanced transportation problem
• Degeneracy case (when total no of
allocations ≠ m+n-1)
• Maximisation transportation problem
 Converting unbalanced to
balanced transportation problem

w1 w2 w3 capacity

15 8 11 Cap
F1 9 acity
doe
with s no
requ t tal
irem ly
14 9 10 ent

requirement
F2 8
 Soln. - add a dummy Raw
w1 w2 w3 capacity

9
15 8 11
F1

14 9 10

F2 8 Dummy Raw
D 0 0 0

requirement 10 5 6
How to resolve Degeneracy?
• In order to resolve degeneracy a very small
value Δ is allocated in the least cost
independent cell
• Independent cell-a cell from which a loop
can not be formed
• Identify the independent cell in the matrix
first and then allocate Δ
Resolving degeneracy

(60)
3
(50) (20)
3 9
(80) (Δ) Least

3 5 Cost
Maximisation transportation problem
• Always maximisation problems need to be
converted into minimisation problem
• It can be done by subtracting all other
elements in the matrix from the highest
element in matrix
• Note: if a given transportation problem is not
balanced and is of maximisation type first
balancing to be done and then need to be
converted into minimisation type
How to identify a maximisation problem?
• Maximisation generally done for
profit ..hence any questions that appear with
profit has to be converted into minimisation
type
• While writing final answer it is to be taken
care that profit is written and not the cost
 Maximisation to minimisation

80 90 100 20 10 0

70 50 60 30 50 40