8S

The
Transportation
Model

McGraw-Hill/Irwin Copyright © 2007 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
 Learning Objective
 Describe the nature of a transportation
problem
 Set up transportation problems in the general
linear programming format
 Interpret computer solutions

8S-2
 Requirements for Transportation
Model
 List of origins and each one’s capacity
 List of destinations and each one’s
demand
 Unit cost of shipping

Note: The DVD that accompanies this book

contains a module that provides detailed
instruction on the transportation model

8S-3
 Transportation Model
Assumptions
1. Items to be shipped are homogeneous
2. Shipping cost per unit is the same
3. Only one route between origin and
destination

8S-4
 The Transportation Problem
Figure 8S.1

D
(demand)
S
(supply)
D
S
(demand)
(supply)

D
(demand)

S
(supply) D
(demand)

8S-5
 A Transportation Table
Table 8S.1
Warehouse
A B C D
Factory 4 7 7 1 Factory 1
1 100 can
supply
12 3 8 8 100
200 units per
2
period
8 10 16 5
3 150
Total
supply
450 capacity
Demand 80 90 120 160 per
450 period
Warehouse B can use 90 Total demand
units per period per period

8S-6
 Special Problems

 Unequal supply and demand

 Dummy: Imaginary number added
equal to the difference between supply
and demand when these are unequal
 Degeneracy: The condition of too few
completed cells to allow all necessary
paths to be constructed

8S-7
 Summary of Procedure
 Make certain that supply and demand
are equal
 Develop an initial solution using
intuitive, low-cost approach
 Check that completed cells = R+C-1
 Evaluate each empty cell
 Repeat until all cells are zero or
positive

8S-8
 Excel Template
Figure 8S.2

8S-9