T'RANSPORTATION

10/ PROBLEMS
I. INTRODUCTION
objective i5 to
of the types of the LPP in which
he transportation problems are one

Uransport various quantities of a single homogeneous commodity, to different destinaLions in

problem* gave
Such aWay that the tataltransportation cost is minimum. Transportation the ohjective is
mmaking, where
direct relevance to decisions in the a r e a of distribution poticyof
of transportation cost. The various features linear programming can ne
minimisation
obscrved in these problems. Here the availability as well as requirements of the various centres
It is also assumed that cost of shipping is
are finite and constitute the limited resources.
linear. Thus these problems could also be solved by "Simplex Method".

MODEL
II. TERMINOLOGY USED IN TRANSPORTATION
where i 1, 2,. m andj 1, =

1. Feasible Solution (FS). Non negative values of xi

=

and r e q u i r e m e n t
2, ... n which satisfy the constraints of availability (supply)
(demand) is called the feasible solution to the transportation problem.
m-origin, n-destination
Basic feasible solution (BFS). A feasible solution
to a
2.
allocations a r e m +n-1i.e. one
problem is said to be basic if the number of positive
less than the s u m of rows and columns.
is said to be optimal if it minimizes the total
3. Optimal solution. A feasible solution itself may o r may not be a basic solution.
transportation cost. The optimal solution
to the initial basic feasible solution
This is done through successive improvements
cost is possible.
until no further decrease in transportation
Balanccd transportation problem. transportation problem in which the total
A
sources equals the total demand in all the destinations.
supply from all the
Mathematically

. Unbalanced transportation problem.

Such problems which are not balaneed are

called unbalanced

Mathematically

Matrix terminology.In the matrix used intransportation problem, the squres are
alled 'cells'. These cells form 'columns' vertieally and 'row' horizontally U'mt eosts

are
written in the cells.
Warehouses
1

A
Plants
Demund 15
 OPERATIONS RESEARCH
10.2 4 1s the one in which the unit
TRANSPORTATION PROBLEMS 10.3
column
of row B and
at intersection
The cell located Table II
(B, 4).
cost 5 is written as

solution (DBFS). If
the number of allocations : Warehouse- W1 W2 Wa Factory
7. Degenerate
basic feasible
called degenerate basic feasihi.
Factory Capacities
less than (m + n-1),
it is
basic feasible solutions are F1 11 X12 1j
solution (DBFS). F2 X21 K22 2n
ASSUMPTIONS OF THE MODEL
III. BASIC '.
Quantity available for distribution at different soureos
.

1. Availability of the quantity. {2 in

centres.
or depots is equal to
total requirement of different consumption .

Fm ml Km2 am
mj
quantity available = quantity required.
Warehouse- b1 b2 *

2. Transportation of items. Items can be conveniently iransportcd from every Capacities

production centre to every consumption centre. In general, Tables I and
II are combined by inserting each unit cost
Cij together with the
3. Cost per unit. The per unit transportation cost of items from one production centre
correspondingamount into
the
cell The product
i,). (o) give the net cost in shipping
xy
to another consumption centre is certain. ij units from factory F; to warehouse W
Note. Whenever the amount xy and the corresponding unit cost ey are entered
4.
Independent cost. The per unit costoftransportation is independent of the quantity
despatched. in the cel (G,j, there may be confusion to distinguish between them.
a

Therefore, in orderto remove such confusion the quantities in parenthesis

5. Objective. The objective of such an arrangement is to minimise the total cost of will denote the unit cost cj"
transportation for the organisation as a whole.

IV. TABULAR PRESENTATION OF THE MODEL V.MATHEMATICAL FORMULATION OF THE PROBLEM

Let us assume 'm' asorigins (plant location), ith origins possessing a, units of a certain
Suppose there are m factories and n warehouses. The
represented in a tabular form. Calculations are made transportation problem is usually product, whereasitem there willbe "n destinations with dostinationj requiring b, units. Cost of
which give the current trial solution. directly on the 'transportation array transporting an is known either directly indirectly
or
in terms of mileage, shipping hours
etc.
Let toci be the cost of shipping one unit from ith souroe tojth destination. Let b e the
The to determine
Table I
amount be shipped from ith origin tojth destination. problem
negative values of " j satisfying both the availability constraint.
is now non-

Warchousc W W2 Xij aj for i = 1, 2, .., m

Factory **

W, Factory i =
1

Cupacities as well as the rey uirementconstraint:

Fi C11 C12
Ci Cn a
c2 C22 by for j = 1, 2, . , n
C2i C2n a2
It is also assumed that total availabilities
Ea E b
Ea,satisfy the total requirement Eb.
i.e., ..(1)
C2 (In case Za* Ebj some manipulation is requiredto make Zaj = Ebj, which will be shown
Cin
later).
Fn The problem now is to determine non-negative (2 0) values of
Canl m2
'r' satisfying both, the
Cmn availability constraints
Warehouse b2 for i = 1, 2, . , m
Capacities (2)
as well as the requirement constraint:
 OPERATIONS RESEARCH TRANSPORTATION PROBLEMS
10.4 10.5
The Total number of
...(3) scooters to be
for j =
1, 2,.., n and B must be equal to transported from Aj to all destination Le. B1, D2:
y b a *
of shipping 11+12 +X13 +X14 a1 ...(1)
and minimizing the total
cost
Similarly from Az and Ag the scooters transported be
...(4) equal to a2 and ag
respectively.
X21 +22+*23
+X24 a2 =
(2)
(3) and the objective function 31 T32 +33 + T34 a3 =
..(3
constraint equations (2),
It may be observed here that the problem (LPP).
On the other hand it should be
So it be viewed as a linear programming kept in mind that the total number of scooters delivered
4) are all linear in xij. may to B from all units must be
defined in previous chapter) is seen to be cqual to b; i.e.
Particular Case. The assign ment problem (as X11 +X21 +X31 = b1
the special case of transportation problem
when each origin is associated with one and only ...(4)

one destination. In such a case m = n and the numerical evaluations of such associations are Similarly 12 + T22 +X32 = b2 ...(5
called 'effectiveness' instead of 'transportation costs. Mathematically, all a ; and b; are unity 13+23 + X33 = b3
..(6)
and each xj is limited to one of the two values, 0 and 1. In such circumstances, exactly n of the T14 +24 +X34 = b4 ..(7
each origin and one for each destination.
i can be non-zero (i.e. unity), one for With the help of the above information construct the
we can following table
VI. OPTIMAL SOLUTION OF THE TRANSPORTATION Depot
PROBLEM
B B2 B3 B4 Stock
Unit
There are two steps to find the optimal solution of the transportation problem.
(A) Find an initial basic feasible solution.
A 12 13 14

(B) Obtain an optimal solution by making successive Az X21 T22 23 a2

feasible solution until no further decrease in the improvements to initial basic As 31 32 33 X34
transportation cost is possible. Requirement ba ba
Let there be three units,
to be supplied to four
producing scooter, say Aj, Az and A, from where the scooters are
depots say B1, B2, B3 and B. The cost of transportation from A; (i = 1,2, 3) to B; (j = 1, 2, 3, 4) will be equal to
Let the number
of scooters
demands at the depots be bz, produced at A, Az and Ag he a1, a2 andaz respectively and the
bi, ba
and b, respectively.
S C* ...8)

We assume
the conditions a
ta2 + a3 =
b1 + b2 + b3 + b4 where the symbol put before Cy, y signifies that the quantities Cj X must be summcd over all
i.e. scooters
produced are supplied to the different depots. Let the
of one scooter from Aj to Bj be cost of
tran=poriilion i 1,2, 3 and allj =1,2, 3, 4
=

also shown in the figure below C1. Similarly, the cost of

transportations in other c a e * are Thus we come across a linear programming problem given by equations 1 lo 7 and a

linear function (8).

X11(C11) We have to find non-negative solutions of the system such that it minimizes the function (8)

X12 (C12) 2 1C21)

Note. We can think about a transportation problem in
are m sources (say A, Ag An) and n destination (say B1, B2... B,).We
a general way if there

X13 C13/ can use a; to denote the quantity of goods concentrated at points

m) and b; denote the quantity of goods expected at points

A; (i =
1,2 ...

n). We assume the conditions.

B; j 1, 2
X22 C22)
= ....

a t a2 t . . . Gm b1+ 62 + . b,

X14©14) X23(23 D3
Implying
VII. METHODS FOR INITIAL
that the total stock of goods is equal to the summed for it.

BASIC FEASIBLE SOLUTIONS

methods of developing a n initial feasible solution.
Following a r e the important
Methods (NWCM)
North West Corner
X24 (C24) (A)
A (B) Lowest Cost Entry Method
(LCM or Matrix Minima Method)
Method (VAM).
C Vogel's Approximation
X34 (C34)
8A4
 10.6 TRANSPORTATION PROBLEMS
OPERATIONS RESEARCH
10.7
(A) NORTH-WEST Now, we
move verticaly downward to the cell (P2,W). At this st ata
cORNER METHOD (NWCM) poSsible is the min ( 2 Di20) = min (28, 1) = 1. This allocati a r g e s tallocation

his 1s the most systematic and easiest method for obtaining initial feasible solution. W.I Completely satisfies the demand of warehouse W1. However,
Steps involved in this method are stated as: (28-1)= 27 units of supply at plant P2. this leaves a halanee r
lance of
& columns.
tep . Construct an empty m x n matrix, completed with
Step 2. Indicate the row totals and column totals at the end.
rows Now, we move again horizontally to the cell (P2,
95 units while supply available at plant W2). Since demand of warchoitse w
the
5 units are allocated to the cell (P2, 1s 27 units, therefore, the min (27. 25
e p 3. Starting with (1, 1) cell at the North-West Corner of the matrix, allocate maximum W2). The
demand ot
eguantity keeping in view that allocation can neither be more than the quantily required and a balancc of (27-25)= 2 units of supply remain at plant warehouse
P2. W2 is now satisficd
oy warehouses nor more than the quantity available at each supply centre. Movingagain horizontaly, we allocate two
th respective
4. Adjust the
units
to the cell (P2, W3) which completely
Oxhaust the supply at plant F2 and leaves a balance ot 17 units demand at
P
allocations.
supply and demand numbers in the respective rows & columns warehouse W
Now we move vertically downward to the cell (P3, Wa). At this cel, 17 units
are availabie:
Sep 5.Ifthe supply for the first row is exhaustod then move down to the first cell in the nlant Pa and 17 units are required at warehouse W3. So we allocate 17 units to this cell (P,. W
second row and first column and Hence we have made all the allocations. It may be noted here that
go to step 4. there are
Step 6. If the demand for the first column is satisfied, then move to the next cell in the 5(3+3-1 allocations which are necessary to proceed further.
Second column and first row and The initial feasible solution is shown below in Table above.
go to step 4.
e p 7. If for any cell, supply equals demand then the next allocation can be made in cell The total transportation cost for this initial solution is
either in the
next row or column. Total cost = 20 x 7 + 1x5 + 25 x 7 +2 x 3 + 17 x 8 = Rs. 462
Step 8. Continue the procedure until the total available quantity is fully allocated to the Example 2. Solve the following transportation problem by NwcM
cells as required.
To
Example 1. Solve the following by NWCM. W W2 N3 1
From
Warchouses
F
30 25 40 20 100
WI W2 W3 Supply S;
F 29
26 35 |40 250
P 20
Plant P2 7 28 Fa 31 33 37 30
150
Ps 5 8 17 Lbi 90 160 200 50 500
Demand D; 21 25 19 65 Solution.
Solution. Warchouse
W1 W2 W3 Wa
W1 Wa W3 Supply S From
P 20 F30 2 5 0 20 100

F2 29 250

Plant PP2t 3
29 28 Fa 31 33 370030 6 150
8 90 160 200 50 500
Pa 17 The total cost of transportation is obtained by multiplying cach x in occupied cell wiln
Lhe
corresponding eij and adding as follows :

Demand D 21 25 19 65 FW 90x30 2700

FW2 10 x 25 250
Jet us consider the transportation Table as given in the previous FaW2
To illustrate the NWCM, 150 x 26 3900
F W3 100 x 35
Cxanple. 3500
A sLated in this method, we start with the cell (P, W;) and allocate the min S1, D
21) =20. Therelore we allocale 20 unils to this cell which completely
FW 100 x 37 3700
nin (20,
cxhausts the supply of Plant I'i and leaves a balance of (20 20) =
l unit of demand at F,W 50 30 1500
Total cost 14550
warchouse Wi.
 10.8 OPERATIONS RESEARCH TRANSPORTATION PROBLEMS 10.9
Example3. Solution.

Market
Plant
A B C Production
at plant
Wareh W1 W2 W Caac.ty
Factories

21 14
F1
10
07
13 26
30 40
oro 60
F2
70
23 21 36
MKT. 76 F3
40 18
Require 8 28 25
ment
Solution. It is unbalanced transportation problem so it should be balanced
an
Requirement 5 3 7 14
by 34
introducingDummy column with 0 cost. Initial feasible solution is given below:
(5x19)+(2x30)+(6x30)+(3%40)+(4x70)+(14x20 Ra. 1015
Transportation Cost = =

MKT Available
Dummy at plant Example 5.
Plant
D
D D2 D3 D D5 Availability
X
11 21 16 14
W
20
W1
|07 17
13 0
26 W2 2 10 30
W3 11 20 40 l5
14 16 13
11 23 21 3 B6
W4 0 9

Requirement 40 8 18 78
MKT. 76
Require 8 28 25 5 Solution.
ment 76
Availa-
XA = 11x14 154 D1 D2 D3 D4 D5
bility
w
YA = 7 x 4 = 28
w 20 6 8 20
YB = 17 x 22 374

ZB =23 x 6 138 30

ZC = 21 x 25 525
1 40 3

ZD
Total Transportation Cost = Rs. 1219 Ans.
= 0 x 5 000
Wa

W4
O 15

Example 4. Solve the following problem by NWCM

Requi- 40 18
6 7S
W2 Capacity rement
Warehouses W1 W3
WD = 3 x 20 = 60; W2D = 2 x 20 = 40 ;
Factories
WaD= 10 x 6 60; WaD= 0 x4 00
19 30 50 10
70 30 40 60 9 W3D= 20 x 4 80 WD4= 40 x 11 = 440

Fa
F3
40 70 20 18 W,D = 14 x 7 98; WD = 16 x 6 96
5 7 14 34 Total
Requirement transportation cost =
Rs. 874 Ans.