Linear Programming: A Transportation Problem

Warehouse Monthly Retail Stores Monthly Transportation Costs (Warehouse to

Supplies Demand Retail Stores)
Warehouse Supply (Sets) Store Demand (Sets) From Warehouse To Store
1 Cincinnati 300 A New York 150 A B C
2 Atlanta 200 B Dallas 250 1 16 18 11
3 Pittsburgh 200 C Detroit 200 2 14 12 13
700 600 3 13 15 17

Linear Programming Model Formulation Steps:

1. Define the Decision Variables:
• How many television sets are shipped from each of the three warehouses to each of the three stores?

xij = no. of television sets shipped x1A x1B x1C

from warehouse i to store j
x2A x2B x2C
i = 1,2,3
x3A x3B x3C
j = A,B,C

2. Define the Objective Function:

• Minimize the Total Transportation Costs (Z) for all shipments

minimize Z = $16x1A +18x1B + 11x1C + 14x2A + 12x2B + 13x2C + 13x3A + 15x3B + 17x3C

3. Define the Constraints:

x1A + x1B + x1C ≤ 300
• Number of television sets x2A + x2B + x2C ≤ 200
available at each warehouse
x3A + x3B + x3C ≤ 200
and the number of television
sets demanded at each store x1A + x2A + x3A = 150
x1B + x2B + x3B = 250
x1C + x2C + x3C = 200
xij ≥ 0

Using Excel Solver