EE 413: Operations Research

& Quality Control

Chapter -5
Transportation Problems

Dr. Kamalakanta Muduli

Associate Professor
Mechanical Engineering Department
Office: 104
 Introduction

◼ The transportation model deals with determination of a

minimum cost plan for transporting a single commodity from a
number of sources to number of destinations.

◼ This transportation model seeks a determination of a

transportation plan of single commodity from a number of
sources to a number of destinations.
 Assumptions

◼ The level of supply at each source and amount of demand at

each destination is known
◼ The unit transportation cost from each supply source to each
destination is known
◼ There is transportation of a single commodity only
◼ The cost of transportation is in direct proportion of the number of
units transported.
◼ Since there is only one commodity, the destination can receive
its demand from one or more sources.
◼ The objective is to determine how many items to be shipped
from each source to each destination, so that the total cost of
transportation is minimum.
Transportation model
◼ Suppose there are m sources and n destinations
◼ Supply at each source is given as a1, a2,…, am,
◼ Demand at each destination is given as b1, b2,…, bn
◼ The unit transportation cost from supply source to destination
is represented as c11, c12,…, c21, c22,…, cm1, cm2, …, cmn
c11 x11

c1n c12 xm1

x12

xm2
cm1
cm2
cmn
xmn
 c11 x11
Transportation model c12
c1n xm1
x12
xm2
cm1
cm2
cmn xmn
Transportation model
Example of a Transportation Model
- Problem: how many tons of wheat to transport from each grain elevator to
each mill on a monthly basis in order to minimize the total
transportation cost?
- Data: Grain Elevator Supply Mill Demand
1. Kansas City 150 A. Chicago 200
2. Omaha 175 B. St.Louis 100
3. Des Moines 275 C. Cincinnati 300
Total 600 tons Total 600 tons

Transport cost from Grain Elevator to Mill

($/ton)
Grain Elevator A. Chicago B. St. Louis C. Cincinnati
1. Kansas City 6 8 10
2. Omaha 7 11 11
3. Des Moines 4 5 12
3 suppliers and 3 customers.
We have 3 suppliers, and we need to deliver products to 3
customers.

x11 1 CH 200
6 x21
KC 150 1 8 x31
10 x12
7 11 x22
O 175 2 x32 2 St 100
11
4 5 x13
x23
DM 275 3 12
x33 CI 300
3

Transport cost from Grain Elevator to Mill

($/ton)
Grain Elevator A. Chicago B. St. Louis C. Cincinnati
1. Kansas City 6 8 10
2. Omaha 7 11 11
3. Des Moines 4 5 12
 We can formulate the Transportation problem as LP Model…

minimize Z = 6x11 + 8x12 + 10x13 + 7x21 + 11x22 + 11x23 + 4x31 + 5x32 + 12x33

subject to x11 + x12 + x13 = 150

x21 + x22 + x23 = 175
x31 + x32+ x33 = 275
x11 + x21 + x31 = 200
x12 + x22 + x32 = 100
x13 + x23 + x33 = 300
xij  0
where xij = tons of wheat from each grain
elevator, i = 1, 2, 3, to each mill j = 1,2,3 Network of transportation routes for wheat shipments
 Transportation Model: Tableau Format
x11 1 CH 200
x21
6 • Transportation problems
KC 150 1 8 x31 are solved manually within
10 x12
a tableau format.
7 11 x22
O 175 2 x32 2 St 100
11
4 5 x13
x23
DM 275 3 12
x33
3 CI 300

1 2 3

The Transportation Tableau

600 600
Transportation Model:Tableau Format

•Each cell in a transportation tableau is analogous to a decision variable that

indicates the amount allocated from a source to a destination.

1 2 3

x11 x12 x13

x21 x22 x23

x31 x32 x33

600 600
 Formulation of Transportation Model: Tableau Format

•Each cell in a transportation tableau is analogous to a decision variable that

indicates the amount allocated from a source to a destination.

minimize Z = 6x11 + 8x12 + 10x13 + 7x21 + 11x22 + 11x23 + 4x31 + 5x32 + 12x33

subject to x11 + x12 + x13 = 150 1 2 3

x21 + x22 + x23 = 175
x11 x12 x13
x31 + x32+ x33 = 275
x11 + x21 + x31 = 200
x21 x22 x23
x12 + x22 + x32 = 100
x13 + x23 + x33 = 300 x31 x32 x33
xij  0
Transportation Model: Tableau Format

To 1 2 3 Supply

From
1 6 8 10 150

2 7 11 11 175

3 4 5 12 275

Demand 200 100 250 550 600

Unbalanced Transportation Problem

Supply > Demand
 Transportation Model: Tableau Format

To 1 2 3 Dummy Supply

From
1 6 8 10 0 150

2 7 11 11 0 175

3 4 5 12 0 275

Demand 200 100 250 50 600 600

balanced Transportation Problem

Supply = Demand
Transportation Model: Tableau Format

To 1 2 3 Supply

From
1 6 8 10 150

2 7 11 11 175

3 4 5 12 200

Demand 200 100 300 600 525

Unbalanced Transportation Problem

Supply < Demand
Transportation Model: Tableau Format

To 1 2 3 Supply

From
1 6 8 10 150

2 7 11 11 175

3 4 5 12 200

Dummy 0 0 0 75

Demand 200 100 300 600 600

balanced Transportation Problem

Supply = Demand
 Solution of the Transportation Model: Solution Methods

• Transportation models do not start at the origin, where all decision values
are zero; they must instead be given an initial feasible solution.
• Initial feasible solution determination methods include:
- northwest corner method
- Lowest cost method
- Vogel’s Approximation Method
• Methods for solving the transportation problem itself include:
- Transportation Algorithm.
 The Northwest Corner Method

In the northwest corner method the largest possible allocation is made to the
cell in the upper left-hand corner of the tableau , followed by allocations to
adjacent feasible cells.

Steps
1. Allocate as much as possible to the cell in the upper left-hand corner,
subject to the supply and demand conditions.
2. Allocate as much as possible to the next adjacent feasible cell.
3. Repeat step 2 until all requirements are met.
 The Northwest Corner Method

Example

1 2 3

•The initial solution is complete when all rim requirements are satisfied.
•Transportation cost is computed by evaluating the objective function:
Z = $6x11 + 8x12 + 10x13 + 7x21 + 11x22 + 11x23 + 4x31 + 5x32 + 12x33
= 6(150) + 8(0) + 10(0) + 7(50) + 11(100) + 11(25) + 4(0) + 5(0) + !2(275)
= 5,925
 The Minimum Cost Method
In the minimum cell cost method as much as possible is allocated to the cell with the minimum
cost followed by allocation to the feasible cell with next minimum cost.

1. Allocate as much as possible to the feasible cell with the minimum transportation cost,
and adjust the requirements.
2. Repeat step 1 until all requirements have been met.

The Initial Minimum Cell Cost Allocation The Second Minimum Cell Cost Allocation
 The Minimum Cost Method

The complete initial minimum cell cost solution; total cost = 4550.
The minimum cell cost method will provide a solution with a lower cost than the
northwest corner solution because it considers cost in the allocation process.
 Vogel’s Approximation Method (VAM)
- Method is based on the concept of penalty cost or regret.
- In VAM the first step is to develop a penalty cost for each source and destination.
- Penalty cost is calculated by subtracting the minimum cell cost from the next higher cell
cost in each row and column.

Steps
1. Determine the penalty cost for each row and column.
2. Select the row or column with the highest penalty cost.
3. Allocate as much as possible to the feasible cell with the lowest transportation cost
in the row or column with the highest penalty cost.
4. Repeat steps 1, 2, and 3 until all requirements have been met.
 Vogel’s Approximation Method (VAM)

Step1:

The VAM Penalty Costs

Step 2-3: allocate as much as possible to the minimum cost cell in the row or column with the
largest penalty cost.
 Vogel’s Approximation Method (VAM)
Step 4: . Repeat steps 1, 2, and 3.

After each VAM cell allocation, all row and column penalty costs are recomputed.

The Initial VAM

Allocation
 Vogel’s Approximation Method (VAM)
- After each VAM cell allocation, all row and column penalty costs are recomputed.

The Second
AM Allocation
 Vogel’s Approximation Method (VAM)
- Recomputed penalty costs after the third allocation.

The Third VAM

Allocation
 Vogel’s Approximation Method (VAM)

VAM and minimum cell cost methods both provide better initial solutions than does the
northwest corner method.

VAM Solution
total cost = $5,125
 Practice Problem: Transportation Model

To 1 2 3 4 Supply

From
1 10 0 20 11 15

2 12 7 9 20 25

3 0 14 16 18 5

Demand 5 15 15 10 45 45

Find the initial basic solution by

NW corner method
Minimum cost method
VAM method
Solution Method : Transportation Problems
Solution Method : Transportation Algorithm
Solution Method : Transportation Algorithm

To Mill 1 Mill 2 Mill 3 Mill 4 Supply

From
Silo 1 10 2 20 11 15

Silo 2 12 7 9 20 25

Silo 3 4 14 16 18 10

Demand 5 15 15 15 50 50
Solution Method : Transportation Algorithm

The Z =520
Solution Method : Transportation Algorithm
Solution Method : Transportation Algorithm
Solution Method : Transportation Algorithm
Solution Method : Transportation Algorithm
Solution Method : Transportation Algorithm

▪ Construct closed loop that start and end at EV;

▪ The loop consist of connected horizontal and vertical
segments only.
▪ Except EV, each corner must coincide with basic variable.
▪ It must alternate between subtracting and adding (an
addition to one cell in the loop is followed by a subtraction
from the next cell in the loop)

Demand
Source A B C D
1 X11 - 5 X12 10 X13 X14 15
10 + 2 20 11
2 X21 X22 5 X23 15 X24 5 25
12 - 7 9 + 20
3 X31 + X32 X33 X34 10 10
4 14 16 - 18
5 15 15 15

each unit shipped here will save $9

Solution Method : Transportation Algorithm
Solution Method : Transportation Algorithm

The new Z =475

Solution Method : Transportation Algorithm
Solution Method : Transportation Algorithm
Solution Method : Transportation Algorithm
Solution Method : Transportation Algorithm
Solution Method : Transportation Algorithm
Assignment Problem
 Assignment Problems
Example: A workstation supervisor has four jobs
to be completed. Each machine must be assigned
to complete one job. The time required to setup
each machine for completing each job is shown in
the table below. The supervisor wants to minimize
the total setup time needed to complete the four
jobs.
 Setup times
(Also called the cost matrix)
Time (Hours)
Job1 Job2 Job3 Job4
Machine 1 14 5 8 7
Machine 2 2 12 6 5
Machine 3 7 8 3 9
Machine 4 2 4 6 10
 The problem can be formulate as an LP…
According to the setup table the problem can be
formulated as follows (for i, j =1,2,3,4):
min Z = 14 X 11 + 5 X 12 + 8 X 13 + 7 X 14 + 2 X 21 + 12 X 22 + 6 X 23 + 5 X 24
+7 X 31 + 8 X 32 + 3 X 33 + 9 X 34 + 2 X 41 + X 42 + 6 X 43 + 10 X 44
s.t. X 11 + X 12 + X 13 + X 14 = 1
X 21 + X 22 + X 23 + X 24 = 1
X 31 + X 32 + X 33 + X 34 = 1
X 41 + X 42 + X 43 + X 44 = 1 Xij=1 if machine i is assigned to
X 11 + X 21 + X 31 + X 41 = 1 meet the demands of job j
X 12 + X 22 + X 32 + X 42 = 1
X 13 + X 23 + X 33 + X 43 = 1 Xij=0 if machine i is not assigned to
X 14 + X 24 + X 34 + X 44 = 1 meet the demands of job j
Xij = 0 or Xij = 1
 The problem can be formulate as an LP…

1. An assignment problem is a balanced

transportation problem in which all supplies and
demands are equal to 1.
2. All techniques seen before to solve a
transportation problem apply
Solution Method
◼ Although the transportation simplex
appears to be very efficient, the
algorithm is not very efficient for the
assignment problems
◼ For that reason there is an other
method called The Hungarian Method.
 Steps of The Hungarian Method

0. Represent the assignment problem by a table (n

by n)
1. Deduct the smallest element from each row to
get a zero at each row
2. Deduct the smallest element from each column
to get a zero at each column steps 1 and 2 provide
an equivalent assignment problem
 Steps of The Hungarian Method

3. Check if you can find a feasible assignment with zero total

cost
if you could find a feasible assignment then the original
problem should have the same assignments and stop
otherwise, go to step 4

➔ If the minimum number of horizontal and vertical lines

needed to cover all zeroes is equal to n then the current
solution is optimal
Steps of The Hungarian Method

4. Draw the minimum number of horizontal and vertical

lines to cover all the zeroes
you might wander how to make sure that you drew
the minimum number
5. Find the smallest number among all uncovered
numbers in the matrix and deduct it from all
uncovered numbers
add it to numbers covered by two lines (on the
crosses) and leave the numbers covered by one line
as is
6. Go to step #3
 Cost Matrix

Time (Hours)

Job1 Job2 Job3 Job4

Machine 1 14 5 8 7

Machine 2 2 12 6 5

Machine 3 7 8 3 9

Machine 4 2 4 6 10
 Step 1

Time (Hours)
Job1 Job2 Job3 Job4
Machine 1 14-5 5-5 8-5 7-5
Machine 2 2-2 12-2 6-2 5-2
Machine 3 7-3 8-3 3-3 9-3
Machine 4 2-2 4-2 6-2 10-2
 Step 2

Time (Hours)
Job1 Job2 Job3 Job4
Machine 1 9 0 3 2
Machine 2 0 10 4 3
Machine 3 4 5 0 6
Machine 4 0 2 4 8
 Step 2

Time (Hours)
Job1 Job2 Job3 Job4
Machine 1 9 0 3 2-2
Machine 2 0 10 4 3-2
Machine 3 4 5 0 6-2
Machine 4 0 2 4 8-2
 Step 3

Time (Hours)
Job1 Job2 Job3 Job4
Machine 1 9 0 3 0
Machine 2 0 10 4 1
Machine 3 4 5 0 4
Machine 4 0 2 4 6
 Step 5

Time (Hours)
Job1 Job2 Job3 Job4
Machine 1 9 0 3 0
Machine 2 0 10 4 1
Machine 3 4 5 0 4
Machine 4 0 2 4 6
 Step 5

Time (Hours)
Job1 Job2 Job3 Job4
Machine 1 9 +1 0 3 +1 0
Machine 2 0 10-1 4 1-1
Machine 3 4 5-1 0 4-1
Machine 4 0 2-1 4 6-1
 Back to Step 3

Time (Hours)
Job1 Job2 Job3 Job4
Machine 1 10 0 4 0
Machine 2 0 9 4 0
Machine 3 4 4 0 3
Machine 4 0 1 4 5
 Optimal Assignment
For the Reduced Cost Matrix
Time (Hours)
Job1 Job2 Job3 Job4
Machine 1 10 0 4 0
Machine 2 0 9 4 0
Machine 3 4 4 0 3
Machine 4 0 1 4 5
 Optimal Assignment
For the Original Cost Matrix
Cost = 15

Time (Hours)
Job1 Job2 Job3 Job4
Machine 1 14 5 8 7
Machine 2 2 12 6 5
Machine 3 7 8 3 9
Machine 4 2 4 6 10
How to Find Minimum Lines
◼ Step I Mark all rows with no assignments
◼ Step II If the marked row has a zero, mark the
corresponding column.
◼ Step III If there is an assignment in that column,
mark the corresponding row
◼ Repeat step II and III
◼ Step IV Draw lines through unmarked rows and
marked columns.