Operations Research

Transportation and Assignment practice problems sheet 2

Problem No. 1:

A company imports goods at two ports: Philadelphia and New Orleans. Shipments of one
product are made to customers in Atlanta, Dallas, Columbus, and Boston. For the next
planning period, the suppliers at each port, customer demands, and shipping costs per
case from each port to each customer are as follows:

Customers
Port Atlanta Dallas Columbus Boston Port Supply
Philadelphia 2 6 6 2 5000
New Orleans 1 2 5 7 3000
Demand 1400 3200 2000 1400

Write the mathematical model for the above problem.

Solution:

Decision variables:
Xij = number of goods shipped from port i to customer center j
i= 1,2
j= 1,2,3,4

Objective Function:
Min Z = 2x11+6x12+6x13+2x14+1x21+2x22 +5x23 +7x24
Subject to:
Ports:
1. x11+x12 +x13 +x14 = 5000
2. x21+x22+x23 +x24 = 3000

Distribution Centers:
1. x11+x21 = 1400
2. x12+x22 = 3200
3. x13+x23 = 2000
4. x14+x24 = 1400

Non-negativity constraint:
Xij ≥ 0
i= 1,2 j= 1,2,3,4

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 Problem No. 2:

Tri-County Utilities, Inc. supplies natural gas to customers in three-country area. The
company purchases natural gas from two companies: Southern Gas and Northwest Gas.
Demand forecasts for the coming winter season are Hamilton County, 400 units; Butler
County, 200 units; and Clermont County, 300 units. Contracts to provide the following
quantities have been written: Southern Gas, 500 units; and Northwest Gas, 400 units.
Distribution costs for the counties vary, depending upon the location of the suppliers. The
distribution costs per unit (in thousands of dollars) are as follows:

To
From Hamilton Butler Clermont
Southern Gas 10 20 15
Northwest Gas 12 15 18

Solution:

Decision variables:
Xij = amount of natural gas shipped from area i to customer center j
i= 1,2
j= 1,2,3

Objective Function:
Min Z = 10x11+20x12+15x13+12x21+15x22 +18x23
Subject to:
Ports:
1. x11+x12 +x13 = 500
2. x21+x22+x23 = 400

Distribution Centers:
1. x11+x21 = 400
2. x12+x22 = 200
3. x13+x23 = 300

Non-negativity constraint:
Xij ≥ 0
i= 1,2 j= 1,2,3

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 Problem No. 3:
Fowle Marketing Research has three project leaders available for assignment to three
clients. Find the assignment of project leaders to clients that will minimize the total time
to complete all projects. The estimated project completion times in days are as follows:

Clients
Project Leader 1 2 3
Terry 10 15 9
Carle 9 18 5
McClymonds 6 14 3

Solution:

Decision variables:
Xij = 1 if project leader i is assigned to client j
0 if otherwise
i= 1,2,3 j= 1,2,3

Objective Function:
Min Z = 10x11+15x12+9x13+9 x21+18x22+5x23+6x31+14x32+3x33

Subject to:
Machines: 1. x11+x12+x13 = 1
2. x21+x22+x23 = 1
3. x31+x32+x33 = 1

Jobs: 1. x11+x21+x31 = 1
2. x12+x22+x32 = 1
3. x13+x23+x33 = 1

Non-negativity constraint: Xij ≥ 0 i= 1,2,3 j= 1,2,3

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