TRANSPORTATION PROBLEM (MBA IA)
METHODS FOR INITIAL BASIC FEASIBLE SOLUTIONS
i) North West Corner Method (NWCM)
ii) Lower Cost Entry Method ( LCM or Matrix Minimum Method)
iii) Vogel,s Approximation Method ( VAM)
OPTIMALITY TEST
Basic feasible solution of an (m x n ) transportation problem is said to be non – degenerate if it
has following two properties ;
i) Initial basic feasible solution must contain exactly m + n - 1 number of individual
allocations
ii) These allocations must be in independent positions. Independent position of a set of
allocations means that it is always impossible to form any closed loop through these
allocations
DEGENERACY IN TRANSPOTATION PROBLEM
A basic feasible solution for the general transportation problem must consist of (m + n - 1 )
occupied cells. The basic solution will be called DEGENERATE when the number of occupied
cells is less than the required number, (m + n - 1)
i) Case 1. Degeneracy at the Initial solution.
ii) Case 2 Degeneracy at Subsequent Iterations.
Q1. Solve the following transportation problem:
D1 D2 D3 D4 Supply
S1 19 30 50 10 7
S2 70 30 40 60 9
S3 40 8 70 20 18
Demand 5 8 7 14 34
Q2. Solve the following transportation problem:
From W1 W2 W3 W4 Supply
To
F1 30 25 40 20 100
F2 29 26 35 40 250
F3 31 33 37 30 150
Demand 90 160 200 50 500
Q3. Solve the following Transportation Problem by VAM
A B C Supply
I 6 8 4 14
II 4 9 8 12
III 1 2 6 5
Demand 6 10 15 31
Q4. The following table provides all the necessary information on the availability of supply to
each warehouse, the requirement of each market, and the unit transportation cost (in Rs)
from each warehouse to each market.
Market
P Q R S Supply
A 6 3 5 4 22
Warehouse B 5 9 2 7 15
C 5 7 8 6 8
Demand 7 12 17 9 45
The shipping clerk of the shipping agency has worked out the following schedule, based on his
own experience : 12 units from A to Q, 1 unit from A to R, 8 units from A to S , 15 unit
from B to R, 7 units from C to P and 1 units from C to R.
a) Check and see if the clerk has the optimal schedule.
b) Find the optimal schedule and minimum total transport cost.
c) If the clerk is approached by a carrier of route C to Q, who offers to reduce his rate in the
hope of getting some business, by how much should the rate be reduced before the clerk
would offer him the business.
Q5. A company has received a contract to supply gravel to three new construction projects
located in towns A, B and C. The construction engineers have estimated that the required
amount of gravel which will be needed at these construction projects are:
Project Location Weekly Requirement ( Truckloads )
A 72
B 102
C 41
The company has 3 gravel pits located in towns X, Y and Z. The gravel required by the
construction projects can be supplied by three pits, the amount of gravel that can be supplied by
each pit is as follows:
Plant : X Y Z
Amount available (Truckloads) : 76 82 77
The company has computed the delivery cost from each pit to each project site . These costs ( in
Rs ) are shown in the following table
Project Location
A B C
X 4 8 8
Pit Y 16 24 16
Z 8 16 24
Schedule the shipment from each pit to each project in such a manner that it minimize the total
transportation cost within the constrains imposed in such capacities and project requirements.
Also find the minimum cost.
Q6. A manufacturer wants to ship 22 loads of his product as shown below. The matrix gives
the kilometers from the sources of supply to the destinations
D1 D2 D3 D4 D5
Supply
S1 5 8 6 6 3 8
S2 4 7 7 6 5 5
S3 8 4 6 6 4 9
Demand 4 4 5 4 8 25
24
Q7. Goods have to be transported from sources to destinations. The transportation cost per
unit , capacities of the sources, and the requirements of the destinations are given in the
following table.
D1 D2 D3 Supply
S1 8 5 6 120
S2 15 10 12 80
S3 3 9 10 80
Demand 150 80 50
Determine a transportation schedule so that cost is minimized.
