13 Assignment Problem

IN

13.1 Introduction
It is a special type of linear programming problem in which the objective is to
find the optimum allocation of a number of tasks (jobs) to an equal number of
facilities (persons). Here we make the assumption that each person can perform
each job but with varying degree of efficiency. For example, a departmental head
may have four persons available for assignment and four jobs to fill. Then his
interest is to find the best assignment which will be in the best interest of the
department. Assignment problem finds many applications in allocation. For
example in assigning men to works; truck or car or drivers to different roots; planes
or pilots to different commercial flights etc.
Although simplex method is powerful enough to solve all the L.P. problems, but
the above type of the problems may be solved by special procedures which are
described in the following sections.

13.2 Assignment Problem

[UP TECH MBA 2002-03, 03-04, 05-06; Rohilkhand 2000]
The assignment problem can be stated in the form of n x n, matrix [cu ] called
the cost or effectiveness matrix, where cu is the cost of assigning i-th facility
(person) to the j-th job.
Effectiveness matrix
Jobs
1 2 3 n
1 C11 C12 C13 C1j Cln

2 C21 C 22 C 23 C2j C 211

3
Persons
C11 Ci 2 Ci 3 Cif Cin

C n1 C n2 C,13 C ni C nn
490 Operations Research

n persons can be assigned to n jobs in n! possible ways. One method may be to

find all possible ri! assignments and evaluate total costs in all cases. Then the
assignment with minimum cost (as required) will give the optimal assignment. But
this method is extremely laborious. For example if n = 8, then the number of such
possible assignments is 8! = 40320. The evaluation of costs for all these allocations
will take a large time. Thus, there is a need to develop an easy computational
technique for the solution of assignment problems.
Mathematical Formulation of Assignment Problem
[Meerut L.P. 1996 (B.P.); Rohilkhand 2000]
Mathematically an assignment problem can be stated as follows :
Minimize the total cost
n n

Z= >i=1 j=1 ij .x
~
C
ij

1, if i- th person is assigned to the j- th job

where xij =
0, if i- th person is not assigned to the j- th job
Subject to the conditions

(i) = 1, j = 1, 2, ... , n

which means that only one job is done by the i-th person, i = 1, 2, ..., n

(ii) Xij = 1, 1 = 1, 2, ..., n

j=1
which means that only one-person should be assigned to the j-th job,
j = 1, 2, ...., n .

13.3 Important Theorem

Now we shall prove the following two important theorems on which the
procedure of solution of an assignment problem is based.
Theorem 1 : (Reduction theorem) : If, in an assignment problem, a constant is
added or subtracted to every element of a row (or column) of the cost matrix [cti ], then
an assignment which minimizes the total cost for one matrix, also minimizes the total
cost for the other matrix.
[Meerut 1996, 2005, 05(BP), 2010; Bhopal (Stat) 2002;
Rohilkhand 1997, 99, 2001]
or
Mathematically the theorem may be stated as follows :
n n
Ifx..=.-minimizes Z = I cij x.4 over all xij• s.t.
1=1 j=1

Xl• =1= Exi1 and x.. > 0

j=i
Assignment Problem 491
n n
then xy = Xu also minimizes Z' = c' 1 . xu
1=1 j=1
where c' = cij ± ai ±bi

ai , b j are constants, i = 1, 2, ...., n; j = 1, 2, ...., n.

Proof : We have
n n
V=
i =1 j =1
n n
E E (cii ± ai ±b j ). xij
i =1 i=1
n n n n n n
= I C-X..
1.1 11
b1• 11
i=1j=1 i=1j=1 i=1 j = 1

=Z± ai . I ± bi .
i =1 j=i j=i i =1

=Z±Ifai.1±I 1).0.
i =1 j =1

=Z±I ai
f
i =1 j =1

Since ai , bi are independent of xiiit follows that Z' is minimized when

i =1 f =1
Z is minimized
Hence, xu =Xij which minimizes Z also minimizes Z'.
Theorem 2 : If all cy _
> 0 and there exists a solution
n n
xij = Xij s. t. cij X,i = 0,
i =1 j =1
then this solution is an optimal solution (i.e. this solution minimizes Z).
Proof : Since all cu 0
n n
Z= cij Xu cannot be negative.
i = 1 j =1
Thus, its minimum value is 0, when xu = Xu
n n
Hence, the solution xy =Xij for which I cl j x = 0 is an optimal
i =1 j =1
solution.
492 Operations Research

13.4 Hungarian Method (Reduced Matrix Method)

For solving a minimal assignment problem (Assignment algorithm).
[UP TECH MBA 2001-02; Meerut 2000, 03]
From the 'above two theorems we get a powerful method termed as
"assignment algorithm" for solving an assignment problem. The procedure for
the solution is as follows :
Step 1 : Subtract the minimum element of each row in the cost matrix [cu ] from
every element of the corresponding row.
Step 2 : Subtract the minimum element of each column in the reduced matrix
obtained in the step 1 from every element of the corresponding column.
Step 3 : (a) Starting with row 1 of the matrix obtained in step 2, examine rows
successively until a row with exactly one zero element is found.
Mark (0), at this zero, as an assignment will be made there. Mark
( x ) at all other zeros in the column (in which we mark ❑ ) to show
that they cannot be used to make other assignments. Proceed in this
way until the last row is examined.
(b) After examining all the rows completely, proceed similarly
examining the columns. Examine columns starting with column 1
until a column containing exactly one unmarked zero is found. Mark
(0) at this zero and cross (mark x) at all zeros of the row in which ❑
is marked. Proceed in this way until the last column is examined.
(c) Continue these operations (a) and (b) successively until we reach to
any of the two situations.
(i) all the zeros are marked ❑ or crossed.
or (ii) the remaining unmarked zeros lies at least two in each row
and column.
In case (i), we have a maximal assignment (assignment as much as
we can) and in case (ii) still we have some zeros to be treated for which
we use the trial and error method to avoid the use of highly complicated
algorithm.
Now there are two possibilities :
(i) If it has an assignment in every row and every column (i.e., total
number of marked ❑ zeros is exactly n), then the complete optimal
assignment is obtained. (See example 1)
(ii) If it does not contain assignment in every row and every column
(i.e., the total number of marked ❑ zeros is less than n), then one
has to modify the cost (effectiveness) matrix by adding or
subtracting to create some more zeros in it. For this proceed to the
next step 4.
Step 4 : When the matrix obtained in step 3 does not contain assignment in every
row and every column then we draw the minimum number of horizontal
and vertical lines necessary to cover all zeros at least once. For this the
following procedure is adopted.
(i) Mark (I ) all rows for which assignment have not been made.
Assignment Problem 493

(ii) Mark (I ) column which have zeros is marked rows.

(iii) Mark (I ) rows (not already marked) which have assignment in
marked columns.
(iv) Repeat step (ii) and (iii) until the chain of marking ends.
(v) Draw minimum number of lines through unmarked rows and
through marked columns to cover all the zeros.
This procedure will yield the minimum number of lines (equal to the
number of assignments in the maximal assignment obtained in step 3)
that will pass through all zeros.
Step 5 : Select the smallest of the elements that do not have a line through them,
subtract it from all the elements that do not have a line through them,
add it to every element that lies at the intersection of two lines and leave
the remaining elements of the matrix unchanged.
Step 6 : At the end of step 5, number of zeros are increased (never decreased) in
the matrix than that in step 3.
Now re-apply the step 3 to the modified matrix obtained in step 5, to
obtain the desired solution. For the clear understanding of the procedure
see Example 4.

glluAlhativp jxamplea
Example 1 : Solve the following minimal assignment problem :
Man --> 1 2 3 4
Job
I 12 30 21 15
II 18 33 9 31
III 44 25 24 21
IV 23 30 28 14
[Agra 2000]
Solution : For the clear understanding, this example is solved step by step
systematically.
Step 1 : Subtracting the smallest element of each row from every element of the
corresponding row, we get the following matrix :
1 2 3 4
I 0 18 9 3
II 9 24 0 22
III 23 4 3 0
IV 9 16 14 0
494 Operations Research

Step 2 : Subtracting smallest element of each column from every element of the
corresponding column, we get the following matrix :
1 2 3 4
I 0 14 9 3
II 9 20 0 22
III 23 0 3 0
IV 9 12 14 0
Step 3 : Now we test whether it is possible to make an assignment using the zeros
by the method described in step 3 on page 492.
Starting with row I, we mark ❑ (i.e., make assignment) in the row containing
only one zero and cross (x) the zeros in the corresponding column in which D lies.
Thus, we get the following table :
2 3 4
I D
O 14 9 3
II 9 20 22

III 23 0 3 X

IV 9 12 14

Again starting with column 1, we mark 0 (i.e., make assignment) in the

column containing only one unmarked or uncrossed zero in the above table and
cross out the zeros in the corresponding row in which this assignment D is marked.
Thus, we get the following table :

1 3 4
I 14 9 3
11 9 20 CI 22

III 23 E 3 X

IV 9 12 14 El
Since in the last table, every row and every column have one assignment, so we
have the complete optimal zero assignment.
Job I II III IV
Man I 3 2 4
which is the optimal assignment.
Assignment Problem 495

Example 2 : A department head has four subordinates, and four tasks to be

performed. The subordinates differ in efficiency and the tasks differ in their intrinsic
difficulty. His estimate of the times each man would take to perform each task is given
in the effectiveness matrix below. How should the task be allocated, one to a man, so as
to minimize the total man hour ?
Subordinates
I II III IV
A 8 26 17 11
Tasks B 13 28 4 26
C 38 19 18 15
D 19 26 24 10
[Rohillchand 1997, 1999, 2003]
Solution : Step 1 : Subtracting the smallest element in each row from every element
of the corresponding row, we get the following matrix :
I II III IV
A 0 18 9 3
B 9 24 0 22
C 23 4 3 0
D 9 16 14 0
Step 2 : Subtracting the smallest element in each column of the above matrix from
every element of the corresponding column, we get the following matrix :

I II HI IV

A 0 14 9 3

B 9 20 0 22

C 23 0 3 0

D 9 12 14 0

The above matrix is the same as obtained in step 3 in Example 1, therefore for
minimum man hours the allotment should be as follows :
Tasks A B C D
Subordinates I III II IV
Man hours 8 4 19 10
and the total Man hours are 8 + 4 + 19 + 10 = 41.
496 Operations Research

Example 3 : Solve minimal assignment problem whose effectiveness matrix is

I II III IV
A 2 3 4 5
B 4 5 6 7
C 7 8 9 8
D 3 5 8 4
[Meerut 2002 (BP), 03 (BP); L.P. 1995; Agra 2003]
Solution :
Step 1 : Subtracting the smallest element of each row from every element of the
corresponding row, we get the following matrix :
I H III IV
A 0 1 2 2
B 0 1 2 3

C 0 1 2 1
D 0 2 5 1

Step 2 : Subtracting the smallest element of each column of the above matrix
from the corresponding column, we get the following matrix :
I II III IV

A 0 0 0 2
B 0 0 0 2
C 0 0 0 0
D 0 1 3 0

Step 3 : Now we test whether it is possible to make an assignment using the zeros
of the above table by the method described in step 3 on page 492.
Since none of the rows or columns contain exactly one
zero, therefore the trial and error method is followed. Now we start
searching two zeros. Starting with row 1 we find row 4 which contain
two zeros. We make the assignment at the first zero as shown in table 1
and cross out the other zero in this row and all the other zeros of the first
column in which we have made the assignment 0. Now starting with
column 1 we find column 4 which contain one zero and make assignment
❑ at the zero of row 3 and cross out all other zeros of this row. Now again
starting with row 1 we search row containing only one zero but we find
no such row. The same is true when we check the columns for one zero.
Again we start with row 1 searching two zeros and find the row (row 1)
containing two unmarked zeros. We can make as assignment at any one
Assignment Problem 497

of these zeros and cross out the other zero and zeros of the corresponding
column in which assignment is made (see table 1 and 2). If we made an
assignment in first row, second column and-crossed other zero and zeros
of second column then the second row contain only one t ero, in third
column where we can make an assignment. Similarly if we made an
assignment in first row, third column and crossed zeros of third column
then the second rove contain only one zero irrsecond column where we
can make an assignment (see table-2).
Table 1 Table 2

I II III IV I II III
A 8 ID X 2 S El 2

B X X 1:1 2 X Q X 2

c X X X X X X n
1 3 X El 1 3 X

Thus, we get the following two assignments.

A ---> ,B --> , C IV, D— I
and A --> ,B —> II,C —> IV,D ---> I
In both cases minimum cost = Rs. 20

Note : Other assignments also exist. Students may try to find them.

Example 4 : Solve the assignment problem represented by the following matrix :

I II III IV V VI

A 9 22 58 11 19 27

B 43 78 72 50 63 48

41 28 91 37 45 33

D 74 42 27 49 39 32

E 36 11 57 22 25 18

F 3 56 53 31 17 28

[Meerut L.P. 1990; Rufulkhand 1996]

Solution :
Step 1 : Subtracting the smallest element of each row from every element of the
corresponding row, we get the following reduced matrix :
498 Operations Research

1 II III VI

A 13 49 2 10 18
B 0 35 29 7 2C 5
C 13 0 63 9 17 5
D 4 15 0 22 12 5
E 25 0 46 11 14 7
F 0 53 50 28 14 25

Step 2 : Subtracting the smallest element of each column from every element of
the corresponding column, we get the following reduced matrix :

I 11 III IV V VI

A 0 13 49 0 0 13
B 0 35 29 5 10 0
C 13 0 63 7 7 0
D 47 15 0 20 2 0
25 0 46 9 4 2
F 0 53 50 26 41 20

Step 3 : Now we give the zero assignments in our usual manner and get the
following matrix :

X 13 49 X 13
35 29 5 10
13 X 63 7 7 X
47 15 20 2 X
25 I] 46 9 4 2

ri 53 50 26 4 20

Since row 3 and column 5 have no assignments so we proceed to the next step.
Step 4 : In this step we draw minimum number of lines to cover all zeros at least
once. For this we proceed as follows :
Assignment Problem • 499

L4.• 49 El
35 29 5 . 10 [11

13 X 63 7 7 X
47 15 0 20 2

25 MI 46 9 4 2

D 5:3 50 26 4 2p

6
(i) We mark ) row 3 in which there is no assignment.
(ii) Then we mark (I ) columns 2 and 6 which have zeros in marked
row 3.
(iii) Then we mark (✓ ) rows 5 and 2 which have_ assignments in the
marked colunins 2 and 6. • •.
(iv) Then we mark column 1 (not already marked) which has zero in the
marked row 2.
(v) • Then we mark row 6 which.has assignment in the marked column 1; •
(vi) Now•we draw lines through all marked. columns .1, 2, 6:. Then we
draw lines through unmarked row 1 and 4 having zeros through
which there.is no line. ThuS, we get five lines (minimum number) to •
cover all the zeros.
Step 5 : Now the. smallest of the elements that do not.have a line through them is
• 4. Subtracting this element 4 from all the elements that do not have aline
through them and adding to every.element that lies at the intersection of
two lines and leaving the remaining elements unchanged, we get the
• following matrix :
- I II III IV V VI
A 4 17 49 17
El 35 25. 1 6

C 13 )6( 59 3 3 E
D 51 19 El 20 2 4
E 25 E] 42 5 X 2

F 53 46 22 Q 20

Step 6 : Again repeating the step 3 we make the zero assignments and get the
following matrix (see above table) :
Thus, the optimal assignment is
A •-> /V, B I,C VI, D E F V
500 Operations Research

and minimum cost, Z =11+ 43 + 33 + 27 + 11 + 17 = 142.

(from the given cost matrix)
Another optimal solution of the assignment problem is as follows.
A —) IV, B --) VI, C --> D E ---> V, F --> I.

I II III IV V VI
A 4 17 49 X, 17
X 35 25 1 6 0
C 13 59 3 3 X

D 51 19 20 2 4
25 X 42 2

B 53 46 22 X 20

In this case minimum cost

Z = 11 + 48 + 28 + 27 + 25 + 3
= 142 (from the given cost matrix) which is equal to the minimum cost for the
first solution.
Example 5 : Solve the following assignment problem.
Man
I II III IV V
A 1 3 2 3 6
B 2 4 3 1 5
Task C 5 6 3 4 6
D 3 1 4 2 2
E 1 5 6 5 4
[Meerut 2005; Rohilkhand 20001
Solution :
Step 1 and 2 : Applying step 1 and 2 we obtain the following matrix :
I II III IV V
A 0 2 1 2 4
B 1 3 2 0 3
C 2 3 0 1 2
D 2 0 3 1 0
0 4 5 4 2
Assignment Problem 501

Step 3 : Giving the zero assignment in our usual manner we get the following
matrix :
/ L.1 II III IV V
A I=1 2 1 2 4 ✓()
B 1 3 2 ..........3 L2
El
2 .. -.3 1 2 L3

2 E3 3 1 .L4

4 5 4 2
✓

Since row 5 and column 5 have no assignments, so we proceed to the

next step.
Step 4 : The minimum number of lines drawn in the usual manner are 4 (see
above table).
Step 5 : Now the smallest of the elements that do not contains line through them
is 1. Subtracting this element 1 from the elements that do not have a line
through them, adding to every element that lies at the intersection of two
lines and leaving. the remaining elements unchanged, we get the
following matrix
L2
II II ! III IV V
A 1 lir, 1 3
B 3 2 3..

C 3 1 2

3 1:3 3 X • L4

E 3 3 1 ✓(ID

0
Step 6 : Again repeating the step 3 we make the zero assignments in matrix
(above table) and see that even now the row 1 and column 5 do not
contain any assignments. Therefore we again repeat step 4 of drawing
lines.
Step 7 According to our usual manner the minimum number of lines drawn are
4 (see table in step 5).
502 Operations Research

Step .8 : Again repeating step 5, we get following matrix

II III . IV V
A El X 2
B 3 3 2 3
C 3 .2 D X
D 4 E] 4 1 X
E 8 2 4 2 El

Step 9 Repeating the step 3 we make the zero assignments and get the
following optimal assignments, (see above table).
A I, B ----> IV, C D B V.
The minimum cost, Z = 1 + 1 + 3 + 1 + 4 = 10
Example 6 : An air-line that operates seven days a week has time-table shown below.
Crews must have a minimum:layover of 5 hours between flights. Obtain the pairing of
flights that minimizes layover time away from home. For any given pairing the crew
will he based at the city that results in the smaller layover.

Delhi-Jaipur Jaipur-Delhi •

Flight Flight
No. Departure Arrival No. Departure Arriyal
1 7.00 A.M. 8.00 A.M. 101 8.00 A.M. 9.15 A.M.
2 8.00 A.M. . 9.00 A.M. 102 8.30 A.M. 9.45 A.M.
3 1.30 P.M. 2.30 P.M. 103 12.00 Noon 1.15 P.M.
4 6.30 P.M. . 7.30 P.M. 104 5.30 P.M. 6.45 P.M.

For each pair also mention the town where the creu., should be based.
[Meerut 2002 (BP), 03 (0); 09]

Solution :
Step 1 : First we construct the table forlayover times between flights when crew
is based at Delhi i.e., crew start from and come back to Delhi with halt of
minimum time (layover time) not less than 5 hours, at Jaipur.
Since the crew must have a minimum layover of 5 hours between
flights, the layover time between flights 1 and 101 will be 24 hours. Also
the layover times between flight 1 and 102, flights I and 103, flights 1
and 104 aret24.5 hours, 28 hours, 9.5 hours respectively. Similarly the
layover times between other pairs of flights may be calculated which are
shown in the following table :
Assignment Problem 509

Hence, the optimal route schedule for minimum layover is as follows :

Plane No. 1 ,2 3 4 5
Departure Route A1 B A2B A 3B A 4C A 5C
Arrival Route B3 A Bi A B2A Ci A C2 A

13.5 Unbalanced Assignment Problems

An assignment problem is called an unbalanced assignment problem
whenever the number of tasks (jobs) is not equal to - the number of facilities
(persons). Thus, the cost matrix of an unbalanced assignment problem is not a
square matrix. For the solution of such problems we add the dummy rows or
columns to the given matrix to make it a square matrix. The costs in these dummy
rows or columns are taken to be 0. Now the problem reduce to the balanced
assignment problem and. can be solved by assignment algorithm 13.4.

MA&atiOR EXaMPICTA
Example 8 : A company is faced with the problem of assigning six different machines
to five different jobs. The costs are estimated as follows (hundreds of rupees).
Job
1 2 3 5
1 2.5 5 1 6 1
2 2 5 1.5 7 3
3 3 6.5 2 8 3
Machine 4 3.5 7 2 9 4.5
5 4 7 3 9 6
6 6 9 5 10 6

Solve the problem assuring that the objective is to minimise total cost.
Solution : Since the given matrix is not a square matrix, we add one fictitious job
6 (sixth column) to make it a square matrix: Thus, the resulting matrix obtained is as
follows :
1 2 3 4 5 6
1 2.5 5 1 6 1 0
2 2 5 1.5 7 3 0
3 3 6.5 2 8 3 0
4 3.5 7 2 9 4.5 0
5 4 7 3 9 6 0
6 6 9 5 10 6 0
51Q Operations ReSearch
Step 1 and 2 : Subtracting the smallest element of each row from every element of
the con esponding row and then subtracting smallest element of each column
from every element of the corresponding column, we get the following matrix. •
1 2 3 4 5 6
0.5 0 0 0 0 0
2 0 0 0.5 1 2 0
3 1 1.5 1 2 2 0
4 1.5 2 1. 3 3.5 0
5 2 2 2 3 5 0
6 4 4 4 4 5 0
Step 3 : Giving zero assignments in the usual manner, we observe that thesows 3,
4, 5 and columns 4, 5, 6, have no zero assignments. So we proceed to the
next step :
L3
2 3 4 5 6
Li 1. 0:5 ;13:
L2-2. 0:5 1 2
3 1 1.5 1 2 2

4 1.5 2 1 3 3.5 X
5 2 2 2 •3 5
6 4 4 4 4

I•

Step 4 : Here we draw minimum number of lines (horizontal and vertical) to

cover all the zeros at least once. The number of such lines is 3. See table
in step 3.
Step 5 : Since the smallest element among all uncovered elements in the above
table is 1, so subtracting this element 1 from all uncovered elements,
adding to every elements that lies at the intersection of two lines and
leaving remaining elements unchanged, the above table reduces to the
following form.
1 2 3 4 5 6
1 0.5 0 0 0 0 1
2 0 0 0.5 1 2 1
3 0 0.5 0 1 1 0
4 0.5 1 0 2 2.5 0
5 1 1 1 2 •4 0
6 3 ' 3 3 3' 4 0
Assignment Problem 511

Step 6 : Giving zero assignments in the usual manner, we observe the row 6 and
column 5 have no zero assignments. So we proceed to the next step :

L5
1 2 3 4 5 :6
L1..1. 0:5 :ers 53: p.8;

E 0:5 1
L3 3- 0:5 X 1 1
L4 4- 1 0 2 2.5 X
5 1 1 1 2 4 I®
6 3 3 3 3 4 Jo

Step 7 : We again draw minimum number of lines (horizontal and vertical) to

cover all zeros at least once. The number of such lines is 5. See table in
step 6.
Step 8 : Since the smallest element among uncovered elements in the above table
is 1, so subtracting this element 1 from all uncovered elements, adding to
every element that lies at the intersection of two lines and leaving
remaining elements unchanged, the above table reduces to the following
form.

3 4 5 6

1 0.5 0 0 0 0 2

2 0 0 0.5 1 2 2

3 0 0.5 0 1 1 1

4 0.5 1 0 2 2.5 1

5 0 0 0 1 3 0

6 2 2 2 2 3 0

Step 9 : Giving zero assignments in the usual maniter, we observe that row 2 and
column 5 have no assignments. (see table on page 512) So we proceed to
the next step.
512 Operations Research

L2 L3 L4
• 6
z. El :14; 2
X 05 1 2 2

05 1 ✓

4 05 2 2.5

:E4( X 1 3

• 2 2 3

Step 10: Here we again draw minimum number of lines (horizontal and vertical)
to cover all the zeroes at least once. The number of such zeroes is 5. See
table in step 9.
Step 11: Since the smallest element among all uncovered elements is 1, so
subtracting this elements 1 from all uncovered elements, adding to every
elements that lies at the intersection of two lines and leaving remaining
elements unchanged, the above table reduces to the following form :
1 2 3 4 5 6
1 1.5 1 1 0 0 3
0 0 0.5 0 1 2
3 0 0.5 0 0 0 1
4 0.5 1 0 1 1.5 1
5 0 0 0 0 2 0
6 2 ,,
2 2 1 2 0

Step 12 : Giving zero assignments in the usual manner we get the optimal
assignments given by the following tables :
1 2 3 4 5 6 1
1 1.5 1 1 0 X 3 1.5 1 1 El R 3
2 0 )3( 0.5 X 1 2 2 )3( El 0.5 )3( 1 2
3 X 0.5 El 1 3 X 0.5 X X El 1
4 0.5 1 El 1 1,5 1 4 0.5 1 DO 1 1.5 1
5 XDX X 2X 5 El X X )3( 2 X

6 2 2 2 1 2 2 2 2 1 2 1:1
Assignment Problem 513

1 2 3 4 5 6 1 2 3 4 5 6
1 1.5 1 1 B E 3 1 1.5 1 1 X El) 3
2 0.5 X 1 2 2 :a 0.5 X. 1 2
3 )31: 0.5 X X 1 3 CI 0.5 )3(B :8; 1
4 0.5 1 R-1
) 1 1.5 1 4 0.5 1 1 1.5 1
5 ;$3( p X X 2 X 5 XI p 2 X
6 2 2 2 1 2 rni 6 2 2 2 1 2 El

1 2 3 4 5 6 1 2 3 4 5 6
1 1.5 1 1 X E 3 1 1.5 1 1 1 E] 3
2 X El 0.5 B 1 2 2 B B 0,5 Di 1 2
3 X 0.5 X :€1: 1 3 D) 0.5 1
4 0.5 1 1 1.5 1 4 0.5 1 1 1.5 1
5 El X X X 2 5 XOXX 2 X
6 2 2 2 1 2 11 6 2 2 2 1 2 g

Hence, the optimal solutions are

1—> 4, 2 —> 1, 3 —> 5, 4 —> 3, 5 —> 2, 1 —> 4, 2 —> 2, 3 —> 5, 4—> 3, 5 —> 1
1 —> 5, 2 —> 1, 3—> 4, 4—> 3, 5 —> 2, 1 —> 5, 2—> 2, 3—> 1, 4—> 3, 5 --4 4
1—> 5, 2 —> 2, 3 —> 4, 4—> 3, 5 —> 1, 1 --> 5, 2—> 4, 3 —> 1, 4 —> 3, 5 —> 2
In all the optimal solutions 6th machine do no job and the minimum total cost
in all cases is Rs. 20 x 100 i.e., Rs. 2000.

13.6 Maximization Assignment Problem

Some times the assignment problem deals with the maximization of the
objective function i.e., the problem may be to assign persons to the jobs in such a
way that the expected profit is maximized. Such maximization problem may be
solved by converting it to minimization problem. This is done converting the profit_
matrix to the cost (i.e., loss) matrix in either of the following two ways.
(1) Subtract each element of the given matrix (Profit matrix) from the greatest
element of the matrix to get the equivalent cost (i.e., loss) matrix.
or
(ii) Place minus sign before each element of the profit matrix to get the equivalent cost
matrix.
522 Operations Research

+ Exercise on Chapter 13 +

1. Define assignment problem. [UP TECH MBA 2005-06]

2. Write short note on "Assignment problem". [Meerut 2008 (BP)]
3. Give an algorithm to solve an assignment problem. [Rohilkhand 2002]
4. Give a mathematical formulation of the assignment problem.
5. Show that an assignment problem does not change in structure if each
row or column is reduced by a constant. Explain how this property can be used
to find the solution of an assignment problem.
6. Show that if in an assignment problem, we add a constant to every element of
row (or column) in the effectiveness matrix, then an assignment that
minimizes the total effectiveness in one matrix also minimizes the total
effectiveness in the other matrix.
7. Give in detail the computational procedure of solving the assignment problem.
[Meerut 2000]
8. Explain Hungarian method for solving an assignment problem.
[UP TECH MBA 2001-02; Meerut 2001, 02 (BP), 03, 03 (P)]
9. There are five jobs to be assigned, one each to five machines and the associated
cost matrix is as follows :
Machine
'Job 1 2 3 4 5

• 11 17 8 16 20
B 9 7 12 6 15
C 13 16 15 12 16
D 21 24 17 28 26
E 14 10 12 11 15

Solve the following minimal assignment problem.

[Meerut 1996 (P), 2001; Rohilkhand 1992]
10. Solve the following minimal assignment problem :
I II III IV

A 1 4 6 3
B 9 7 10 9 '
C 4 5 11 7
-D 8 7 8 5
[Meerut 2003]
Assignment Problem 523

11. Solve the following assignment problem.

Time (In minutes)
Works Job 1 Job 2 Job 3
A 4 2 -, 7
B 8 5 3
C 4 5 6
[UP TECH MBA 2001-02]
12. A computer centre has got three expert programmers. The centre needs three
application programmes to be developed. The head of the computer centre,
after studying carefully the programmes to be developed, estimates the
computer time in minutes repaired by the experts to the application
programmes as follows :
-- Programme
A B C
1 120 100 80
Programmer 2 70 90 110
3 110 140 120
Assign the programmers to the programmes in such a way that the total
computer time is least. [Meerut 2007; Agra 2003]
13. An automobile dealer wishes to put four repairmen to four different jobs. The
repairman have somewhat different kinds of skills and they exhibit different
levels of efficiency from one job to the another. The dealer has estimated the
number of man-hours that would be required for each job-man combination.
This is given in matrix form in the following table :
Job

ABCD
1 5 3 2 8
Man 2 7 9 2 6
3 6 4 5 7
4 5 7 7 8
Find the optimal assignment that will result in minimum man-hours needed.
[Rohilkhand 2002]
14. Find the optimal assignment for the problem with the following matrix :
1 11 111 W
5 3 1 8
B 7 9 2 6
C 6 4 5 7
D 5 7 7 6
524 Operations Research

15. Find the optimum solution to the assignment problem having the following
cost matrix :
Sales Territories
(Cost in rupees thousands)
I II III IV
A 30 25 26 28
Salesman B 26 32 24 20
20 22 18 27
D 23 20 21 19,
[Meerut 2002]
16. Solve the following assignment problem represented by the matrix :
I II HI IV V
A 6 5 8 11 16
B 1 13 16 1 10
C 16 11 8 8 8
D 9 14 12 10 16
E 10 13 11 8 16
[Rohilkhand 2001]
17. One car is available at each of the stations 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and one car is required
at each of the stations 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12. The distance between the various
stations are given in the matrix below. How should the cars be despatched so as
to minimize the total mileage travelled ?
7 8 9 10 11 12
1 42 72 39 52 25 51
2 22 29 49 65 81 50
3 27 39 60 51 32 32
4 45 50 48 52 37 43
5 29 40 39 26 30 33
6 82 40 40 60 51 30
18. Solve the following assignment problem.
Typist Job (Time)
P Q R S
A 85 50 30 40
B 90 40 70 45
C -- , 70 60 60 50
D 75 45 35 55
[UP TECH MBA 2002-03]
Assignment Problem 525
19. Consider the problem of assigning five jobs to five persons. The assignment
costs are given as follows :
Job
1 2 3 4 5
A 8 4 2 6 1
B 0 9 5 5 4
Person C 3 8 9 2 6
D 4 3 1 0 3
E 9 5 8 9 5
Determine the optimum assignment schedule. [Meerut 2006 (BP)]--
20. Solve the following minimal assignment problem.

Man 1 2 3 4 5
Job
12 8 7 15 14
// 7 9 17 14 10
III 9 6 12 6 7
IV 7 6 14 6 10
V 9 6 12 10 6

21. Solve the following minimal assignment problem.

1 2 3 4
A 10 12 19 11
B 5 10 7 8
C 12 14 13 11
D 8 15 11 9
22. Find the minimum cost solution for the 5 x 5 assignment problem whose
coefficients are as given below :
I/ III IV V
1 -2 -4 -8 -6 -1
2 0 -9 -5 -5 -4
3 -3 -8 -9 -2 -6
4 -4 -3 -1 0 -3
5 -9 -5 -8 -9 -5
526 Operations Research

23. Five men are available to do five different jobs. From past records, the time (in
hours) that each man takes to do each job is known and is given in the
following table.
Job
II III IV V
1 2 9 2 7 1
2 6 8 7 6 1
Man 3 4 6 5 3 1
4 4 2 7 3 1
5 5 3 9 5 1
Find the assignments of men to jobs that will minimize the total time taken.
24. A national truck-rental service has a surplus of one truck in each of the cities 1,
2, 3, 4, 5 and 6; and a deficit of one truck in each of the cities 7, 8, 9, 10, 11 and
12. The distances (in kilometers) between the cities with a surplus and the
cities with a deficit are displayed below :
To
7 8 9 10 11 12
1 31 62 29 42 15 41
2 12 \19 39 55 71 40
From 3 17 `29 50 41 22 22
4 35 40 38 42 27 33
5 19 30 29 16 20 23
6 72 30 - 30 50 41 20
..1••=1=

How should the trucks be dispersed so as to minimize the total distance

travelled ?
25. Six wagons are available at six stations A, B, C, D, E and F. These are acquired at
stations I, II, III, IV, V and VI. The mileage between various stations is given by
the following table
I II— III IV V VI
A 20 23 18 10 16- 20
B 50 20 17 16 15 11
C 60 30 40 55 8 7
D 6 7 10 20 100 9
E 18 19 28 17 60 70
F 9 10 20 30 40 55
How should the wagons be transported in order to minimize the total mileage
covered.
Assignment Problem 527

26. A car hire company has one car at each of five depots a, b, c, d and e. A customer
requires a car in each town namely A, B, C, D and E. Distances (in Kms.)
between depots (origins) and towns (destinations) are given in the-following,
distance matrix.
a b C d e

A 160 130 ' 175 190 200

135 120 130 160 175
B 140 110 155 170 185
D 50 50 80 80 110
E 54 34 70 80 105

How should cars be assigned to customers so as to minimize the diskance travelled ?

[IAS 1994]
27. Six men are available for six different jobs. From past records the time in hours
taken by different persons for different jobs are given below :
Jobs
Men 1 2 3 4 5 6
1 2 9 2 7 9 1
2 6 8 7 6 14 1
3 4 6 5 3 8 1
4 4 2 7 3 10 1
5 5 3 9 -5 -12 1
6 9 8 12 13 9 1

Find out an allocation of men to different jobs which will lead to minimum
operating time.
28. Solve the following assignment problem having the following cost matrix :
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
A 35 20 60 41 27 52 44
B 51 39 42 33 65 47 58
C 25 32 53 41 50 36 43
D 32 28 40 46 33 55 49
E 43 36 45 63 57 49 42
F 27 18 31 46 35 42 34
G 48 50 72 59 43 64 58
[Agra 1999]
536 Operations Research
53. The Secretary of a school is taking bids on the city's four school bus routes. Four
companies have made the bids as detailed in the following table.
Bids
Company Route 1 Route 2 Route 3 Route 4
1 Rs. 4000 Rs. 5000 - -
2 -- Rs. 4000 - Rs. 4000
3 Rs. 3000 - Rs. 2000 -
4 - - Rs. 4000 Rs, 5000
Suppose each bidder can be assigned only one route. Use the assignment
model to minimize the school's cost of running the four bus routes.
[C.A. Nov. 1995]
•

+ ANSWERS +
9. Job --> Machine : A->1,B-> 4, C -> 5, D -› 3, E-4 2. = 60
10. A -> B -> C- > D > IV
11. A-> Job 2, B -4 Job 3, C-> Job 1. Mini. Time = 9 min.
12. Programmer -> Programme : 1- C, 2 -> B, 3 --> A. Mini. Time = 280m
13. Man-*Job: 1-*B, 2->C, 3->D, 4->A
or 1 —> 2 ->13, 3 -> B, 4 -> A
Mini. Time = 17 h
14. A -> III, B /V, C II, D -> I. Mini. Cost = 16
15. Sales man --> Territory : A -->
or A -> B -> IV, CSI,D-->II
In both cases mini. cost = 86
16. A -->gB-41, C ->
or A— > IV, C —> V, D
Mini. Cost = 34
17. Station -> Station : 1 -> 11, 2 --> 8, 3 -> 7, 4 --> 9, 5 10, 6 --> 12
Mini. Mil = 185
18. A->S,B->Q,C->P,D->R
19. Person -÷ Job : A -> 5, B1,C---) 4, D 3, E--> 2. Mini. Cost = 9
20. Job --> Man : --> 3, 1, HI -> 2, IV-> 4, V -> 5
or 3, H 1,III-44,1V-->2,V—> 5
21. A —> 2, B —> 3, 4, D —> 1. Min. Cost = 38
Assignment Problem 537

22. 1 -> III, 2-> 11, 3 -> V, 4 ->/, 5 /Vorl-->/1,:, 2->//, 3-->///, 4->V, 5-4/
Mini. Cost = 36
23. Man --> Job : 1 ---> III, 2 -> V, 3 -> I, 4 -> IV, 5>II
or
or I> /II, 2 -> V, 3>1V, 4 -9 1, 5 -4 11
24. 1->11, 2-98, 3-> 7, 4-> 9,5-910, 6-->12
Mini. Distance = 125 kms
25. AIV,B->V1,C->V,D-->III,E->l,F-H
Mini. T. Mileage = 66
26. Depot -4 customer : a ---> D, b > C, C--4 B, d > E, e > A
Mini. Dist. = 570 kms
27. Man-9 Job: 1-43, 2->6,3 4 6->5
Or 1 ->3, 2-96, 3-94, 4->2, 5 1, 6--45
Mini. time = 22 units
28. A.-92,13 -> 4,C-> 6,D-> 1,E7,F-> 3, G ->5
MM. Cost = 237 units
29. Machine -4 Job : A --> II, B --> V, C--> III, D > IV, E -->I
Mini. Cost = 39
30. 1--->/V, 2 4-9111, 5->V
32. 1 ---> 103, 2 ->104, 3 -> 101, 4 -9 103
Crew at Delhi Delhi Delhi Calcutta
33. Al -4 B3 A2 -> B4, A3 -4 B1, A4 B2
Mini. Layover time = 40 hours
34. Job -> Machine : 1 -9 1, 2 -> 3, 3 -> 2
35. A -> I, B --> IV, C -> V, D --> HI, E -> II
Mini. Cost = 60
36. -> St, B2 55, B3 -> S4, B4 S3,B5 -> S2
Mini. Cost = 27
37. Typist --> Job : A T, B -> R, Q, D -> P, E--> S
T. Mini. Cost = Rs. 399
38. Task -> Man : A -> 1, B-> 3, C --> 2
Task D is undone, mini. total man hours = 35
39. A -> not assigned
40. Operator -> Job : 1 -> 4, 2 --> 1, 4 -4 2, 5 -> 5, 6 > 3
Operator 3 do not job. Mini. total time = 11 units
 C Chapter

14 Transportation Problem
•

14.1 Introduction
The transportation problem is a particular class of linear programming
problem in which the objective is to transport a commodity or to provide services
from several supply origins to different demand destinations at a minimum total
cost. The transportation problem can easily be expressed by linear relations as a
linear progrFnming problem and can be solved by simplex method. But it takes a
long time due to the presence of a- large number of variables and constraints. To
overcome this difficulty the transportation algorithms have been developed for the
solution of a transportation problem.

14.2 Transportation Problem

[Meerut 1995 (P), 2000, 02, 03 (BP): 06 (BP), 07; Rohilkhand 2000]
The transportation problem can be described as follows :
Suppose that the factories Fi (i = 1, 2, 3, ..., m), called the origins or sources
produce the non-negative quantities ai (1 of a product and the
non-negative quantities bi (j = 1, 2, n) of the same product are required at other
n places, called the destinations, such that the total quantity produced is equal to
the total quantity required
In
= Ebi
i =1 j=1
Also suppose that cif is the cost of transportation of a unit from the i-th source
to the j-th destination. Then the problem is to determine xif the quantity transported
from the i-th source to the j-th destination, in such a way that the total
transportation cost

c.- x.• is minimized.

i =1 j =1

The transportation problem as described above can be represented in a tabular

form as follows :
540 Operations Research

Destinations —> W1 W2 ... W3 ... Wn Capacities of the

sources
Sources 1

F1 c11 C12 ... Cu ... C1„ a1

F2 C21 C22 •• • C2j •• • C2n a2
•• • ... ... ... •• • •-
... ... ... ... ... ...
F. cil Ci 2 tj ... Cin a,
... ... ... ..• ... ...
•• • •• •
... ... •• -•
Fiii Cm1 Cm 2 •• • Cmj •• • C nut a,,

Requirements -4 b1 b2 ... b I• ... bn m n

I ai = I bi
i=i. j=i

The calculations are made directly on the 'transportation array' given below
which gives the current trial solution.

Destinations —> W1 W2 ... Wi ... Wn Capacities of

Sources 1 the sources

F1 X11 X12 "• X1j •" Xln al

F2 x21 x2, •• • x 2i .. • X20 a2
.. ... ... ... ... ..
... ... ... ... ... ...
Fi xii xi 2 .. • Xii ... xin at
... ... ... ... ... ...
• •• • • •• •• •
Fm Xml X m2 •• • -1Cmj "• Xmn am
Requirements —> b1 b2 ... b 1• ... bn m n
I
i =1
ai = I bi
j=1.

The above two tables can be combined together by writing the costs cif within the
bracket ( ), as follows :
Transportation Problem 541

Destinations 11/1 W2 •—• Wj •— Wn Capacities of

Sources the sources
1
Fl xi, (cll. ) X/2 (C12 ) ... Xii (Cli
) • •• x1tt (C1tt ) al
F2 x21 (C 21 ) X22 (C 22 ) ... X 21 (C 2i ) • •• X2r, (C 2,1 ) a2
•• • • •• ... ...
... ... ... ... ... ...
Fi xii (cil ) xi 2 (Ci 2 ) ... Xti (Cy ) . .. Xin (Cin ) ai
... ... ... ... ...
... ... ... ... •• •
F,,, x ml (C m1 -) x„,2 (c m 2 ) • •• Xmj (C mi ) • •• X mn (C mn ) am

Requirements b1 b2 ... b 1• ... bn 171 n

I ai = I bi
i =1 j=1

Mathematical Formulation-of a Transportation Problem

[Meerut 2003 (BP), 05 (BP); Rohilkhand 2000]
Mathematically : The transportation problem can be stated as follows :
Find (i= 1, 2,... , m; j = 1, 2, . . . n) for which the total transportation cost
m n
Z= 13 . ..i1 ...(2)
i=1 j =1
is minimized, subject to the restrictions

= 1, 2, 3, ... , m
=a
j =1
tn
=b• = 1, 2, 3, ..., tt
1
1 1,
i =1

E
i =1
ai = Ebi
j= 1
(4)

and xy 0, for all i = 1, 2, m; j = 1, 2, ..., n.

Thus the transportation problem is a L.P.P. of special type, where we are
required to find the values of m.n variables that minimize the objective function Z
given by (2), satisfying (in + n) restrictions (3), restrictions (4) and the non-negative
restriction of variables.
Note : The restriction (4) indicates that one of the m + n constraints given in (3) is
redundant. Thus, in m x n transportation problem' or}ly m + n — 1 equations form a
•.
linearly independent set. See theorem 2 of article 14.5.
542 Operations Research

14.3 Difference between a Transportation and an

Assignment Problem [Meerut 1999, 2001(BP), 02(BP),
03(BP), 04(0), 05; Agra 1999; Rohilkhand 1998]
An assignment problem is a special case of the-transportation problem in which
m = ri and all the ai 's and bi 's (i = 1, 2, ..., m; j = 1, 2, n) are unity and each xii
is limited to one of the two values 0 and 1.
In these circumstances, exactly n of xii can be non-zero, one in each row of the
array and one in each column showing that only one source (person) can be
assigned to each destination (job).

14.4 Few Important Definitions

Now we shall define few terms that are used in the transportation problems.
1. A Feasible Solution (A.F.S.) [Meerut 2001 (BP)]
A feasible solution to a transportation problem is a set of non-negative
individual allocation (xi.. >— 0) which satisfies the row and column sum restrictions
[i.e., restrictions (3) article 14.2].
2. Basic Feasible Solution (B.F.S.)
[Meerut 2001 (BP); Rohilkhand 1999]
A feasible solution of m by n transportation problem is said to be a basic
feasible solution if the total number of positive allocations xijis exactly equal to
m + n — 1; i.e., one less than the sum of the number of rows and columns.
3. Optimal Solution [Rohilkhand 1999]
A feasible solution (not necessarily basic) is said to be optimal if it minimizes
the total transportation cost.
4. Non-Degenerate Basic Feasible Solution
A feasible solution of m by n transportation problem is said to be
non-degenerate basic feasible solution if
(i) Total number of positive allocations is exactly equal to (m + n — 1)
and (ii)These allocations are in independent positions.
In other words, if a F.S. involves exactly (m + n — 1) independent individual
positive allocations, then it is known as non-degenerate B.F.S., otherwise it is said
to be degenerate B.F.S.
Here by independent positions of the allocation we mean that it is always
impossible to form any closed circuit (loop) by joining these allocations by
horizontal and vertical lines only. See the following tables in which the positions of
allocations are indicated by *.
Independent positions Non-independent positions
Closed
*
circuit
(loop)
* *
*
* *
Transportation Problem 543

Non-independent positions Non-independent positions

Closed circular loop

Note that in fourth table the lines joining allocations in cells (2, 1), (2, 4) and
(3, 3), (1, 3) intersect each other at the point (3, 3), where there is no allocation.

14.5 Some Important Theorems

Theorem 1 : Existence of Feasible Solution
A necessary and sufficient condition for the existence of feasible solution of am x n

transportation problem is ai =
i =1 j =1 [Meerut 2007]
Proof : The Condition is Necessary : Let there exist a feasible solution to the
transportation problem, then

xij = a- i =1, 2,...,mandIxii =bi ,j=1, 2,...,n

=1 i =1
Summing over all i and j respectively, we get
m n 11 m tt
E =Iai and .1
, 11 = .1
i =1 j =1 i =1 j =1 i =1 j =1
m n n m
But E xij = xij Eai = I
i =1 j =1 j =1 i =1 i =1 j =1

The Condition is Sufficient

i.e., if ai = bi
i =1
then there exists a feasible solution of the transportation problem.

Let = = k(say)
i =1 j=i
If xij = bi for all i = 1, 2, ..., m and j = 1, 2, n where X i # 0 is any real
number, then

= Xi b• = kX i =1
— x-• =
1—i k k
j=1 j=1 j=1 I
544 Operations Research

bi
1 - X b3 -
Thus, x,
k
0, for all i and j.
(As ai > 0, bi > 0 and k > 0)
Hence, a feasible solution of the transportation problem exists.
Remark : A transportation problem in which I ai = E b j is called a balanced
transportation problem. Hence, from the above theorem, we can say that A balanced
transportation problem always has a feasible solution.
Theorem 2 : Out of (in + n) equations, in am x n transportation equation, one
(any) is redundant and remaining in + n- 1 equations form a linearly independent set.
Solution : Consider the following m + n -1 equations of am x n transportation
problem.
Xij = i = 1, a..., m m-row equations -(1)
j =1
111
and x-.1.1 = b j j = 1, 2, . . (n - 1), (n - 1)column equations ... (2)
i =1

where ai = bj -.(3)
i =1 j =1
By these m + n -1 equations given in (1) and (2) and equation (3), we shall get
the remaining n-th coltimn equation. Adding m row-equations given in (1), we get
m n
Xij =
i =1 j =1 i =1
Again, adding (n - 1) column equations given in (2), we get
n -1 m n -1
= Eb j -(5)
j =1 i =1 j =1
Subtracting (5) from (4), we get
m n n -1 m m n -1
- Exii =E,
i=i j=1 j=1 1=1 i =1 j =1
m {n n -1 n n -1
or xij - xu = bj - bi using (3)
i =1 j =1 j =1 j =1 j =1
m n -1 n-1 n -1 n -1
or x..ti + x. - v = b•+b
j n - b•j
i =1 _ j=1 j=1 j=1 j
m •
or IXin = bn
i =1

which is the n-th column equation.

Transportation Problem 545

i.e., if m + n — 1 equations are satisfied then m + n equations will be automatically

satisfied if Eai =
Thus, out of in + n equations, one (any) is redundant equation i.e., only m + n —1
equations are linearly independent.
Remark : From the above theorem it follows that a B.F.S. of am x n
transportation equation will contain at most m + n — 1 positive variables while
the remaining mn — (m + n — 1)variables will be zero.
Theorem 3 : Existence of an Optimal Solution
There always exists an optimal solution to a balanced transportation problem.

14.6 Solution of a Transportation Problem

The solution (optimal) of a transportation problem consists of the following
two steps
Step 1 : To find an initial basic feasible solution.
Step 2 : To obtain an optimal solution by making successive improvements to
initial basic feasible solution (obtained in step 1) until no further
decrease in the transportation cost is possible.

14.7 To Find an Initial Feasible Solution

[Rohilkhand 2003]
There are several methods for finding the initial feasible solution of the given
transportation problem. Here we describe the following three simple methods.
Method 1 : North-West Corner Rule
By this rule we allocate a set of allocations in the cells so that the row totals and
column totals will be as indicated before each, as follows :
(i) Start with the cell (1, 1) at the north-west corner i.e., the top most left corner
and allocate it maximum possible amount.
(ii) Then move to the right hand cell (1, 2) if there is still any available quantity
left, otherwise move to the down cell (2, 1) and allocate it maximum possible
amount.
(iii) Repeat the step (ii) again and continue until all the available quantity is exhausted.
The method is well explained by taking the following numerical example:
To

W1 W2 W3 Supply

Fi (2) (7) (4) 5

g F2 (3) (3) (1) 8
ra., F3 (5) (4) (7) 7
F4 (1) (6) (2) 14

Demand 7 9 18 34
546 Operations Research

To
Wi W2 W3

F1 5(2) 5=a1
F2 2(3) 6(3) 8 = a2
From
F3 3(4) 4(7) 7 = a3
F4 14(2) 14 = a4
7 = b1 9 = b2 18 = b3

(i) We start with the top-most left corner and allocate it maximum possible
amount 5. (Since Mini of al = 5 and b1 = 7 is 5).
(ii) Since there is no amount left available at source F1 so we move downwards to
the cell (2, 1) in place of moving to right and allocate it maximum-possible
amount. Since the column 1 still need the amount 2 and the amount 8 is
available in row 2, so we allocate the maximum amount 2 to this cell (2, 1).
Now the allocation for column 1 is complete, so we move to the right of this
cell. Since the amount 6 is still available in row 2 and amount 9 is needed in
column 2, so we allocate the maximum amount 6 in this cell (2, 2). Thus,
allocation for row 2 is complete, so we move downwards to the cell (3, 2).
Since the amount 3 is still needed in column 2 and amount 7 is available in row
3, so we allocate the maximum amount 3 in this cell (3, 2). Thus allocation for
column 2 is complete, so we move to the right of this cell. Since the amount 4 is
still available in row 3 and amount 18 is needed in column 3, so we allocate the
maximunramount 4 to the cell (3, 3). Thus, the requirement of the row 3 is
complete, so we move to the downward cell (4, 3). Since amount 14 is still
available in row 3 and an equal amount 14 is needed in row 4, so we allocate
this amount 14 to this cell (4, 3). This complete the allocation and the resulting
feasible solution (allocations) are shown in the above table.
In the end it may be checked that the sum of rows and columns are as needed.
On multiplying each individual allocation by its corresponding cost in ( ),
and adding, the total transportation cost to this F.S. is
= Rs. (5x 2+ 2 x 3+ 6x 3+ 3 x 4+ 4 x 7 +14 x 2)= Rs. 102
In this north-west copier rule we move to the right or down so no loop
(circuit) can be formulated here by drawing horizontal and vertical lines to the
allocations. Also at each step (allocation) at least one row or column is
discarded from further consideration and at the last allocation both rows and
columns are discarded. So we cannot get more than (m+ n — 1) individual
positive allocation by this rule. Thus, we always get a non-degenerate
basic feasible solution by this north-west corner rule.
Method 2 : Lowest Cost Entry Method (or Method of Matrix Minima)
In this method we write the cost and the requirement matrix. The cost are
written within bracket ( ). Now we examine the cost matrix carefully and choose the
cell with lowest cost and allocate there as much as possible. If such cell of lowest cost
is not unique, we select the cell where we can allocate more amount. Again we
Transportation Problem 547

examine the cost matrix and select the cell will the lowest cost (the cell in which
allocation has been made is not considered) and allocate there as much as possible.
We continue the process until all the available quantity is exhausted.
The method is well-explained by taking the same numerical example as in
method 1.
First we write the cost and requirement matrix as follows
To

w2

Fl (2) 2 (7) 3 (4)

5 F2 (3) (3) 8 (1) 8

0
44 F3 (5) 7(4) (7) 7
F4 7 (1) (6) 7 (2) 14
7 9 18

Examining the cost matrix we find that there is lowest cost 1 in cell (2, 3) and in
(4, 1). We choose the cell (2, 3) as we can allocate the maximum amount 8 to this cell
which is more than the max. amount 7 that can be allocated to cell (4, 1). Leaving this
cell we find that there is lowest cost 1 in cell (4, 1) where we allocate the maximum
amount 7. Continuing in this way we get the required feasible solution as shown in the
above table.
The total transportation cost to this F.S. is
=Rs.(2x 7+ 3 x4+ 8 x1+7 x 4+7 x 1+7 x 2)=Rs.83
This cost is less than the cost associated with the F.S. obtained by north-west
corner rule. -_
The initial feasible solution obtained by this method usually gives a lower
transportation cost than that obtained is north-west corner rule.
Method 3 : Unit Cost-Penalty Method (Vogels Approximation
Method i.e. V.A.M.)
In this method we write the differences of the smallest and the second smallest
costs in each column, below the corresponding column and write the similar
differences of each row to the right of the corresponding row. These individual
differences can be thought of a penalty for making allocations in the second lowest
cost cell instead of lowest cost in each row or column. Now we select the row or
column for which the penalty is the largest and allocate the maximum possible
amount to the cell with lowest cost in that particular row or column. If there are
more than one largest penalty rows or columns, then select that row or column in
which we can allocate more amount in the lowest cost cell. Then we cross (or leave)
that row or column in which the requirement (or demand) has been satisfied and
construct the reduced matrix. We continue this process on the reduced matrices till
all allocations have been made.
The method is well explained by taking the same numerical example as in
method 1.
548 Operations Research

First we write the cost and requirement matrix as follows :

w2 W3 Available Penalties

(2) (7) (4) 5 (2)

F2 (3) (3) 8 (1) 8 (2) <-0

F3 (5) (4) (7) 7 (1)

F4 (1) (6) (2) 14 (1)

Demand 7 9 18
Penalties (1) (1) (1)

Since the maximum penalty (2) is associated with row 1 and row 2, and we can
allocate more amount 8 to the lowest cost cell (2, 3) of row 2 than the maximum
amount 5 that we can allocate at the lowest cost cell (1, 1) of row 1, so we allocate
the amount 8 to the cell (2, 3) and cross this row 2. The first reduced matrix after
leaving row 2, with remaining demands and availables is as follows :
(Note that the amount 8 has been allocated to column 3, so the amount still
needed to column 3 is 10).

w2 W3 Available Penalties

(2) (7) (4) 5 (2)

F3 (5) (4) (7) 7 (1)

F4 (1) (6) 10(2) 14 (1)

Demand 7 9 10

Penalties (1) (2) (2)

T02

Since the maximum penalty (2) is associated with row 1, column 2 and 3, so
the maximum possible amount 10 is allocated to the cell (3, 3) with lowest cost in
3rd column.
The second reduced matrix after leaving column III of the above matrix with
remaining demands and availability is as follows :
Note that the maximum amounts that can be allocated to lowest cost cell (1, 1)
in row 1 and cell (2, 2) in column 2 are less than amount 10 that can be allocated to
lowest cost cell (3, 3) in column III.
Transportation Problem 549

W2 Available Penalties

F1 (2) (7) 5 (5)

F3 (5) (4) 7 (1)

F4 4 (1) (6) 4 (5) <-0

Demand 7 9
Penalties (1) (2)

Since the maximum penalty (5) is associated with row 1 and 3 of the matrix, so
the maximum possible amount 4 is allocated to the cell (3, 1) with lowest cost in
row 3.
The third reduced matrix after leaving row 3 of the above matrix with remaining
demand and availability is as follows :

Wi w2 Available Penalties

F1 3 (2) 2 (7) 5 (5) <-

F3 (5) 7 (4) 7 (1)

Demand 3 9
Penalties (3) (3)

Since the maximum-penalty (5) is associated with row 1 so the maximum possible
amount 3 is allocated to the cell (1, 1) with lowest cost in this row. The remaining
amount 2 in row 1 is allocated to the cell (1, 2) and then we allocate the remaining
amount 7 to the cell (2, 2).
Thus, we get the required feasible solution as shown in the following table :

Available

FY 3 (2) 2 (7) (4) 5

F2 (3) (3) 8 (1) 8

F3 (5) 7 (4) (7) 7

F4 4 (1) (6) 10 (2) 14

Demand 18
550 Operations Research

The total transportation cost to this F.S.

=Rs. (3 x 2+ 2 x 7 + 8 x1+7 x 4+ 4x1+10x 2) = Rs. 80
which is less than the cost associated with the feasible solution obtained by the
previous methods 1 and 2.
All allocations made during the above procedure are shown in the following
allocation matrix.
w2 W3 Available . Penalties
F1 3 (2) 2 (7) (4) 5/5/5/5/2 2/2/5/5 <-0
F2 (3) (3) 8 (1) 8/0 2 <-0
F3 (5) 7 (4) (7) 7/7/7/7/7 1/1/1/1
F4 4 (1) (6) 10 (2) 14/14/4/0 1/1/5 <-0
Demand 7/7/7/3/0 9/9/9/9 18/10/0
Penalties 1/1/1/3 1/2/2/3 1/2

Note : Arrows or T are used in the rows and column at the step when the availability or
the demand is exhausted and the penalties in the next step in such rows and
columns are not to be taken.
It is important to note that the V.A.M. which takes more times as compared with
the other methods 1 r nd 2, gives the better, initial F.S. Since the initial F.S., obtained
by Vogel's method is much more close to the optimal solution so the time in reaching to
the optimal solution from this initial F.S. will be saved.

Note : The students are advised to find the initial B.F., solution by the Vogel's method
which will save their valuable time to reach the optimal solution.

14.8 Optimality Test

[Meerut 2006 (BP)]
After getting the initial F.S., of a transportation problem, we test this solution
for optimality i.e., we check whether the feasible solution obtained, minimizes the
total transportation cost or not. There we start the optimality test to a F.S. consisting
of (m + n — 1) allocations in independent positions i.e., to a non-degenerated B.F.S.
In general there are following two methods used for the test of optimality of the
solution.
(i) The Stepping-Stone Method
(ii) The Modified Distribution (MODI) Method or u-v Method
(i) The Stepping-Stone Method [UP TECH MBA 2003-04]
Consider the matrix giving the first basic feasible solution of the problem. To
test the optimality of the solution, we start with an empty cell (i.e., a cell in which
there is no allocation) and allocate + 1 unit to this cell. In order to maintain► the row
and column sum unchanged we make necessary adjustment in the solution. The net
Transportation Problem 553

14.10 Computational Procedure of Optimality Test

After getting the initial B.F.S. of a transportation problem, we test solution for
optimality as follows :
1. For a B.F.S. we determine a set of (in + n) numbers
ui, i = 1, 2, ..., m
v j, j = 1, 2, ..., n
such that, for each occupied cell (r, s)
c = ur + Vss
For this we assign an arbitrary value to one of the u• 's or v.'s then the rest
(m + n — 1) of them can easily be solved algebraically from the relation
C rs = u,.+ vs, for occupied cells. Generally we choose that uL
or v3 = 0 for which
the corresponding row or column have the maximum number of individual
allocations.
2. Then we calculate the cell evaluations 4 for each unoccupied cell (i, j) by using
the formula
du = cu —(u1 + vi )
3. Then we examine the matrix of cell evaluations and conclude that
(i) If all dii > 0, then the solution under test is optimal and unique.
(ii) If all dii 0, with at least one du = 0, then the solution under test is
optimal and alternative optimal solution exists.
(iii) If at least one dii < 0 then the solution is not optimal.
In the last case we proceed to the next step 4.
4. If at least one 4 < 0, in step 3, then we form a new B.F.S. In the next B.F.S. we
give maximum allocation to the cell for which du is minimum and negative, by
making an occupied cell empty.
5. Then we repeat the steps 1 to 3 to test the optimality to this new B.F.S.
We continue the process till we get an optimal solution.

14.11 Transportation Algorithm or MODI (Modified

Distribution) Method
For the solution of a minimization transportation problem proceed systematically
as follows. This iterative procedure of determining an optimal solution of minimization
transportation problem is known as MODI Method.
Step 1 : Construct a transportation table entering the capacities am of
the sources and the requirements b1 b2 ..., bn . Enter the various costs cu
at the upper left corners of all the cells. Find an initial B.F. solution
(m + n — 1 allocation in independent positions) of the problem by any of
the methods given in article 14.7, enter the allocations at the centers of
the cells.
Step 2 : Find the set of numbers ui (i =1, 2, ... , m) and vi (j =1, 2, n) by the
method given in step 2 of article 14.10 such that for each occupied cell
(r, s), c, =ur + vs.
554 Operations Research

Step 3 : Find the cell evaluation u• + v for each unoccupied cell (i, j) and enter at
the upper right corner of the corresponding cell (i. j).
Step 4 : Find the cell evaluations du = cu - (u1 + v3 ) for each unoccupied cell (i, j)
and enter at the lower right corners of the corresponding cells.
Step 5 : Examine the cell evaluations du for unoccupied cells and conclude that
(i) if all du > 0, then the solution under test is optimal and unique.
(ii) if all 4 0, with at least one 4 = 0, then the solution under test is
optimal and alternative optimal solution exists.
(iii) if at least one 4 < 0, then the solution is not optimal. In the last
case proceed to the next step 6.
Step 6 : Form a new B.F.S. by giving maximum allocation to the cell for which 4
is minimum and negative, by making ail occupied cell empty.
Step 7 : Then repeat the step (2) to (5) to test the optimality to this new B.F.
solution. Continue improving the B.F.S. iteratively using the step 2 to (6)
till an optimal solution is attained.
Thus, in the table after making all the entries the
occupied (cells having allocations) and the unoccupied cells will be as
follows :

Allocation

(Clu = Cu — + ))

gituthultim2 examplegi
Example 1 : A company has four plants P1y2, P3, P4 from which it supplies to three
markets 1111 11 zM 3. Determine the optimal transportation plan from the following
data giving the plant to market shifting costs, quantities available at each plant and
quantities required at each market..
Market Plant Required at
1 P1 P3 Market
P2 P4

M1 19 14 23 11 11 -
M2 15 16 12 21 13
M3 30 25 16 39 19

Available at plant 6 10 12 15 43
[Meerut 2003 (0)]
Transportation Problem 555

Solution :
Step 1 : By V.A.M. an initial B.F.S. of the given problem is given by the following
table :
a1
(19) (14) (23) (11) 11
11
(15) (16) (12) (21) 13
6 3 4
(30) (25) (16) (39) 19
7 12

b3 6 10 12 15
Total transportation cost
= Rs. (6 x 15 + 3 x 16 + 7 x 25 + 12 x 16 + 11 x 11 + 4 x 21) = Rs. 710
Step 2 : Here we determine a set of u1 and v • s.t. for each occupied cell (r, s),
c rs = u r + vs See below table.
For this we choose u2 = 0 (since row 2 contains maximum number
of allocations).
Since c21 = 15 = U2 +Vi ,C22 = 16 = U 2 -I- V 2,C24 = 21 = U 2 + 1/ 4
1/1 = 1 5,1/ 2 = 16,1/ 4 = 21
Also c14 = = 1/ 4, C32 25 = U3 -I- V 2, C33 = 16 = U3 -I- V 3
111 = 11 — 1/ 4 =-10,u3 25—V2 =9,1/ 3 = 16—u3 =7
Step 3 : Now we find the cell evaluations ui + v i for each unoccupied cell (i, j)
and enter at the upper right corner of the corresponding unoccupied cell.
Step 4 : Then we find the cell evaluations du = cy — (u1 + vi ) (i.e., the difference
of the upper right corner entry from the upper left corner entry) for each
unoccupied cell (i, j) and enter at the lower right corner of the
corresponding unoccupied cell.
Thus, we get the following table :

(19) (5) (14) (6) (23) (— 3) (11) — 10 (u1)

11
(14) (8) (26)

(15) (16) (12) (7) (21) 0 ((/ 2)

6 3 4
(5)
(30) (24) (25) (16) (39) (30) 9 (u3)
7 12
(6) (9)
v 15 16 7 21
(vi ) (v2) (v3) (v4 )
556 Operations Research

Step 5 : Since all du > 0 in the above table. Hence, the B.F.S. shown by the table is
an optimal solution and the optimal transportation cost = Rs. 710.
Thus the solution of the given transportation problem is
From plant P1 transport 6 units to market M2
From plant P2 transport 3 and 7 units to markets M2 and M3
respectively.
From plant P3 transport 12 units to market M3
and From plant P4 transport 11 and 4 units to markets M1 and M2
respectively.
Example 2 : Solve the following transportation problem

To Supply
1 2 3
1 2 7 4 5
2 3 3 1 8
From
3 5 4 7 7
4 1 6 2 14
Demand 7 9 18 34
[Meerut 1994]
Solution :
Step 1 : The initial B.F.S. of the above problem (by V.A.M.) is given in the
following table :
Total transportation cost
=Rs.(5 x2+2x1+7x4+2x6+8x1+ 10 x 2)=Rs.80
ai
(2) (7) (4) 5
5

(3) (3) (1) 8

8

(5) (4) (7) 7

7

(1) (6) (2) 14

2 2 10

18
Transportation Problem 557

Step 2 : Now we determine a set of ui and v s.t. for each occupied cell (r, s),
i
Crs = u r + v s ' See below table.
For this we choose u4 = 0 (since row 4 contains maximum number
of allocations).
Since c41 = 1 = u4 + v1, c42 = 6 = u4 + v2, c43 = 2 = u4 + v3
vl = —u 4 = 1,v2 = 6—u4 =0,v3 2—u4 =2
Also c11 = 2 = u1+ v1, c23 = 1 = u2 + v3, G32 = 4 = u3 + v2
ul= 2— =1,u2 = 1 — v3 = —1, u3 = 4— v2 = —2
Step 3 : Then we find the cell evaluations u + v j for each unoccupied cell (i, j)
and enter at the upper right corner of the corresponding unoccupied cell.
Step 4 : Then we find the cell evaluations dij = cy — (ui + v ) (1. e., the difference
./
of the upper right corner entry from the upper left corner entry) for each
unoccupied cell (i, j) and enter at the lower right corner of the
corresponding unoccupied cell.
Thus, we get theloHowing table :

(2) (7) (7) (4) (3)

5
(0) (1)

(3) (0) (3) (5) (1) —1 (U 2 )

8
(3) (— 2*)

(5) (-1) (4) (7) (0) —2 (u3 )

7
(6) (7)

(1) (6) (2) 0 (u4)

2 2 10

v1• 1 6 2
(vi ) (v2 ) (v 3 )

Step 5 : Since cell evaluation d22 = —2 < 0, so the solution under test is not
optimal.
Step 6 : Since minimum dy is d22 = —2 (negative), so we give maximum
allocation 0 to this cell from an occupied cell and make the necessary
changes in other allocations as shown in the following table :
558 Operations Research

+0
A
A 8-0

< v
2 2 —0 10 +0

Since minimum allocation containing — 0 is 2 — 0

Taking 2 — 0 = 0, we get 0 = 2
Step 7 : The new B.F.S. (allocations in independent positions) thus obtained is
shown in the following table. For this B.F.S. total transportation cost
=Rs.(5x2+2x1+2x3+7x4+6x1+12x2)=Rs.76
which is less than that for the initial B.F.S.

ai

(2) (7) (4) 5

5

(5) (3) (1) 8

(2) (6)

(5) (4) (7) 7

7

(1) (6) (2) 14

2 12

bi 7 18

Step 8 : Proceeding as in step 2, 3 and 4 (to test the optimality of the above
B.F.S.), we get the following table :
Transportation Problem 559

ui
(2) (7) (5) (4) (3) 1 (ui )
5
(2) (1)

(3) (0) (3) (1) —1 (u2)

2 6
(3)
(5) (1) (4) (7) (2) 0 (u3)
7
(4) (5)
(1) (6) (4) (2) 0 (u 4 )
2 12
(2)
1, • 1 4 2
(v1) (v2 ) (v3 )

Since all > 0. Hence, the B.F.S. shown by table in step 8 is an

optimal solution which is also unique.
Thus, the solution of the given transportation problem is
From source 1 transport 5 units to destination 1.
From source 2 transport 2 and 6 units to destinations 2 and 3 respectively.
From source 3 transport 7 units to destination 2.
and From source 4 transport 2 and 12 units to destinations 1 and 3 respectively
Which can also be written as
= 5, X 22 = 23 X23 61 X32 = 7, X41 = X 43 = 12
where is the number of units to be transported from the i-th source to j-th
destination.
And the total transportation cost (optimal) = Rs. 76.
Example 3 : A wholesale company has three warehouses from which supplies are
drawn to four retail customers. The company deals in a single product, the supplies of
which at each house are as follows :

Warehouse No. Supply Units Customer No Demand (Units)

1 20 1 15'
2 28 2 19
3 17 3 13
4 18
560 Operations Research

Conveniently total supply at the warehouses is equal to total demand from the
customers. The following table gives the transportation costs per unit shipment from
each warehouse to each customer :

Warehouse Customer
1 2 3 4
1 3 6 8 5
2 6 1 2 5
3 7 8 3 9

Determine, what supplies to dispatch from each of the warehouses to each

customer so as to minimize overall transportation cost. Test the optimality also.
[UP TECH MBA 2003-04]
Solution : The given transportation problem, with all supply and demand, can be
expressed in the form of cost matrix as follows :

Warehouse Customer Supply

1
1 2 3 4
1 3 6 8 5 20
2 6 1 2 5 28
3 7 8 3 9 17

Demand 15 19 13 18 65

Step 1 : By V.A.M. an initial B.F. S. of the problem is given in the following table :

Supply Penalties
1 2 3 4

1 2 (3) (6) (8) 18 (5) 20 2/2/2

2 9 (6) 19 (1) (2) (5) 28/9 1/3/1

3 •4 (7) (8) 13 (3) (9) 17/4 4/4<--®12

Demand 15 19/0 13/0 18/0

Penalties 3/3/3 5/x 1/1/x 4/4/4

(I) (I
_1)
The total transportation cost = Rs. (2x3+18x5+9x6+19x1+4x7+13x3)
= Rs. 236
Transportation Problem 561

Step 2 : To Test the Solution for Optimality

Here total number of allocations is m + n — 1 = 3 + 4 — 1 = 6 at
independent positions.
Now we determine a set of ii (i = 1, 2, 3) and vi (j = 1, 2, 3, 4) such
that for each occupied cell (r, s), Crs = u r. + vs.
Since first column contains maximum number of allocations, so we
choose v1 = 0 (see the table).
Now, Since cl 1 = 3 = U1 + v1, c21 = 6 = u2 + v1, c31 = 7 = u3 +
u1 =3, u2 =6, u3 =7
Also C22 = 1 = U 2 4- V
2,
C 33 = 3 1/ 3 + V3, C14 = 5= + v4
v2 = —5, v3 = —4, v4 = 2
Step 3 : Now we find cell evaluations ui + v./ for each unoccupied cell (i, j) and
enter at the upper right corner of the corresponding unoccupied cell, (see
the below table).
Step 4 : Then we find the cell evaluations dig = Cif — + v j ) (i.e., the difference
of the upper right corner entry from the upper left corner entry) for each
unoccupied cells (i, j) and enter at the lower right corner of the
corresponding unoccupied cell.
The calculations of step 2, 3 and 4 are shown in the following table :

ui .1,
(3) (6) (-2) (8) (-1) (5) 3 (= u1 )
2 18
(8) (9)
(6) (1) (2) (2) (5) (8) 6 (= u2 )
9 19
(0) (— 3)
(7) (8) (2) (3) (9) (9) 7 (= u3 )
4 13
(6) (0)

vi 0 —5 —4 2
(= v1). (= v2 ) (= v3 ) = 11 4 )
Step 5 : Since cell evaluation d24 = —3 < 0, so the solution under test is not
optimum.
Step 6 : Since minimum dii is d24 = —3 (negative), so we give maximum allocation-
0 to this cell from an occupied cell and make the necessary changes in other
allocations as shown in the following table :
S62 Operations Research

2 +0 -R. 18 —0
9 —0 NI,/ 19 : +0
4 13
Since minimum allocation containing —0 is 9 —0
Taking 9 —0 = 0, we get 0 = 9.
Step 7 : The new B.F.S. (m + n —1 allocations at independent positions) is shown
in the following table :
For this B.F.S. the total transportation cost
= Rs. (11x3+9x5+19x1+9x5+4x7+13x3) = Rs. 209
which is less than that for the initial B.F.S.
Step 8 : Proceeding as in step 2, 3 and 4, (to test the optimality of the above
B.F.S.), we get the following table :
Uil
(3j (6) (1) (8) (-1) (5) 0 (-=‘; u1 )
11 9
(5) (9)
(6) (3) (1) (2) (-1) (5) 0 (= u 2 )
19 9
(3) (3)
(7) (8) (5) (3) (9) (9) 4 (=u3 )
4 13
(3) (0)
11 • 5

Since all dii > 0, hence the solution shown in the above table is
optimal. Also d34 = 0, implies that alternative optimal solution also
exists.
Thus the optimal solution of the problem is
X11 = 11, x14 = 9 x22 = 19, X24 = 91 X31 = X33 = 13
Where xii = Amount to be transported from i-th warehouse to j-th
customer.
And optimal transportation cost = Rs. 209.
Example 4 : Solve the following transportation problem.
S1 S2 S3 S4 ai
01 1 2 1 4 30
02 3 3 2 1 50
03 4 2 5 9 20
b• 20 40 30 10 100
(Meerut 2002 (BP), 04; Agra 2000]
Transportation Problem 563

Solution : By 'Lowest Cost Entry' method, we get the following B.F.S. of the
problem.
S2 S3 a.

(1) (2) (1) (4) 30

20 10

02 (3) (3) (2) (1) 50

20 20 10

03 (4) (2) (5) (9) 20

20

bl 20 40 30 10

and total transportation cost

= Rs. (20 x 1 + 10 x 1 + 20 x 3 + 20 x 2 + 10 x 1 + 20 x 2) = Rs. 180
To Test the Solution for Optimality
Finding the set of ui (i = 1, 2, 3), vi (j = 1, 2, 3, 4) such that c rs = u,. + vs for
occupied cells and entering ui + v./ and dli in the unoccupied cells, the table giving
the optimal solution is as follows :
Since all du > 0, the solution given by this table is an optimal solution. Since
= 0 it implies that solution is not unique but an alternative optimal solution will
exist. Optimal transportation cost is Rs. 180.

U•

(1) (2) (2) (1) (4) (0) —1 (ui )

20 10
(0) (4)

(3) (2) (3) (2) (1) 0 (u 2 )

20 20 10
(1).

(4) (1) (2) (5) (1) (9) (0) — 1 (u 3 )

20
(3) (4) (9)

vi 2 3 2
(vi) (v 2 ) (v3 ) (v4)

Thus, the solution of the problem is

564 Operations Research

From 01transport 20 and 10 units to destinations S1 and 53 respectively.

From 02 transport 20, 20 and 10 units to destinations S2, S3, and S4
respectively.
From 03 transport 20 units to destination S2.
and the total transportation cost = Rs. 180.
Example 5 : Solve the following transportation problem.
To

1 2 3 4 , Supply

1 21 16 25 13 11
From 2 17 18 14 23 13
3 32 27 18 41 19

Demand 6 10 12 15 43
[Meerut 2007]
Solution : The final table giving optimal solution is as follows :
Hence, the solution of the given problem is
From source 1 transport 11 units to destination 4.
From source 2 transport 6, 3 and 4 units to destinations 1, 2 and 4 respectively.
From source 3 transport 7 and 12 units to destinations 2 and 3 respectirly.
Optimal transportation cost
= Rs. (6x17+3x18+7x27+12x18+11x13+4x23) = Rs. 796.
1 2 3 4

1 (21) (7) (16) (8) (25) (-1) (13) -10(u1 )

11
(14) (8) (26)

2 (17) (18) (14) (9) (23) 0(u 2 )

From 6 3 4
(5)

3 (32) (26) (27) (18) (41) (32) 9 (u3)

7 12
(6) (9)

vi 17(v1 ) 1 (v2 ) 9 (v3 ) 23 (v4 )

Transportation Problem 565

14.12 Degeneracy in Transportation Problems

[Meerut 1994, 2001]

In a transportation problem, degeneracy occurs whenever the number of

independent individual allocations is less than (m + n — 1). Degeneracy may occur
either at the initial stage or at an intermediate stage at some subsequent iteration.
In such cases, to resolve degeneracy, we allocate an extremely small amount
(close to zero) to one or more empty cells of the matrix (generally lowest cost cells if
possible), so that the total number of occupied (allocated) cells becomes (m + n —1)
at independent positions. We denote this small amount by A (delta) or n (epsilon)
satisfying the following conditions :
1. 0<A for all xii- > 0
2. A+ 0 =A= 0+A
3. xu ± A = xij for all xii > 0
4. If there pre more than one A' s introduced in the solution then.
(i) if A, A' are in the same row, A < A' when A is to the left of A' .

and (ii) if A, A' are in the same column, A < A' when A is above N ,
It is clear that after introducing A satisfying the above conditions, the original
solution of the problem is not changed. It is merely a technique to apply the
optimality test and is omitted ultimately.
For the clear understanding of the method. See Example 6 and 7.

14.13 Unbalanced Transportation Problems

A transportation-problem is said to be an unbalanced transportation
problem, if the sum' of all available amount (quantities) is not equal to the sum of
all requirements,

i.e., if Eai # bj
i=1j= 1

An unbalanced transportation problem is converted into a balanced

transportation problem, by introducing a fictitious source or destination which will
provide the surplus supply or demand. The cost of transporting an unit from the
fictitious source (or to the fictitious destination) is taken to be zero. After converting
the unbalanced transportation problem to balanced transportation problem, by the
introduction of fictitious source or destination, it is solved by the earlier methods.
For the clear understanding of the method. See Example 8, 9,10 and 11.
566 Operations Research

glitutudiae jxamplith
Problems of Degeneracy
Example 6 : Solve the following transportation problem (cell entries represent unit
cost).

ai
5 3 7 3 8 5 3

5 6 12 5 7 11 4

2 1 3 4 8 2 2

9 10 5 10 9 8

b 3 3 6 2 1 2 17

[Meerut (LP) 1993]

Solution : By V.A.M. the initial B.F.S. of the given problem is given by the
following table :

ai

(5) (3) (7) 3 (8) (5) 3

1 2

(5) (6) (12) (5) 7 (11) 4

3 A 1

(2) (1) (3) (4) (8) (2) 2

2

(9) (6) (10) (5) (10) (9)

2 4 2

b 3 3 6 2 1 2

Since the total number of allocations is 8 which is one less than m + n —1 = 9.

Hence, this solution is degenerate solution.
Now to resolve this degeneracy we allocate a very small amount A to the cell
(2, 4) getting 9 allocations at independent positions.
Transportation Problem 567

To Test Solution for Optimality

Now to test the solution for optimality we construct the following table :

ui

(5) (2) (3) (7) (7) (3) (2) (8) (4) (5) -3
1 2
(3) (0) (1) (4)

(5) (6) (6) (12) (10) (5) (7) (11) (8) 0

3 A 1
(0) (2) (3)
(2) (-2) (1) (-1) (3) (4) (-2) (8) (0) (2) (1) -7
2
(4) (2) (6) (8) (1)

(9) (5) (6) (10) (5) (10) (7) (9) (8) 0

2 4 2
(4) (3) (1)

v• 5 6 10 5 7 8

Since all cliff 0, so the solution under test is optimal.

Thus, the optimal solution is given in the above table and the optimal cost
= Rs. (1x3+2x5+3x5+1x7+2x3+2x6+4x10+2x5) = Rs. 103
Example 7 : Given below the unit costs array with supplies ai ; i = 1, Z 3 and demands
b j ; j = 1, 2, 3, 4.
Sink

1 2 3 4 a•1
1 8 10 7 6 50
2 12 9 4 7 40
3 9 11 10 8 30
b• 25 32 40 23 120

Find the optimal solution to the above Hitchcock problem.

[Meerut 2002 (BP), 03 (BP), 05 (BP)]

SolutioU: By "Lowest Cost Entry Method" the initial B.F.S. of the given problem is .
given by the following table.
Since the total number of allocation is 5 which is one less than in + n -1 = 6.
Hence, this solution is a degenerate solution.
568 Operations Research

1 3 4 ai

1 (8) (10) (7) (6)

25 2 23 50

(12) (9) (4) (7)

40 A 40

(9) (11) (10) (8)

30 30

25 32 40 23

Now to resolve this degeneracy we allocate a very small amount A to the cell
(2, 4) getting 6 allocations at independent positions.
To test the solution for optimality.
Now to test the solution for optimality we construct the following table :

3 Ui

(8) (10) (7) (3) (6)

25 2 23 0 (ui )
(4)

2 (12) (9) (9) (11) (4) (7)

40 A 1(u2 )
(3) (-2)

(9) (9) (11) (10) (4) (8) (7)

30 1 (u3 )
(0) (6) (1)

vi 8 10 3 6
(vi) (v2 ) (v3 ) (v4 )

Since d22 = —2 < 0, so the solution under test is not optimal. Now we shall
allocate to this cell (2, 2) as much as possible. Thus, we take A from cell (2, 4)-to cell
(2, 2) and form the new table to check the optimality of the solution.
Transportation Problem 569

1 2 3 4

1 (8) (10) (7) (5) (6) 0

25 2 23
(2)

2 (12) (7) (9) (4) (7) (5) —1

A 40
(5) (2)

3 (9) (9) (11) (10) (6) (8) (7) 1

30
(0) (4) (1)

vi 10 5 6

Since all 0, so the solution under test is optimal.

Also d31 = 0, implies that an alternative optimal solution exists.
Thus, the optimal solution is given in the above table and the optimal cost
= Rs. (25x8+2x10+30x11+40x4+23x6) = Rs. 848.
Problems on Unbalanced Transportation Problem
Example 8 : Determine the optimal transportation plan from the following table,
given the plant to market shipping costs and quantities at each market and availables
at each plant :

Plant W1 W2 W3 W4 Availability

F1 11 20 7 8 50

F2 21 16 10 12 40

F3 8 12 18 9 70

Requirement 30 25 35 40

Solution : Here total requirement of the markets = 30+25+35+40 = 130

and total availability at the plants = 50+40+70 =160
Since the total availability at three plants is 30 more than the total
requirements in four markets W1, W2, W3, W4. Therefore, this transportation
problem is unbalanced and so we convert this problem to -a balanced one by
introducing a fictitious, market W5 with requirement 30 such that the cost of
transportation from plants to this market W5 are zero.
Thus, the balanced transportation problem is given by the following table :
570 Operations Research

Market

Plant W1 W, W3 W4 W5 Availability

F1 11 20 7 8 0 50

F2 21 16 10 12 0 40

F3 8 12 18 9 0 70

Requirement 30 25 35 40 30 (Total) 160

By V.A.M, we get the following B.F. solution of the problem :

Market

Plant W1 W2 W3 W4 W5

F1 (11) (7) (20) (11) (7) (8) (0) (— 3)

25 25 50 —1
(4) (9) (3)

F2 (21) (10) (16) (14) (10) (12) (11) (0)

10 30 40 2
(11) (2) (1)

F3 (8) (12) (18) (8) (9) (0) (-2)

30 25 15 70 0
(10) (2)

bi 30 25 35 40 30 160
v• 8 12 8 9 —2

The solution given in the above table is an optimal solution as all dy 0

Thus, the optimal solution is
Transport from plant F1 to Market W3, 25 units.
Transport from plant F1 to Market W4 , 25 units.
Transport from plant F2 to Market W3, 10 units.
Transport from plant F3 to Market WI , 30 units.
Transport from plant F3 to Market W2, 25 units.
Transport from plant F3 to Market W4 15 units.
Total transportation cost
= Rs. (25x 7+25x8+10x10+30x8+25x12+15x9) = Rs. 1150
It is important to note that 30 units are dispatched from plant F2 to market
W5 (Fictitious). In other words we can say that 30 units are left undispatched at the
plant F2.
Example 9 : A steel company has three open hearth furnaces and five rolling mills.
Transportation cost (rupees per quintal) for shipping steel from furnaces to rolling mills
are shown in the following table :
Transportation Problem 571

M1 M2 M3 M4 M5 Capacities (in quintal)

F1 4 2 3, 2 6 8

Furnaces F2 5 4 5 2 1 12

F3 - 6 5 4 7 3 14
Requirement 4 4 6 8 8
(in quintal)

What is an optimal shipping schedule.

[Meerut 2001, 03, 07 (BP), 08 (BP); Agra 2002]
Solution : Here total requirement of mills = 30 quintals
and total capacity of all furnaces = 34 quintals
Since total requirement and total capacity are not equal, so the problem is an
unbalanced transportation problem.
Since the total capacity is 4 quintals more than the total requirement, so we
convert this problem to a balanced one by introducing a fictitious mill M 6 of
requirement 4 quintals with all transportation costs to this mill as zero.
The balanced transportation problem is given by the following table :

M2 M3 M4 M5 M6 Capacities

F1 4 2 3 2 6 0 8
F2 5 4 5 2 1 0 12

F3 6 5 4 7 3 0 14
Requirement 4 4 6 8 8 4 34

By V.A.M, we get the following initial B.F.S. of the problem shown in this table.

M1 M2 M3 M4 M5 M6

F1 (4) 4 (2) (3) 4 (2) (6) (0) 8

F2 (5) (4) (5) 4 (2) 8 (1) (0) 12

F3 4 (6) (5) 6 (4) (7) (3) 4 (0) 14

4 4 6 8 8 4

To test the solution for optimality, we construct the following table with all the
entries ui and vi such that for each occupied cell crs =tti. +vs and make the entries
ui + vi and du = cu — (ui + vi ) at appropriate corners in empty cells.
572 Operations Research

M2 M3 M4 M5 M6 ui

(4) (2) (3) (2) (6) (0)

Fl 4 4 2

(5) (4) (5) (2) (1) (0) —2

F2 4 8

(6) (5) (4) (7) (3) (0)

F3 0
4 6 A 4

•
11.1
6 4 4 4 3 0

Since all 0, so this solution is optimal and the minimum T.C.

=Rs.(2 x 4 + 2 x4 + 2 x 4 + lx 8 + 6 x 4 + 4 x 6 +0 x 4)=Rs.80
Example 10 : A company produces a small component for all industrial products and
distributes it to five wholesalers at a fixed delivered price of Rs. 2.50 per unit. Sales
forecasts indicate that monthly deliveries will be 3000, 3000, 10000, 5000, 4000 units
to wholesalers 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 respectively. The monthly production capacities are
5000, 10000 and 12500 at plants 1, 2 and 3 respectively. The direct costs of production
of each unit are Rs. 1, Rs. 0.90 and Rs. 0.80 at plants 1, 2 and 3 respectively. The
transportation costs of shipping a unit from a plant to a wholesaler are given below.
Find how many components of each plant supplies to each wholesaler in order to
maximize the profit.
Wholesaler

1 2 3 4 5

1 0.05 0.07 0.10 0.15 0.15

Plant 2 0.08 0.06 0.09 0.12 0.14

3 0.10 0.09 0.08 0.10 0.15

[C.A. (May) 2000]
Solution : Since the production costs of each unit at plants 1, 2 and 3 are Rs. 1, Rs.
0.90 and Rs. 0.80 respectively, so we add these production costs per unit in row 1,
row 2 and row 3 respectively to transportation costs per unit given in the above table
and get the cost matrix including both costs per units.
Also total production capacity = 5000 + 10000 + 12500 = 27500 units
While the requirement = 3000 + 3000 + 10000 + 5000 + 4000 = 25000 units.
Since production capacity is more than the requirement by 27500 — 25000 =
2500 units, so we add a fictitious wholesaler 6 with zero costs and requirement of
2500 units. Thus, the balanced transportation matrix is as follows :
Transportation Problem 585

+ Exercise on Chapter 14 +
1. Write a short note on "Transportation Problem".
2. Explain the difference between a transportation problem and an assignment
problem. [Meerut 1995 (P), 99, 2001, 02 (BP), 05;
Rohilkhand 1998; Agra 1999]
3. Describe methods to obtain an initial feasible solution for a transportation
problem. [UP TECH MBA 2003-04, 05, 06; Rohilkhand 2003]
4. Give a brief outline of the procedure for solving a transportation problem.
5. State the transportation problem in general terms and explain in this
connection, generacy. Also explain how it is tested whether a B.F.S. of a
transportation problem is optimal or not.
6. Write short note on 'Degeneracy' in T.P. [Meerut 2000, 01]
7. Explain the term 'Degeneracy' in the context of transportation problem.
[UP TECH MBA 2003-04]
8. (a) Consider the following transportation problem :

Destination Availability
1 2 3 4
1 21 16 25 13 1. 1
Source 2 17 18 14 23 13
3 32 27 18 41 19
Requirement 6 10 12 15 43

Determine an initial basic feasible solution using the row minimum method.
(b) Determine an initial basic feasible solution to the following transportation
problem using the north-west corner rule.

D1 D2 D3 D4 Availability

°I 6 4 1 5 14

02 8 9 2 7 16

03 4 3 6 2 5

Requirement 6 10 15 4 35
586 Operations Research

9. Obtain an initial B.F.S. to the following transportation problem using V.A.M. •

Stores
S1 S2 S3 54 Availability
A 5 1 3 3 34
B 3 3 5 4 15
Warehouse C 6 4 4 3 12
D 4 1 4 2 19
Demand 21 25 17 17 80
10. Determine an initial B..F.S. to the following transportation problem by using
the N-W-corner rule.
Destination
Al B1 C1 D1 E1 Supply
A 2 11 10 3 7 4
Origin B 1 4 7 2 1 8
C 3 9 4 8 12 9
3 3 4 5 6 21
11. Determine an initial basic feasible solution to the following transportation
problem using Vogel's approximation method and North-West corner rule.
Destination
D1 D2 D3 D4 Available
Ot 1 2 1 4 20
02 3 3 2 1 40
Origin 03 4 2 5 9 20
04 5 3 6 10 20
Requirement 20 40 30 10
[UP TECH MBA 2004-05]
12. A firm owns facilities at six places. It has manufacturing plants at places A, B
and C with daily product of 50, 40 and 60 units respectively. At points D, E and
F it has three warehouses with daily demands of 20, 95 and 35 units
respectively. Per unit shipping costs are given in the following table. If the firm
wants to minimize its total transportation cost, how should it route its
products?
Warehouse
Plant
D F F
A 6 4 1
B 3 8 7
C 4 4 2
[UP TECH MBA 2001-02]
Transportation Problem 587

Solve the following transportation problems,

13:
Destination
Sources Supply
X Y Z
A 2 7 4 50
B 3 3 7 70
C 5 4 1 80
D 1 6 2 140

Demand 70 90 180 340

[UP TECH MBA 2006-07]
14.

Warehouse ---> W1 W2 W3 W4 Factory

Factory 4, capacity

Fl 19 39 50 10 7
F2 70 30 40 60 9
• F3 40 8 70 20 18

Warehouse 5 8 7 14 34
Requirement

15.

To Available

• W1 W2 W3 W4 W5
Fl 3 4 6 8 9 20
F2 2 10 1 5 8 30
From
F3 7 11 20 40 3 15

F4 2 1 9 14 16 13

Required 40 6 8 18 6 78

Solve the following transportation problems.

16.
• D1 D2 D3 D4 of

01 5 3 6 2 19
02 4 7 ' 9 1 37
03 3 4 7 5 34

b• 16 18 31 25 '
588 Operations Research

17.

Customer Available
C1 C2 C3 C4 C5

Pi 4 1 3 4 4 60
Plant P2 2 3 2 2 3 35
P3 3 5 2 4 4 40

Required 22 45 20 18 30

18.

Di D2 D3 D4 D5 D6 ai

°I 9 12 9 6 9 10 5
02 7 3 7 7 5 5 6
03 6 5 9 11 3 11 2
04 6 8 11 2 2 10 9

bj 4 4 6 2 4 2 •

19.

Market
Plant A B C D Available

X 10 22 10 20 8
Y 15 20 12 8 13
Z 20 12 10 15 11
Required 5 11 8 8 32

20.

Market
Plant Available
A B C D

X 14 9 18 6 11

Y 10 11 7 16 13

Z 25 20 11 34 19

Required 6 10 12 15 , 43
Transportation Problem 589

21.

Warehouse
Plant A B C D Available at plant

X 30 20 50 20 75
Y 20 10 20 40 120
Z 40 30 40 30 105
Required at 65 60 80 95 300
warehouse

22.
Market
Plant A B C Available at plant
X 11 21 16 14
Y 7 17 13 26
Z 11 23 21 36
Required at Market 18 28 25

23. A company has three plants at locations A, B and C which supply warehouses
located at D, E, F, G and H. Monthly plant capacities are 800, 500 and 900 units
respectively. Monthly warehouse requirements are 400, 400, 500, 400 and 800
units respectively. Unit transportation cost (In Rs.) are given below :
D E F G
A 5 8 6 6 3
B 4 7 7 6 5
c. 8 4 6 6 4
Determine an optimum distribution for the company in order to minimize
the total transportation cost. [Meerut 20081
24. A company has three plants A, B, C and three were houses X, Y and Z. Number
of units, available at the plants are 60, 70 and 80 respectively. Demands at X, Y
and Z are 50, 80 and 80 respectively. Units costs of transportation are as
follows :

X Y Z

A 8 7 3

B 3 8 9

C 11 3 5
Find the allocation so that total transportation cost is minimum.
590 Operations Research

25. A manufacturer wants to ship 8 loads of his product as shown below. The
matrix gives the mileage from origin 0 to the destination

D ---> A B C Available
J. 0

X 50 30 220 1
Y 90 45 170 3
Z 250 200 50 4
Required 4 2 2 8

Shipping' costs are Rs. 10 per load mile. What shipping schedule should be
used.
26. A textile firm has three factories F1, F2, F3 and four warehouses W1, W2, W3, W4.
The transportation costs, factory capacitieS and warehouse requirements are
given in the following table :

W1 W2 W3 W4 Capacity
F1 15 24 11 12 5000
F2 25 20 14 16 1000
F3 12 16 22 13 7000
Requirements : 3000 2500 3500 4000
Find the least transportation schedule. [Meerut 2006)
27. Goods to be transported from factories A, B, C and D to warehouse X, Y and Z.
The transportation cost per unit, capacities of the factories and requirements of
the warehouses are given in the following table . Find the distribution with
minimum cost.

Factories Requirement

Warehouses A B C D .
X 15 24 11 12 2000
Y 25 20 14 16 4000
Z 12 16 22 13 7000
Capacity 3000 2500 3500 4000
[UP TECH MBA 2005.061
Transportation Problem 591

Solve the following transportation problems :

28.
To
D1 D2 D3 Supply

01 2 4 1 40
02 6 3 2 50
From 03 4 5 6 20
04 3 2 1 30
05 5 2 5 10

Demand 50 60 40 150

29.

Wi W2 W3 W4 Capacity

F1 . 95 105 80 15 12
F2 115 180 40 30 7
F3 155 180 95 70 5

Requirement 5 4 4 11

30.

Di D2 D3 D4 ai

01 1 2 1 4 30
02 4 2 5 9 50
03 20 40 30 10 20

b•
.1
20 40 30 10 100

31.

Di D2 D3 D4 ai

01 6 6 4 4 5

02 7 9 1 2 7

03 6 5 16 7 8

04 11 9 10 2 10

b. 10 5 10 5 30
592 Operations Research

32.
Store
A B C ai
I 10 9 8 8
II 0 7 10 7
Factory /II 11 9 7 9
IV 12 14 10 4

b
i
10 10 8 28

33. Obtain an optimum to the following degenerate T.P.

To Available
7 3 4 2
From 2 1 3 3
3 4 6 5
Demand : 4 1 5 10
[Meerut 2006 (BP)]
34. (a) Consider the transportation problem shown in the following table .:

Demand Points Supply

1 2 3 4
1 2 3 11 7 6
Source 2 1 0 6 1 1
3 5 8 15 9 10
Demand 7 5 3 2

The matrix shows the cost of transportation from source to demand points.
Find the optimal solution.
(b) Consider the transportation problem with m = 3 and n = 4, where
c11 =Z C12 = 3, c13 = 11, c14 =7
C21 = 1, C 22 = 0, C23 =:
6, C24 = 1
C31 = 5, C32 = 8, C33 = 15, c34 = 9
Suppose S1 = 6,, S2 = 1 and S3 = 10 whereas D1 = 7,D2 = 5,D3 = 3 and
D4 = 2,. Find an optimal solution.
[Hint : see part (a)]
Transportation Problem 593

35. Solve the transportation problem whose cost matrix is given as

estination To
Available
Origin D1 • D 2 D3 ' D4 D5

Oi. 12 4 9 5 9 40
02 8 1 6 6 7 20
From • 03 1 12 4 7 7 60
04 10 15 6 9 1 60

Required 40 20 50 30 40
[Meerut 1997 (BP), 20061
36. Solve the transportation problem :

To
Available
Di D2 D3

Oi. 14 . 11 7 5
• From 02 13 15 7 15
. 03 10 16 7 9

Required 15 6 8 .

[Meerut 19971
37. Solve the following transportation problem :

To Available
7 10 7 4 7 8 5
5 1 5 5 3 3 6
From
4 3 7 9. •1 9 2
4 6 9 0 0 8 9
Demand 4 4 6 2 4 2
[Meerut 2002]
38. There are three parties who supply the following quntities of coal and three
consumers who require the coal as follow :
. Party 1 14 tons Consumer A 6 tons
Party 2 12 tons Consumer B 10 tons
Party 3 5 tons Consumer C 15 tons

Total 31 tons
The cost matrix is given as
594 Operations Research

AB C
1 6 8 4
2 4 9 3
3 1 2 6
Find the schedule of a transportation policy which minimizes the cost.
[Meerut 1999]
39. Solve the following cost minimizing transportation prob em

D1 D2 D3 D4 D5 Available

01 5 5 6 4 2 9
02 6 9 7 8 5 13
03 5 6 4 6 3 9

Demand 3 7 8 5 8
[Meerut L.P. 1996 (BP)]
40. Solve the following transportation problem :

Destinations
Availability
D2 D3 D4 D5

Si. 5 7 6 8 7 13
Sources S2 7 6 8 9 8 6
S3 6 4 7 7 9 8

Requirement 6 7 3 5
[Meerut L.P. 1996]
41. A company has factories A, B and C which supply warehouses at D, E, F and G.
Monthly factory capacities are 160, 150 and 190 units respectively. Monthly
warehouse requirements are 80, 90, 110 and 160 units respectively. Unit
shipping costs (in rupees) are as follows :

To
D E F G

A 42 48 38 37
From B 40 49 52 51
C 39 38 40 43

Determine the optimum distribution for company to minimize shipping costs.

[Meerut 2001, 05, 09]
Transportation Problem 595

42. At the beginning of next week there will be a surplus of 6, 9, 7 and 5 tailors in
cities 1, 2, 3 and 4 respectively. Cities A, B and C will have a deficit of 8, 7 and 9
tailors respectively. The cost for moving from each surplus city to each deficit
city is given in rupee in the table.
Find the minimum Cost Transportation Schedule.

Deficit
A B C

1 26 32 28
Surplus 2 19 27 16
3 39 21 32
4 18 24 23

43. Consider the following unbalanced transportation problem :

To .
Supply
1 2 3

1 5 1 7 10

From 2 6 4 6 80

3 3 2 5 15

Demand 75 20 50

Since there is not enough supply, some of the demands at these destination
may not be satisfied. Suppose there are penalty costs for every unsatisfied
demand unit which are given by 5, 3 and 2 for destinations 1, 2 and 3
respectively. Find the optimal solution.
[Hint : Consider a dummy source 4 whose transportation costs are given by 5,
3, 2 and supply = 145 —105 = 40].
44. A company has 4 warehouses and 6 stores; the cost of shipping one unit from
warehouse i to store j is cu . If
7 10 7 4 7 8
5 1 5 5 3 3
C=
4 3 7 9 1 9
4 6 9 0 0 8
and the requirements of the six stores are 4, 4, 6, 2, 4, 2 and the quantities at
the warehouses are 5, 6, 2, 9, find the minimum cost solution.
596 Operations Research

45. Solve the following transportation problem for minimum cost :

Origins
Destinations Requirements
A B C D

1 7 4 3 4 15
2 3 2 7 5 25
3 4 4 3 7 20
4 9 7 5 3 40
Availabilities 12 8 35 25

46. A product is produced by four factories A, B, C and D. The unit production costs
in them are Rs. 2, Rs. 3, Rs. 1 and Rs. 5 respectively. Their production capacities
are, factory A-50 units, B-70 units, C-30 units and D-50 units. These factories
supply the product to four stores, demands of which are 25, 35, 105 and 20
units respectively. Unit transport cost in rupees from each factory to each store
is given in the table below :

Stores
1 2 3 4
A 2 4 6 11
Factories B 10 8 7 5
C 13 3 9 12
D 4 6 8 3

Detennine the extent of deliveries from each of the factories to each of the
stores so that the total production and transportation cost is minimum.
[Hint : First construct the transportation matrix with unit costs consisting of
both production and transportation, which is as follows :

Stores
Supply
1 2 3 4
A 2+2 4+2 6+2 11+2 50
B 10+3 8+3 7+3 5+3 70
Factories C 13+1 3+1 9+1 12+1 30
D 4+5 6+5 8+5 3+5 50
Demand 25 35 105 20
Obviously it is a unbalanced Transportation problem, so consider a fictitious
store 5 to absorb surplus 15 units.]
600 Operations Research

ANSWERS +
8. (a) x14 = 11, X21 = 6, x22 = 3, x 24 = X32 = 7,x33 = 12 OP.T.C. = Rs. 796
(b) X11 = 6, X12 = 8, x22 = 2, x23 = 14, X33 = 1, X34 = 4. OP.T.C. = Rs. 128
9. x12 .=25, x13 = 9, X21 = 15, x31 = 4, X33 = 8x41 = X44 = 17. OP.T.C. = 195
10. x11 = 3, x12 =1, x22 = 2 x23 = 4, x24 = 2, X34 = 3, X35 = 6. OP.T.C.= Rs. 153
11. By Vogel's App. Method x11= 20, x23 = 30, x24 = 10, x32 = 20, x42 = 20
By N-W Corner Rule xi]. = 20, X22 = 40, X33 = 20, X43 = 10, X44 = 10
Cost = 400 units.
12. x12 = 15, x13 = 35, x21 = 20, x22 = 20, x32 = 60, OP.T.0 = 555 Units
13. xi]. = 50, X21 = 70, X32 = 20, X33 = 60, X41 = 20, X43 = 120.OP.T.C. = Rs. 710
14. X11 = 50, X14 =2 •x22 = 2 X23 = 7, x32 = 6, X34 = 12. OP.T.C. = Rs. 743
15. /11 = 20, X21 = 4, X23 8, X24 = 18, X31 = 9, X35 = 6, X41 = 7, x42 = 6.
OP.T.C. = 267
16. x12 = 18, x13 = 1, x21 = 12, x24 = 25, x31 = 4,x33 = 30. OP.T.C. = Rs. 355
17. x12 = 45, x15 = 15, x21 = 17, x24 = 18, X31 = 5, x33 = 20, X35 = 15
OP.T.C. = Rs. 290
18. x13 = 5,x22 = 4, x26 = 2x31 = 1,X33 = 1,x41 = 4 = 2, X45 7 4.
OP.T.C. = Rs. 112
19. x11 = 5, x13 = 3, x23 = 5, X24 = 8, x32 = 11. ORT•C• = Rs. 336
20. x14 = 11, X21 = 6, X22 = 3, x24 = 4, x32 = 7, X23 = 12. OP.T.C. = Rs. 495
21. x14 = 75, x22 = 40, X23 = 80, x31 = 65, X32 = 20, X34 = 20.
or x11 = 65, X12 = 10, X22 = 40, x23 = 80, x32 = 10, X34 = 95.
or x11 = 55, x12 = 20, X22 = 40, X23 = 8Q x31 = 10, x34 = 95.
OP.T.C. = Rs. 7300
22. x13 = 14, x22 = 15, x23 = 11, x31 = :18, x32 = 13, 5 units are left at plant Z.
OP.T.C. = Rs. 1119.
23. X15 = 800, x21 = 400, X24 = 100, x32 = 400, X33 = 200, x34 = 300, demand
of 300 units at F remains unfulfilled OP.T.C. = Rs. 92000.
24. x13 = 60, x21 = 50, x23 = 20, x32 = 80, OP.T.C. = Rs. 750.
25. x11 = 1, x21 = 3, x32 = 2, x33 = 2. OP.T.C. = Rs. 8200
26. x13 = 2500, xi4 = 2500, x23 = 1000, x31 = 3000; x32 = 2500, x34 = 1500.
OP.T.C. = Rs. 167000
27. X13 = 2000, X23 = 1500, X24 = 2500, x31 = 3000, x32 = 2500, X34 = 1500
OP.T.C. = Rs. 176500
Transportation Problem 601

28. x11 = 30, x13 = 10, X22 = 50, x31 = 20, x43, = 30, x52 = 10. OP.T.C. = Rs. 350
29. x11 = 5, x12 = X14 = 3, X23 = 4, X24 = 3, X'34 = 5. OP.T.C. = Rs. 1540
30. x13 = 30, x21 = 10, x22 = 40, x31 = 10, x34 = 10. OP.T.C. = Rs. 450
31. x11 = 2, X13 = 3, x23 = 7, x31 = 8, x 42 = 5,x44 = 5. OP.T.C. = Rs. 131
32. x11 = 6.- X12 = 2 X 22 = 7, X32 = 1, x33 = 8, x41 = 4. OP.T.C. = Rs. 240
33. X13 = 25 X22 = 1, X23 = 2, X31 = 4, X33 = 1. OP.T.C. = Rs. 33
34. -x12 = 5, x13 = 1, x23 = 1, x31 = 7, x33 = 1, x34 = 2. Mini. Dist = 100 miles
35. x13 = 10, X14 = 30, X22 = 20, X31 = 40, X33 = 20, X43 = 20, X45 = 40.
OP.T.C. = Rs. 540
36. x12 = 5, x21 = 6, x22 = 1, X23 = 8, x31 = 9. OP.T.C. = Rs. 294 units.
37. x13 = 5, x 22 = 4, X26 = 2, X31 = 1, X33 = 1, x41 = 3, x44 = 2, x45 = 4.
OP.T.C. = Rs. 68
38. x12 = 5, x13 = 9, X21 = 6, x23 = 6, x32 = 5. OP.T.C. = Rs. 128
39. x12 = 4, x14 = 5, X 21 = 3, x22 = 2, x25 = 8,X32 = 1, x33 = 8. OP.T.C. = Rs. 154
40. x11 = 6, X13 = 3, X15 = 4, X24 = 4, X95 = 2, X32 = 7, X34 = 1. OP.T.C. = Rs. 163
41. x14 = 160, x21 = 80, X22 = 10, X32 = 80, X33 = 110.
60 units are left with factory B undispatched. OP.T.C. = Rs. 17050
42. x11 = 3, x23 = 9, x32 = 7, x41 = 5. 3 surplus units at city 1. OP.T.C. =Rs. 459
43. x12 = 10, X21 = 60, X22 = 10, X23 = 10, X31 = 15.
Demand of 40 units at destination 3 remains unsatisfied. OP.T.C. = Rs. 515
44. X13 = 5,X22 = 3, X23 = 1, X26 = 2,X31 = 1, X32 = 1, X41 = 3, x44 = 2,X45 = 4.
OP.T.C. = Rs. 68
45. XA2 =, 12, xB2 = 8, xd = 15, Xe3 = 20, XD4 = 25, where X A2 is the quantity
transported from origin A to destination 2. Requirements of 5 units at
destination 2 and 15 units at destination 4 remain unfulfilled.
OP.T.C. = Rs. 232
46. x11 = 25, X12 = 5, X13 = 20, X23 = 70, X32 = 30, X43 = 15, x44 = 20.
15 units are left at factory D undispatched. Optimal Total Cost Rs. 1465.
47. x11 = 50, x12 = 50, x13 = 50, x23 = 150, x31 = 150, x42 = 150. Max. T.C. =
4250 units.
48. X- BA = 70, X BD = 100, XBK =
30, xa = 100. Demand of 5 coolers remain
unfulfilled at Agra. Maximum profit = Rs. 31600.
49. XID = 200, x 2D = 30, x2E = 145, x3B = 10, x3c = 45, X3E = 15, x4A = 110,

X 4C = 75,
140 units are left with factory 4 undistributed. Maximum profit = Rs. 7060.