TRANSPORTATION, TRANSSHIPMENT,

AND ASSIGNMENT
LESSON 6

Instructor: Ms. DANA A. FLORENDO, CPA, MM

 SPECIAL TYPES OF LINEAR PROGRAMMING MODELS

1. Transportation
2. Transshipment
3. Assignment

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TRANSPORTATION MODEL
The transportation model is formulated for a class of problems with the
following unique characteristics:
1. A product is transported from a number of sources to a number of
destinations at the minimum possible cost; and
2. Each source is able to supply a fixed number of units of the product,
and each destination has a fixed demand for the product.

In a transportation problem, items are allocated from sources to

destinations at a minimum cost. 3
ILLUSTRATION

Wheat is harvested and stored in grain elevators in three different storage facilities
– Storage 1, 2, and 3. These grain elevators supply three flour mills – Milling A, B,
and C. Grain is shipped to the mills in railroad cars, each car capable of holding 1
ton of wheat.
Each grain elevator is able to supply the following number of tons (i.e., railroad
cars) of wheat to the mills on a monthly basis:
Grain elevator Supply Each mill demands the following
number of tons of wheat per month:
1 150
2 175 Mill Demand
3 275 A 200
Total 600 tons B 100
C 300
Total 600 tons
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ILLUSTRATION

The cost of transporting 1 ton of wheat from each grain elevator (source) to each
mill (destination) differs, according to the distance and rail system. The cost are:

Mill
Grain elevator A B C
1 6 8 10
2 7 11 11
3 4 5 12

The problem is to determine how many tons of wheat to transport from each grain
elevator to each mill on a monthly basis to minimize the total cost of
transportation.
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 200
275

175
300

100
150
 LP Model

minimize Z = 6�1� +8�1� + 10�1� + 7�2� + 11�2� + 11�2� + 4�3� + 5�3� + 12�3�
subject to
�1� +�1� + �1� = 150
�2� +�2� + �2� = 175
�3� +�3� + �3� = 275
�1� +�2� + �3� = 200
�1� +�2� + �3� = 100
�1� +�2� + �3� = 300
��� ≥ 0
Where,
Z = transportation cost;
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��� = represents the number of tons of wheat transported from each
grain elevator, i (where i=1,2,3), to each mill, j, (where j = A, B, C)
 LP Model

minimize Z = 6�1� +8�1� + 10�1� + 7�2� + 11�2� + 11�2� + 4�3� + 5�3� + 12�3�
subject to
�1� +�1� + �1� = 150
Supply at each elevator
�2� +�2� + �2� = 175
Total of 600 tons
�3� +�3� + �3�
�1� +�2� + �3�
=
=
275
200
=
= 100 Demand at each mill
�1� +�2� + �3�
Total of 600 tons
�1� +�2� + �3� = 300
��� ≥ 0
Where,
Z = transportation cost;
8
��� = represents the number of tons of wheat transported from each
grain elevator, i (where i=1,2,3), to each mill, j, (where j = A, B, C)
TRANSPORTATION MODEL

 Balanced Transportation Model - supply equals demand; all

constraints are equalities
 Unbalanced Transportation Model - supply is greater than demand or
demand is greater than supply; constraints will be inequalities

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Supposing the demand for Mill 3 is increased from 300 to 350 tons, this will result
to the following change in LP model:

minimize Z = 6�1� +8�1� + 10�1� + 7�2� + 11�2� + 11�2� + 4�3� + 5�3� + 12�3�
subject to
�1� +�1� + �1� = 150
= 175 Supply at each elevator
�2� +�2� + �2�
Total of 600 tons
�3� +�3� + �3� = 275
�1� +�2� + �3� ≤ 200 ≤
≤ 100 Demand at each mill
�1� +�2� + �3�
Total of 650 tons
�1� +�2� + �3� ≤ 350
��� ≥ 0 10
THE TRANSSHIPMENT MODEL
In a transshipment problem, items may be transported:
§ from sources through transshipment points on to destinations,
§ from one source to another,
§ from one transshipment point to another,
§ from one destination to another, or
§ directly from sources to destinations, or
§ some combination of these alternatives.
The transshipment model includes intermediate points between 11

sources and destinations.

ILLUSTRATION

Continuing our wheat-shipping example…

Wheat is harvested at farms in M and N before being shipped to the three grain
elevators in 1, 2, and 3, which are now transshipment points. The amount of wheat
harvested at each farm is 300 tons. The wheat is then shipped to the mills in A, B,
and C. The shipping costs from the grain elevators to the mills remain the same, and
the shipping costs from the farms to the grain elevators are as follows:

Grain Elevator
Farm 1 2 3
M 16 10 12
N 15 14 17

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 200
275

300

175
100

300
300
150 13
The available supply constraints for the farms in M and N are:

��1 +��2 + ��3 = 300

��1 +��2 + ��3 = 300

The demand constraints at A, B, and C mills, remain the same:

�1� +�2� + �3� = 200
�1� +�2� + �3� = 100
�1� +�2� + �3� = 300
The demand constraints at A, B, and C mills, remain the same:

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Then we develop the constraints for the grain elevators (i.e., transshipment
points) at 1, 2, 3.

Amount shipped in = Amount shipped out

��1 +��1 = �1� +�1� + �1�

Amount of grains Amount of grains
shipped in to grain shipped out from grain
elevator 1 from farms elevator 1 to mills A, B,
M and N and C

��1 +��1 - �1� +�1� + �1� = 0

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LP Model
minimize Z = 16��1 + 10��2 + 12��3 + 15��1 + 14��2 + 17��3 + 6�1� +8�1� +
10�1� + 7�2� + 11�2� + 11�2� + 4�3� + 5�3� + 12�3�
subject to
��1 +��2 + ��3 = 300 Supply from farm
��1 +��2 + ��3 = 300 Total of 600

�1� +�2� + �3� = 200

�1� +�2� + �3� = 100 Demand at each mill
Total of 600
�1� +�2� + �3� = 300
��1 +��1 - �1� - �1� - �1� = 0
= 0 Transshipment points:
��2 +��2 - �2� - �2� - �2�
Shipped In = Shipped Out
��3 +��3 - �3� - �3� - �3� = 0 16

��� ≥ 0
ASSIGNMENT MODEL
 Assignment model is a special form of linear programming that is
similar to transportation model.
 In the assignment model, the supply at each source and the demand at
each destination are each limited to one unit or its values equal one (1).

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ILLUSTRATION

A local basketball tournament has four basketball games on a particular

night. The tournament organizer wants to assign four teams of officials to
the four games in a way that will minimize the total distance traveled by
the officials. The supply is always one team of officials and the demand is
for only one team of officials at each game.
The distances in kilometers for each team of officials to each game location
are:
Game sites
Officials 1 2 3 4
A 210 90 180 160
B 100 70 130 200
C 175 105 140 170 18

D 80 65 105 120
The linear programming formulation of the assignment model is
similar to the formulation of the transportation model, except all the
supply values for each source equal one, and all the demand values at
each destination equal one.

minimize Z = 210��1 + 90��2 + 180��3 + 160��4 + 100��1 + 70��2 +

130��3 +200��4 + 175��1 + 105��2 + 140��3 +
170��4 + 80��1 + 65��2 + 105��3 + 120��4
 Subject to
��1 +��2 + ��3 + ��4 = 1
��1 +��2 + ��3 + ��4 = 1
��1 +��2 + ��3 + ��4 = 1
��1 +��2 + ��3 + ��4 = 1
��1 +��1 + ��1 + ��1 = 1
��2 +��2 + ��2 + ��2 = 1
��3 +��3 + ��3 + ��3 = 1
��4 +��4 + ��4 + ��4 = 1
��� ≥ 0
Where,
Z = distance traveled by official
��� = represents the officials, i, (where i=1,2,3, 4), for each game sites, j, (where j = A, B, C)
ASSIGNMENT MODEL
 Balanced assignment model – when supply is equal to demand
 Unbalanced assignment model – exists when supply exceeds
demand or demand exceeds supply.

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