The Transportation Algorithm

The transportation algorithm follows the exact steps of the simplex method , However, instead of using the regular simplex tableau, we take advantage of the special structure of the transportation model to organize the computations in a more convenient form.The steps of the transportation algorithm are exact parallels of the simplex algorithm. Determine a starting basic feasible solution, determine the entering variable from among all the non-basic variables and Use the feasibility condition of the simplex method to determine the leaving variable from among all the current basic variables, and find the new basic solution.to start with simplex must be select start solution by one of third methods:Northwest-corner method, Least-cost method and Vogel approximation method. Northwest Corner Method We begin in the upper left corner of the transportation tableau and set x11 as large as possible The least-cost method finds a better starting solution by concentrating on the cheapest routes. The method assigns as much as possible to the cell with the smallest unit cost. VAM is an improved version of the least-cost method that generally, but not always, produces better starting solutions.