AN EFFECTIVE APPROACH OF FOUR-STEP METHOD FOR OPTIMAL SOLUTION OF TRANSPORTATION PROBLEM

Abstract

Transportation problem (TP) in operation research is one of the most in use optimization technique to deal the problems that are related with transportation of goods from sources to destinations. Initial Basic Feasible Solution (IBFS) plays a vital role in TP which offers a way to obtain the optimal solution. The objective is to prevail the total transportation cost equivalent or nearer to optimal solution. In this paper, an effective approach of Four Step Method (FSM) for optimal solution of TP has been brought up in order to get optimal solution of TPs. In this method we construct the Maximum Column Table (MCT) and Maximum Row Table (MRT). Several problems has been solved using this method to get the optimal solution. The outcomes of proposed method are contrasted with results of North West Corner Method (NWCM), Least Cost Method (LCM) and Vogal’s Approximation Method (VAM). It is observed that the proposed method is not only achieving better results but also overcoming the limitation of VAM.

Key Words: Transportation problem, Initial Basic Feasible Solution, Optimal solution, Linear programming problem