Abstract:
Transportation problem is one of the classical problems in operational research targeted to
transport a material from various sources to different destinations at a minimum total cost.
This research studies the basic solution of transportation problem using the concept of Best
Candidate Method and compares it with the initial solutions obtained by North-West Corner
Rule, Least Cost Method and Vogel’s Approximation Method. The purpose of this study is to
evaluate the initial basic feasible solution of transportation problem by existing (North-West
Corner, Least Cost, Vogel’s Approximation and Best Candidate) methods, modifying the Best
Candidate Method and comparing the modified Best Candidate Method with existing methods.
To compare the efficiency of the existing heuristic methods with that of modified Best Candidate
Method, computational experiments are performed by randomly selecting seven transportation
problems. The analysis is performed by comparing the average number of iterations required to
produce the optimal solution and percent difference between the initial and the optimal solutions
.The result of the this study shows that modified Best Candidate Method is better than existing
methods in providing the initial basic feasible solution and gives optimal solution in less number
of iterations when compared with the existing method. In some cases the Modified Best Candi
date Method gives a combination such that the initial basic feasible solution is itself the optimal
solution of the problem.
