Computational Methods Application for Finding the Optimal Transportation Costs

Computational methods are, among other things, widely used in operational research. Operational research is a complex interdisciplinary field that deals with the problems of decision-making in real conditions, considering all the factors that affect the problem directly or indirectly, in order to find the best, i.e. optimal solution. As there is a growing need for continuous process improvement, there is a growing presence of operational research methods for various real-life problems. The transportation problem is one of the segments of research within operational research. It aims to determine the optimal program of distribution of a certain type of commodity from sources (points of origin) to destinations. The sources are the places where the commodity leaves (the warehouse), while the destinations are the ending points to which the commodity should be transported (in our case - the store). As a criterion for optimizing the transportation of goods, the request for minimizing the total transportation costs is most often taken. In the case of transportation problem, the objective function expresses the total transportation costs, while the limiting conditions are determined by the supply of individual sources (warehouses), i.e. the demand of individual destinations (stores). This paper discusses the possibility of applying operational research methods in the service sector. The aim of the research part of the paper is to find the optimal solution for real data of a given problem, simulating different conditions and constraints. An experimental analysis was performed for the problem of warehouse operations, and the goal was to minimize the costs of transporting goods. Two different methods were applied in order to determine the optimal solution. Based on the obtained results and their analysis, conclusions were made as to whether the problem was solved.