Microsoft Excel Data Analysis and Business Modeling (Office 2021 and Microsoft 365), 7th Edition

Chapter 69

Using Solver to solve transportation or distribution problems

Question answered in this chapter:

• How can a drug company determine at which location it should produce drugs and from which location it should ship drugs to customers?

Many companies manufacture products at different locations (often called supply points) and ship their products to customers (often called demand points). A natural question is, What is the least expensive way to produce and ship products to customers and still meet demand? This type of problem is called a transportation problem. A transportation problem can be set up as a linear Solver model, with the following specifications:

• Target cell Minimize the total production and shipping cost.

• Changing cells ...