Transportation Problem Homework A company has three branches which produce a particular product that after production is transported to four distribution centers. Branches 1, 2 and 5 pr oduce 12, 17 and 11 loads respectively. Each distribution center needs to collect 10 loads per month. The to the respective distribution centers is given (in miles) in the month distance from each branch following table. Distribution Center 800 1300 400 700 1100 1400 600 1000 600 1200 800 900 Branch 2 The fixed cost of each load is $30 and the extra charge is 0.15 cent/mile. a) Design the appropriate transportation model. b) Using NWC, MinCost and VAM find the initial basic feasible solutions and make comments on which one is the best respect to the total transportation cost. Starting with the best initial basic feasible solution determined in question (b) find the option solution. How many loads must be transferred from each branch to each distribution center in order to minimize the total transportation cost? c)