THE TRANSPORTATION PROBLEM

This paper examines the transportation problem as one of the key tools of economic and mathematical modeling of logistics and production processes. Its role in optimizing resource distribution between supply and demand points while minimizing total costs is substantiated. The mathematical model of the transportation problem within the framework of linear programming is presented, and the conditions of balanced and unbalanced formulations are analyzed. The main methods for constructing an initial feasible solution (North-West Corner method, Least Cost method, Vogel’s Approximation method) and the potential method as a tool for optimality verification are discussed. A detailed numerical example with economic interpretation is provided. The study concludes that the transportation model has high practical significance in the context of digital economy development and modern logistics systems.