Past, present and future of large scale transshipment computer codes and applications

SCOpf Ind purpose---The transportation and transshipment problem was among the earliest to be attacked by the methods of operations resutch. The methods and al,orithms used for optimizina the aJlcx:ation of transportalton capability are also used for many other Steminal)' unrelated problems of allocation and allotment. Because of this wide range,of application. a very pcal amount of effort ha.s been devoted to the, development of al,orithms for this problem. This article is primarily concerned with the past, present and future capability of such algorithms. It deals with the dependence of computer running time on problem complexity. and how that has changed as new computers and new algorithms wert developed.