Abstract: A new method on the table,the vertical circulation method,is used to determine the initial scheduling schemes.Minimum element method only considers the local transportation cost minimization,and vogel method has heavy computation and tedious steps.While vertical circulation method determines the transportation volume distribution of each row and column according the crossing row and column element size.This method forms a transportation problem when the global volume is as small as possible.When the initial basic feasible solution is determined,through the adjustment of the scheme,the optimal solution can be determined.

Key words: transportation problem, vertical circulation method, optimal solution