70 70 Amsterdam Berlin -10 30 20 2 Paris 20 20 20 -10 7 Madrid 25 16 50 40 55 50 30 30 30 3 Munich 50 30 5 Milan 30 -50 50 -20 20 Barcelona
NTS is a Swiss intermodal operator located in Lausanne. When customers need to transport goods between origin and destination, NTS supplies them with one or more empty containers in which the goods can be loaded.
Upon arrival at the destination, the goods are unloaded, and the empty containers must be transported to the pickup point for new customers. Therefore, NTS management needs to reallocate empty containers periodically (every week). The company's focus is on the transportation activity of empty containers, which is very expensive (almost 35% of the total operational costs).
In May 2023, several empty containers, totaling 20 containers, need to be reallocated among terminals in Amsterdam, Berlin, Munich, Paris, Milan, Barcelona, and Madrid. The available or requested number of empty containers at various terminals is reported, along with the transportation costs (in euros per container) as seen in Figure 1.
Note: "+" denotes supply nodes, and "-" denotes demand nodes.
Arrows depict the flow of material and costs.
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