ABSTRACT
Since network models are much easier to depict visually than are LPs or IPs in general, they are often easier to sell. On the one hand, even this simple example cannot be solved by sorting the arc costs from lowest to highest and sending as much as possible on the arcs in that order. A network is an abstract model that usually depicts the capability of movement or flow of something from node to node in a graph. Nodes can represent actual physical locations such as cities and seaports, virtual locations such as customers, points in time, and corporations, or combinations of physical and virtual locations such as airports at specific times. A basic feasible solution to a network problem is guaranteed to be integer, as long as supplies and bounds are integer. An oil company contracts with a trucking company to transport gasoline from its refineries to its customers.
