Visualizing Solutions in Network Analysis with Visual Basic for Applications

Network models have been very useful for analyzing problems involving telecommunications, supply chains, vehicle routing, and other areas. In this paper I discuss the importance of visualization for network optimization. Reasons include explaining the model to non-technical managers and obtaining better solutions for the network model. Better solutions can be a direct result of visualization (when human intuition identifies a solution from the network picture) or an indirect result (when human intuition identifies improved procedures in algorithmic design, which then result in superior solutions). I discuss the importance of Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) for drawing networks directly within Microsoft Excel. I show how to use VBA efficiently to draw these networks using various Excel drawing objects.

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