OperationsResearch

Unit6

Unit6

AssignmentProblem

Structure

6.1.

Introduction

6.2.

Mathematicalformulationoftheproblem

6.3.

Hungarianmethodalgorithm

6.4.

Routingproblem
6.4.1.UnbalancedA.P
6.4.2 InfeasibleAssignments
6.4.3 MaximizationinA.P

6.5.

Travelingsalesmenproblem

6.6.

Summary
TerminalQuestions
AnswerstoSAQsandTQs

6.1Introduction
Theassignmentproblemisaspecialcaseofthetransportationproblem,wheretheobjectiveisto
minimizethecostortimeofcompletinganumberofjobsbyanumberofpersonsandMaximize
efficiently Revenue, sales etc In other words, when the problem involves the allocation of n
differentfacilitiestondifferenttasks,itisoftentermedasanassignmentproblem.Thismodelis
mostly used for planning. The assignment model is also useful in solving problems such as,
assignmentofmachinestojobs,assignmentofsalesmantosalesterritories,travelingsalesman
problemetc.Itmaybenotedthatwithnfacilitiesandnjobs,therearen!possibleassignments.
One way of finding an optimal assignment is to write all the n! possible arrangement ,evaluate
theirtotalcostandselecttheassignmentwithminimumcost.Butbecauseofmanycomputational
procedures this method is not possible. In this unit we study an efficient method for solving
assignmentproblems.
Therearenjobsforafactoryandfactoryhasnmachinestoprocessthejobs.Ajobi(=1,,n),
when processed by machine j(=1,,n) is assumed to incur a cost Cij. The assignment is to be
madeinsucha waythateachjobcanassociate withoneand onlyone machineDeterminean
assignmentofjobstomachinessoastominimizetheoverallcost.

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LearningObjectives
Afterstudyingthisunit,youshouldbeabletounderstandthefollowing

1. AttheendofthisunitthestudentsformulateaassignmentproblemMathematically.
2. Solvesaroutingproblem.
3. Analysisatravelingsalesmanproblem.
4. Knowthesignificanceoftheassignmentproblem.
5. ApplytheHungarianmethodtosolvetheproblem.
6. Solvethepracticalproblemslikeroutingproblemandtravelingsalesmanproblem.
6.2 MathematicalFormulationOfTheProblem
Letxijbeavariabledefinedby
0 if the ith job is not assigned to the jth machine
xij =
th
th
1if the i job is assigned to the j machine.
Then,sinceonlyonejobistobeassignedtoeachmachinewehave

n
xij=1and

xij=1

j=1

i=1

Alsothetotalassignmentcostisgivenby

n
z=

xij cij

j=1 i=1

Thustheassignmentproblemtakesthefollowingmathematicalform
Determine xij 0(i,j=1,,n)
Soastominimize

n
z=

i=1

j=1

xijcij

Subjecttotheconstraints

xij =1j=1,2,,n

i=1

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n
and

xij =1i=1,2,,n

j=1

withxij=0or1
Note: Inanassignmentproblemifweadd(orsubtract)arealnumberto(from)everyelementof
aroworcolumnofthecostmatrix,thenanassignmentwhichisoptimumforthemodifiedmatrix
isalsooptimumfortheoriginalone.
SelfAssessmentQuestions1
StateTrueorFalse

1. InA.Ptheconstraintsareofequalitytype.
2. Theno.offacilitiesshouldbeequaltono.ofresources.
3. Thedecisionvariablescantakeanyvalue.
6.3 HungarianMethod:Algorithm
Step1:PrepareRowruledMatrixbyselectingtheminimumvaluesforeachrowandsubtractit
fromotherelementsoftherow
Step 2: Prepare column reduced Matrix by subtracting minimumvalue of thecolumnfrom the
othervaluesofthatcolumn
Step3: Firstrowwiseassignazerobyifthereisonlyonezerointherowandcross(X)
otherzerosinthatcolumn.
Step4: Nowassigncolumnwiseifthereisonlyonezerointhatcolumnandcrossotherzerosin
thatrow.
RepeatStep3and4tillallzerosareeitherassignedorcrossed.Ifthenumberofassignments
made is equal to number of rows present, then it is the optimal solution otherwise proceed as
follows.
Step 5: Mark (P) the row which isnot assigned. Lookforcrossed zeroin thatrow. Mark the
column containing the crossed zero. Look for assigned zero in that column. Mark the row
containingassignedzero.Repeatthisprocesstillallmakingsareover.
Step6: Drawstraightlinethroughunmarkedrowsandmarkedcolumn.Thenumberofstraight
linedrawnwillbeequaltonumberofassignmentsmade.
Step7:Examinetheuncoveredelements.Selecttheminimum.
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a. Subtractitfromuncoveredelements.
b. Additatthepointofintersectionoflines.
c. Leavetherestasitis.
PrepareaNewTable.
Step8:RepeatSteps3to7tillnumberofallocations=Numberofrows.

Example1:Findtheoptimumassignmentsoastominimizethecost.
Persons

Jobs
12345

84261

09554

38926

43103

95

895

Example:
Considertheproblemofassigningfivejobstofivepersons.Theassignmentcostsaregivenas
follows.
Persons

Job
1

3 4 5

2 6 1

5 5 4

C
D

3
4

8
3

9 2 6
1 0 3

8 9 5

Determinetheoptimumassignmentschedule.

Solution:
Persons
A
B
C

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Jobs
12345
73150
09554
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D
E

4310
3
40340

Solution:ApplyingHungarianMethod
RowreducedMatrix
Persons

Jobs
12345

73150

09554

43103

40340

6704

Column reduced Matrix: Will be same as each columns minimum value is zero. We start
assigningthejobs

Jobs
Persons
A
B

12345
7305

9454

PC

1664

PD

3x3

424x

Sincethenumberofassignments=5.Itistheoptimumsolution.
Optimumsolution
Ato51
Bto10
Cto42
Dto31
Eto25
9Totalcost
SelfAssessmentQuestions2

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StateYes/No

1. InHungarianmethodfirstwepreparerowreducedmatrix
2. Thenumberofassignmentsshouldbeequaltonumberofrowsforoptimumsolution.
3. Therecanbemorethanoneallocationinarow.
6.4 RoutingProblem
Network scheduling is a technique for planning and scheduling of large projects. It has
successfully been applied in transportation and communication problems .A typical network
problem consists of finding route from one node(origin) to another (destination) between which
alternativepathsareavailableatvariousstagesofthejourney.Theproblemistoselecttheroute
thatyieldsminimumcost.Anumberofdifferentconstraintsmaybeplacedonacceptableroutes
e.g.:notreturningtothenodealreadypassedthroughorpassingthrougheverynodeonceand
onlyonce.Problemsofsuchtypearecalledasroutingproblems.
Althoughawidevarietyofproblemsotherthanroutingmaybedevelopedinconnectionwiththe
constructionandutilizationofnetworks.Hereweconsiderthespecialtypeofroutingproblemthat
occursfrequentlyinO.R.thetravellingsalesmanproblem.
6.4.1. UnbalancedA.P
Ifthenumberofrows numberofcolumnthenitisanunbalancedA.P.Weintroduceeithera
dummyrowordummycolumnandproceedasusual.
Example2:
Operations

Machines
M1

M2

M3

M4

01

10151211

02

910912

03

15161617

Solution: IntroducingadummyrowandapplyingHungarianmethod,wehave
Operations

Machines
M1

01

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M2

M3

M4

10151211

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02

910912

03

15161616

04

0000

RowreducedMatrixandassigning

Operations

Machines
M1

01

M2

M3

M4

521

02

x13
0

03

x111

04

xxx
0
Iteration1

Operations

Machines
M1

01

M2

M3

M4

41x

02

113
0

03

xxx
0

04

1xx

HungarianMethodleadstoMultiplesolution.Selecting(03,M2)arbitrarily
Theoptimumsolutionis
01 toM1

10

02 toM3

03 toM2

16

04 toM4

0
35TotalWastages

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6.4.2. InfeasibleAssignments
CertainjobscannotbeassignedtocertainMachinesoroperators.Weinsertahighvalue a at
thesecellsandApplyHungarianMethod.
Example3:
SolvethefollowingA.P
Territory

P1

P2

P3

P4

T1

20

T2

15201718

T3

1618

T4

3227

20

201824

Solution:IntroducingaatdashesplacesandapplyingHungarianMethod.Wehave
P1

P2

P3

P4

T1

20

T2

15201718

T3

1618

T4

201824

P1

P2

P3

T1

127

T2

0523

T3

02

3227

20

RowreducedMatrix

T4

P4

a
206
ColumnreducedMatrix
P1

T1

P2

P3

P4

124

T2

x32

T3

T4

x3
0

0
1

\Optimumassignmentis

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T1 toP1

20

T2 toP4

18

T3 toP2

18

T4 toP3

18

Unit6

74TotalCost

6.4.3. MaximizationInA.P
Hungarian Method cannot be applied to maximization problems. Therefore we reduce it to
maximization problem by subtracting every value form thehighestvalue of the Matrixand then
proceedasusual.

Example4: SolvethefollowingA.PEfficiencyMatrix
Classes

Professors
P1

P2

P3

P4

C1

70758065

C2

80706575

C3

75768580

C4

60657090

Solution:SinceitisaMaximizationproblemwesubtracteveryvaluefromthemaximumvalueof
90.Wehave.
Professors
P1

P2

P3

P4

C1

20151025

C2

10202515

C3

1520510

C4

30

25200

P1

P2

RowreducedMatrix

SikkimManipalUniversity

P3

P4

C1

105015

C2

010155

C3

101505

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C4

3025200
ColumnReducedMatrix
P1

C1
C2

P2

P3

P 4

10124
0

5155

C3

10105
0

C4

302020

\ OptimumSolution
C1 P2

75

C2 P1

80

C3 P3

85

C4 P4

90
330MaxEfficiency

SelfAssessmentQuestions3
Fillintheblanks

1. InunbalancedT.Pnumberofrows__________tonumberofcolumn.
2. Hungarianmethodcannotbeapplieddirectlyto_________problem.
3. IfsomejobscannotbeassignedtosomeM/csthenitiscalled_________assignment
problem.

6.5 TravelingSalesmanProblem
Supposethesalesmanhastovisitncities.Hewishestostartfromaparticularcity,visiteachcity
once,andthenreturntohisstartingpoint.Theobjectiveistoselectthesequencein whichthe
citiesarevisitedinsuchawaythathistotaltravelingtimeisminimized..Clearlystartingfroma
givencity,thesalesmanwillhavetotalof(n1)!differentsequences.Further,sincethesalesman
hastovisit all the n cities theoptimal solution remains independent of selection of the starting
point.
Theproblemcanberepresentedasanetworkwherethenodesandarcsrepresentthecitiesand
thedistance between them respectively. Assume that in afive city problem, a round trip of the
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salesmanisgivenbythefollowingarcs.
(3,1),(1,2),(2,4),(4,5),(5,3)
These arcs taken in order are the first, second, third, fourth and fifth directed arcs for the trip.
Generallythekthdirectedarcrepresentsthekth legofthetrip.i.e.onlegk
Thesalesmantravelsfromcityitocityj
(i,j=1,2,,n i j)
To formulate the problem whose solution will yield the minimum traveling time ,let the
variablesxijk bedefinedas
1,if kth directed are isfrom city i tocity j
xijk =
0, otherwise
Wherei,jandkareintegersthatvarybetween1andn.
Followingaretheconstraintsoftheproblem.
(a) Onlyonedirectedarcmaybeassignedtoaspecifick,
Thus

xijk =1

k=1,2,3n

i j
(b) Onlyoneothercitymaybereachedfromaspecificcityi,thus

(c)

xijk=1,i=1,2,n

Onlyoneothercitycaninitiateadirectarctoaspecifiedcityj,thus

xijk=1,j=1,2,..,n

(d) Giventhekth directedarcendsatsome specificcityj,the(k+1)th directedarcmuststartat

thesamecityjthus

xijk =

xjr (k+1)foralljandk.

i j

r j

Theseconstraintsensurethattheroundtripwillconsistofconnectedarcs.Theobjectivefunction
istominimize
z=

dij

xijk

i j

j k

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Wheredij isthedistancefromcityitocityj.
SelfAssessmentQuestions4
Fillintheblanks

1. Intravelingsalesmenproblemtheobjectiveistovisiteachcities__________________.
2. Salesmanhas________differentsequencesifnisthenumberofcitiestobevisited.
6.6 Summary
Inthisunit,wefocusedonaspecialtypeoftransportationproblem.wheretheobjectivewasto
allocate n different facilities to n different tasks .Although an assignment problem can be
formulatedasalinearprogrammingproblem,itissolvedbyspecialmethodknowasHungarian
method.Ifthenumberofpersonsisthesameasthenumberofjobs,theassignmentproblemis
saidtobebalanced.Lastlyabriefintroductionwasgivenaboutthetravelingsalesmanproblem.

TerminalQuestions
1. Fourjobsaretobedoneonfourdifferentmachines.Thecostin(rupees)ofproducingith on
thejth machineisgivenbelow:

Machines

Jobs

M1

M2

M3

M4

J1 15

11

13

15

J2 17

12

12

13

J3 14

15

10

14

J4 16

13

11

17

Assignthejobstodifferentmachinessoastominimizethetotalcost.
2. Amarketingmanagerhas5salesmenand5salesdistricts.consideringthecapabilitiesofthe
salesmanand thenatureofdistricts,themarketingmanagerestimatesthatsalespermonth
(inhundredrupees)foreachsalesmanineachdistrictwouldbeasfollows.

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SalesDistricts

Salesman

32

38

40

28

40

40

24

28

21

36

41

27

33

30

37

22

38

41

36

36

29

33

40

35

39

Findtheassignmentofsalesmantodistrictsthatwillresultinmaximumsales.
3. Inaplantlayouttherearefivevacantplaces.TheplantordersfourMachinestobeinstalled
intheseplaces.Thecostofinstallingisasfollowsfindtheoptimumassignment.

M/G
M1
M2
M3
M4

A
9
12

14

B
11
9
11
8

C
15

14
12

D
10
10
11
7

E
11
9
7
8

4. Findtheassignmentthatmaximizesthetotalsale.
Zone
Salesmen

M1

42

35

28

21

M2

30

25

20

15

M3

30

25

20

15

M4

24

20

16

12

AnswersForSelfAssessmentQuestions
SelfAssessmentQuestions1
1.True 2.True

3.False

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SelfAssessmentQuestions2
1.True

2.True

3.False

SelfAssessmentQuestions3
1.
2. Maximisationproblem
3.Infeasible

SelfAssessmentQuestions4
1.Onlyonce

2. (n1)!

AnswertoTerminalQuestions
(1) Theoptimumassignmentpolicyis
Job1tomachine2,Job2tomachine4
Job3tomachine1,Job4tomachine3.
andtheminimumassignmentCost=Rs.(11+13+14+11)=Rs.49.
(2) Optimalassignmentpolicyissalesman1todistrictB,2toA,3toE,4toCand5toD.
Hence

the

maximum

sales

Rs.

(38+40+37+41+35) 100

Rs.19,100.
(3) M1 A2M2 BM3 EM4 D

Total38

(4) M1 1M2 2M3 3M4 4 Total99

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