ASSIGNMENT
PROBLEM
To make them undersatand the concept of
assignment problem.
To make them understand about the basic
purpose of assignment problem.
To make them aware about the hungarian
method.
To make them learn about the different
types of assignment problem.
The structure of the Assignment Problem is
similar to a transportation problem.
Assignment problem is a special case of the
transportation problem, where m = n and ai
= bj = 1
The computational technique to solve
assignment problem is known as Hungarian
Method
It consists of a series of computational steps as
follows, when the objective function is of
minimization type.
Step 1: From the given problem, find out the
cost table. Note that if the number of origins is
not equal to the number of destinations then a
dummy origin or destination must be added
Step 2: In each row of the table find out the smallest cost
element, subtract this smallest cost element from each
element in that row. So, that there will be at least one zero
in each row of the new table. This new table is known
as First Reduced Cost Table.
Step 3: In each column of the table find out the smallest
cost element, subtract this smallest cost element from each
element in that column. As a result of this, each row and
column has at least one zero element. This new table is
known as Second Reduced Cost Table
Step 4: Now determine an assignment as follows:
◦ For each row or column with a single zero
element cell that has not be assigned or
eliminated, box that zero element as an assigned
cell.
◦ For every zero that becomes assigned, cross out all
other zeros in the same row and for column.
◦ If for a row and for a column there are two or more
zeros, choose the assigned zero cell arbitrarily.
◦ The above procedures may be repeated until every
zero element cell is either assigned (boxed) or
crossed out.
Step 5: An optimum assignment is found, if the number
of assigned cells is equal to the number of rows (or
columns). In case we had chosen a zero cell arbitrarily,
there may be an alternate optimum.
◦ If no optimum is found (i.e. some rows or columns are
without assignment), draw a set of lines equal to the
number of assignments which has been made in Step 4
covering all the zeros.
Step 6: Examine those elements that are not covered by a
line. Choose the smallest of these elements and subtract
this smallest from all the elements that do not have a line
through them. Add this smallest element to every element
that lies at the intersection of two lines. Then the resulting
matrix is a new revised cost table.
Step 7: Go to step 4 and repeat
the procedure until we arrive at
optimal.
A work shop contains four persons available for
work on the four jobs. Only one person can work
on any one job. Table I shows the cost of
assigning each person to each job. The objective
is to assign person to jobs such that the total
assignment cost is a minimum.
Jobs
1 2 3 4
A 20 25 22 28
Persons
B 15 18 23 17
C 19 17 21 24
D 25 23 24 24
Find the First Reduced Cost Table as shown in
Table
Jobs
1 2 3 4
A 0 5 2 8
Persons
B 0 3 8 2
C 2 0 4 7
D 2 0 1 1
Find the Second Reduced Cost Table as shown
in Table
Jobs
1 2 3 4
A 0 5 1 7
Persons
B 0 3 7 1
C 2 0 3 6
D 2 0 0 0
Smallest
Determine an Assignment Number
Jobs
1 2 3 4
A 0 5 1 7
Persons
B 0 3 7 1
C 2 0 3 6
D 2 0 0 0
Develop new revised table (after subtracting 1 from
uncovered numbers and adding 1 to numbers at
cross-sections)
Jobs
1 2 3 4
A 0 4 0 6
Persons
B 0 2 6 0
C 3 0 3 6
D 3 0 0 0
Determine an assignment
Jobs
1 2 3 4
A 0 4 0 6
Persons
B 0 2 6 0
C 3 0 3 6
D 3 0 0 0
The total cost of assignment = 20 + 17 + 17 + 24 = 78
If the number of persons is different from the
number of jobs then the assignment problem is
called as unbalanced problem.
◦ If the number of jobs is less than the number of
persons, introduce one or more dummy jobs of
zero duration to make the unbalanced assignment
problem into balanced assignment problem and
◦ If the number of persons is less than number of
jobs then introduce one or more dummy persons
with zero duration to modify the unbalanced into
balanced and then the problem is solved using the
Hungarian Method.
A marketing company wants to assign three
employees viz. A, B, and C to four offices located
at W, X, Y and Z respectively. The assignment
cost for this purpose is given in Table
Offices
W X Y Z
A 160 220 240 200
Employees
B 100 320 260 160
C 100 200 460 250
Since the problem has fewer employees than
offices so that we have introduce a dummy
employee with zero cost of assignment.
Offices
W X Y Z
A 160 220 240 200
Employees
B 100 320 260 160
C 100 200 460 250
D 0 0 0 0
Now the problem becomes balanced. This can be
solved by using Hungarian Method
In case of maximization, problem can be
converted into a minimization problem and
can be solved by using Hungarian Method.
Conversion of maximization problem into a
minimization can be done by subtracting
all the elements of the cost table from the
highest value of that table.
Consider the problem of five different
machines can do any of the required five
jobs with different profits resulting from
each assignment as illustrated in Table.
Machines
1 2 3 4 5
1 40 47 50 38 50
2 50 34 37 31 46
Jobs
3 50 42 43 40 45
4 35 48 50 46 46
5 38 72 51 51 49
Find out the maximum profit through optimal
assignment.
This is a maximization problem, so that first we have to
find out the highest value in the table and subtract all
the values from the highest value. In this case the
highest value is 72
Machines
1 2 3 4 5
1 32 35 22 34 22
2 22 38 35 41 26
Jobs
3 22 30 29 32 27
4 37 24 22 26 26
5 34 0 21 21 23
Now this can be solved by using the Hungarian
Method
Special case of assignment problem
The task is to find the shortest possible
route that visits each city exactly once and
returns to the city of origin
The TSP has several applications in the
field of planning and logistics
Step 1 – Subtract the row minimum from each row.
Step 2 – Subtract the column minimum from each column from the reduced
matrix.
Step 3 – Assign one “0” to each row & column.
Step 4 – Tick all unassigned row.
Step 5 – If a row is ticked and has a “0”, then tick the corresponding column
(if the column is not yet ticked).
Step 6 – If a column is ticked and has an assignment, then tick the
corresponding row (if the row is not yet ticked).
Step 7 - Repeat step 5 and 6 till no more ticking is possible.
Step 8 – Draw lines through unticked rows and ticked columns. The number of
lines represents the maximum number of assignments possible.
Step 9 – Find out the smallest number which does not have any line passing
through it. We call it Theta. Subtract theta from all the numbers that do not
have any lines passing through them and add theta to all those numbers that
have two lines passing through them. Keep the rest of them the same.
Step 3 – Assign one “0” to each row & column.
The optimal solution is found if there is one assigned “0” for each row and each
column.
