LINEAR PROGRAMMING:

ASSIGNMENT PROBLEM
 Introduction to Assignment Problem

 It is one of the first studied combinatorial optimization problems. It was

investigated by G. Monge (1784).

Gaspard Monge, Comte de Péluse (; 9 May

1746 – 28 July 1818) was a French
mathematician, the inventor of descriptive
geometry (the mathematical basis of technical
drawing), and the father of differential
geometry. During the French Revolution he
served as the Minister of the Marine, and was
involved in the reform of the French
educational system, helping to found the École
Polytechnique. He was made a count in 1808
by Napoleon I.
 An important topic, put forward immediately after the transportation
problem, is the assignment problem. This is particularly important in
the theory of decision making.

 The assignment problem is one of the earliest application of linear

integer programming problem.

 The main concept of assignment problem is to find the optimum

allocation of a number of resources to an equal number of demand
points. An assignment plan is optimal if optimizes the total cost or
effectiveness of doing all the jobs. The resource would be monetary,
personnel, technological or another type of resource.
 The assignment method is used to determine what resources are
assigned to which department, machine, or center of operation in
the production process.

 It is the problem of assigning n workers to n jobs in such a way that

only one worker is assigned to each job, thus every job has one. The
workers assigned to it and the cost of completing all of the jobs are
minimized.

 A considerable number of methods has been so far presented for

assignment problem in which the Hungarian method is more
convenient method among them.
What is Hungarian Method?

 It is a basic combinatorial (nonsimplex) method for the

assignment problem. It was developed by Kuhn(1955b,1956),
based on the work of Egerváray, where Kuhn introduced the
name Hungarian method for it.

 It is an algorithm which finds an optimal assignment for a given

cost matrix.
 This iterative method is based on add or subtract a constant to
every element of a row or column of the cost matrix, in a
minimization model and create some zeros in the given cost
matrix and then try to find a complete assignment in terms of
zeros. By a complete assignment for a cost matrix n × n, we
mean an assignment plan containing exactly n assigned
independent zeros, one in each row and one in each column.
The Mathematical Model:

Let cij be the cost of assigning the i th resource to the j th task. We define
the cost matrix to be the n × n matrix.

An assignment is a set of n entry positions in the cost matrix, no two of

which lie in the same row or column. The sum of the n entries of an
assignment is its cost. An assignment with the smallest possible cost is
called an optimal assignment.
 Theorem: If a number is added to or subtracted from all of the entries
of any one row or column of a cost matrix, then on optimal
assignment for the resulting cost matrix is also an optimal assignment
for the original cost matrix.

 The Hungarian algorithm applies the above theorem to a given n × n

cost matrix to find an optimal assignment.

 The steps are as follows:

Step 1. Subtract the smallest entry in each row from all the entries of its
row.

Step 2. Subtract the smallest entry in each column from all the entries of
its column.
Step 3. Draw lines through appropriate rows and columns so that all
the zero entries of the cost matrix are covered and the minimum
number of such lines is used.

Step 4. Test for Optimality: (i) If the minimum number of covering lines is
n, an optimal assignment of zeros is possible and we are finished. (ii) If
the minimum number of covering lines is less than n, an optimal
assignment of zeros is not yet possible. In that case, proceed to Step 5.

Step 5. Determine the smallest entry not covered by any line. Subtract
this entry from each uncovered row, and then add it to each covered
column. Return to Step 3.
Example 1
You work as a sales manager for a toy manufacturer, and you
currently have three salespeople on the road meeting buyers. Your
salespeople are in Austin, TX; Boston, MA; and Chicago, IL. You want
them to fly to three other cities: Denver, CO; Edmonton, Alberta; and
Fargo, ND. The table below shows the cost of airplane tickets in dollars
between these cities.

Where should you send each of your salespeople in order to minimize

airfare?
a) We can represent the table as a cost matrix.

* Here’s another possible assignment.

b)Let’s look at one possible assignment.

The total cost of this assignment is

$250 + $350 + $400 = $1000.

The total cost of this assignment is $250 + $600

+ $250 = $1100.
After checking all six possible assignments we can determine that the
optimal one is the following.

The total cost of this assignment is $400 + $350 + $200 = $950.

Thus, your salespeople should travel from Austin to Edmonton, Boston to

Fargo, and Chicago to Denver.
Using Hungarian Method:
Step 1. Subtract 250 from Row 1, 350 from Row 2, and 200 from Row 3.

Step 2. Subtract 0 from Column 1, 150 from Column 2, and 0 from

Column 3.
Step 3. Cover all the zeros of the matrix * Since the total cost for this assignment
with the minimum number of horizontal or is 0, it must be an optimal assignment.
vertical lines.

* Here is the same assignment made

to the original cost matrix.

Step 4. Since the minimal number of lines

is 3, an optimal assignment of zeros is
possible and we are finished.
Example 2
A construction company has four large bulldozers located at four
different garages. The bulldozers are to be moved to four different
construction sites. The distances in miles between the bulldozers and the
construction sites are given below.

How should the bulldozers be moved to the construction sites in order

to minimize the total distance traveled?
Step 1. Subtract 75 from Row 1, 35 from Row Step 3. Cover all the zeros of the
2, 90 from Row 3, and 45 from Row 4. matrix with the minimum number of
horizontal or vertical lines.

Step 2. Subtract 0 from Column 1, 0 from

Colum 2, 0 from Column 3, and 5 from
Column 4. Step 4. Since the minimal number of
lines is less than 4, we have to
proceed to Step 5.
Step 5. Note that 5 is the smallest entry * Now return to Step 3.
not covered by any line. Subtract 5 from
each uncovered row. Step 3. Cover all the zeros of the matrix
with the minimum number of horizontal
or vertical lines.

* Now add 5 to each covered column.

Step 4. Since the minimal number of

lines is less than 4, we have to return
to Step 5.
Step 5. Note that 20 is the smallest * Now return to Step 3.
entry not covered by a line. Subtract
20 from each uncovered row. Step 3. Cover all the zeros of the matrix with
the minimum number of horizontal or
vertical lines.

* Then add 20 to each covered

column.
Step 4. Since the minimal number of lines is
4, an optimal assignment of zeros is possible
and we are finished.
* Since the total cost for this
assignment is 0, it must be an optimal
assignment.

* Here is the same assignment made

to the original cost matrix.
* So we should send Bulldozer 1 to
Site D, Bulldozer 2 to Site C, Bulldozer
3 to Site B, and Bulldozer 4 to Site A.
LET US ASSESS OURSELVES:
 Threeair
(1.) conditioners need
to be installed in
Bldg1 Bldg2 Bldg3 the same week by
three different
A 53 96 37 companies
B 47 87 41  Bidsfor each job
C 60 92 36 are solicited from
each company
 Towhich company
should each job be
assigned?
ANOTHER ASSESSMENT:
(2.) MAN/ A B C D
Four persons A,B,C and D are to JOBS
be assigned four jobs I, II, III and I 8 10 17 9
IV. The cost matrix is given as
under, find the proper II 3 8 5 6
assignment.
III 10 12 11 9

IV 6 13 9 7
ANOTHER ASSESSMENT:
A cab company gets
(3.) four calls from four Customer
customers 1 2 3 4
simultaneously
 Four cabs are out in A 9 7.5 7.5 8
the field at varying
distance from each C B 3.5 8.5 5.5 6.5
customer a C 12.5 9.5 9.0 10.5
 Whichcab should be b
sent where to D 4.5 11.0 9.5 11.5
minimize total (or
average) waiting
time?