Ch a p t e

Assignment Problem
"We don't have as many managers as we should, but we would rather have too few than too
many."
- Larry Pag,

PREVIEW
An assignment problem is a particular case of a transportation problem where the given resources are
allocated to an equal number of activities with an aim of either minimizing total cost, distance, time er
maximizing profit. Travelling salesman is a specific application of assignment model.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

After studying this chapter, you should be able to

• understand the features of assignment problems and transportation problems .
• formulate an assignment problem as a square matrix.
• apply the Hungarian method to solve an assignment problem.
• make appropriate changes in the Hungarian method to solve an unbajanced assignment problem,
profit maximization assignment problem, etc.
• solve a travelling salesman problem.

CHAPTER OUTLINE
10.1 Introduction 10.5 A Typical Assignment Problem
10.2 Mathematica! Model of Assignment Problem 10.6 Travelling ~alesman Problem
10.3 Solutlon Methods of Assignment Problem • Self Practice Problems C
• Conceptual Questions A • Hints and Answers
• Self Practice Problems A □ Chapter Summary
• Hints and Answers □ Chapter Concepts Quiz
10.4 Variations of the Assignment Problem □ Case Study
• Conceptual Questions B D Appendix : Important Results and Theorems
• Seif Practice Problems B
• Hints and Answers
 Assignment Problem

ON
10. 1 INTRODUCTI
An assignment problem is a paiticular case of a transportation problem where the resources (say facilities)
. re assignees and the , destinations
,I ,
are activities (say jobs). Given II resources (or facilities) and n activities
(or jobs), with effecttve~ess (m terms of cost, profit, time, etc.) of each resource for each activity. Then
problem becomes to assign (or allocate) each resource to only one activity Qob) and vice-versa so that the
given measure of effect_iveness is o
_ ptimized.
The problem of assignment arises because the resources that are available such as men, machines, etc.,
have varying degree of efficiency for performing different activities. Therefore, the cost, profit or time of
perfom1ing different activities is also different. Thus, the problem becomes: How should the assignments
be made in order to optimize the given objective.
Some of the problems where the assignment technique may be useful are assignment of (i) workers
to machines, (ii) salesmen to different sales areas, (iii) clerks to various checkout counters, (iv) classes to Assignment table
rooms, (v) vehicles to routes, (vi) contracts to bidders, etc. is a convenient way
to summarize
available data.
10.2 MATHEMATICAL MODEL OF ASSIGNMENT PROBLEM

The general data matrix for assignment problem is shown in Table I 0.1. It may be noted that this data matrix
is the same as the transportation cost matrix except that the supply (dr availability) of each of the resources
and the demand at each of the destinations is taken to be one. It is due to this fact that assignments are
made on a one-to-on~ basis.

Table 10.1
Assignment Data
Matrix
Demand n

Suppose, xiJ represents the assignment of resource (facility) i to activity Qob) j such that

x- = {1 if resource i is assigned to activity j

iJ O otherwise

Then mathematical model of the assignment problem can be stated as:

n n
Minimize Z = I: I: Clj Xij
i=I J=I

subject to the constraints

n
I: XiJ = l, for all i (resource availability)
J=I

i XiJ
/=I
=I
'
for all) (activity requirement)

and x/J = O or l, for all i and)

where ciJ represents the cost of assignment of resource i to activity j.
This mathematical model of assignment problem is a particular case of the transportation problem for
two reasons: (i) the cost matrix is a square matrix, and (ii) the optimal solution table (matrix) for the problem
would have only one assignment in a given row or a column.
 Operations Research: Theory and Applications ·
lcmenl of any row or colum n of the .
. ark If a constant is added to or subtrac ted from cverydc l c of obj ecti ve fun ction (See A given
Rem · I · cnts an va u PPcnd1%
·
cost rnatn·x, then 1t would not change oplinw as1J1g11m ·
10.A for proof.)

10.3 SOLU TION METH ODS OF ASSIGNME.!!.T PROB LEM

method s:
h fi0 Jlowing
An assignm ent problem can be solved by any of t e
• Enumeration method • Simplex method
• Hungarian method .
• Transportation method ents among the gi ven rcc;,J;r
. 'ble assignm
In this method , a llst of a 11 possi . ared Then an assignm c.ei
1. Enum eration Method · ent Iha•
· · · ·es (j obs, sa Ies areas ' .etc ·) JS. prep I ted If two or more ass ·
(men, machmes, etc.) and activiti. e 1s se ec • ignments
• . . 1 f1me or distanc
fit) th oblem has mult' l
mvolves the mmimurn cost (or maximum pro , •
ta e pr ip e optirnat
have the same minimum cost (or maximum profit), time or diS nce,
solutions. then in total there are n! poss 1·bJ e
. .
In general 1f an assignment problem mvo ves
· I n work ers/J'obs , of 51· or J20
' k ;· b blem we have to evaluate a total .
.
assignm ents. For example, for an n = 5 wor ers JO s pro . ,
for manual calculations. Hence, this
assignments. However, when n is large, the method is unsmtable
method is suitable only when the value of n is small.
2. Simplex Method Since each assignment problem can
be formulat~d as a O or I integer linear
th~ _slIDple~ method. The general
programming problem, such a problem can also be solved by
n dec1s10 n vanables and n + n or 2n
mathematical model of the assignment problem involves n x
s/jobs, there will be 25 decision
equalities. Thus, for any assignment problem that involves 5 worker
manua lly is difficult.
variables and 1O equalities. Solving such an assignment problem
3. Transportation Method Since an assignment problem is
a special case of the transportation problem ,
feasible solution of a general
it can also be solved by using MODI method. However, every basic
m + n - I = n + n - I = 2n - I
assignment problem that bas a square matrix of order n should have
Hungarian method of the solutions can have more than
to solve an assignments. But due to the special structure of tliis problem, none
degeneracy, (n - I) number of
assignment problem n assignments. Consequently, solutions will be degenerate. To remove
d with MODI method . Thus. rbe
is more efficient dummy allocations (deltas or epsilons) will be required in order to procee
than using simplex tationally inefficient for solving an
method. problem of degeneracy at each solution makes the procedure compu
assignment problem.
4. Hungarian Method The Hungarian method (developed
by Hungarian mathematician D. Konig) is
problem without making a direct
an efficient method of finding the optimal solution of an assignment
on the princip le of reducing the given cost matrix
comparison of every solution. The method works
show the relative penalties associated with
to _a ~atrix of opportunity costs. Opportunity costs
reduces the cost matrix to the extent of having
ass1gmng a resource to an activity. Hungarian method
so as to make optima l assignm ents.
at least one zero in each row and column
em
10.3.1 Hungarian Method for Solving Assignment Probl
&'. II
th e 10 ·
The Hungarian method. (minimization case) can be summarized owmg steps: ID.

given problem If th e nurn ber of rows are nor .,~,1u1I

Step 1: . the
Develop the cost matrix from
to the number of columns, then add required number of
dumm Y rows or co 1urnns. The cosr e1emc? or tn
dummy rows/columns are always zero.

Step 2: Find the opportunity cost matrix

b . 1· rhJI
(a) Identify the smallest element in each row of cost matrix and th en su tract 1t from each element 0
row, an d
. h uwac1
(b) In the reduced matrix obtained from 2(a), identify the small es e1ement 111 each column and t en) nt
t
. h
1t from each element of that column. Each row and colu mn now ave at least one zero eIeme ·

Make assignments in the opportunity cost matrix The procedure of making assignm ents
~tep 3:
1s as follows:
 A'l<ilurnn,int f'rcA,1,,rn

,~1 round for making assignments

l•l f
, Identify rows successively from top to bottom until a row with exactly one zero clement is found .
Make an assignment to this single zero by making a square (□ ) around it. Then cross off (,,) al l
other zeros in the corresponding column.
, Identify columns successively from left to right hand with exactly one zero clement that has not
been assigned. Make assignment to this single zero by making a square ( □ ) around it and then
cross off (x) all other zero elements in the corresponding row.
(b) second round for making assignments
• If a row andor column has two or more unmarked zeros and one cannot be chosen by inspection,
then choose zero element arbitrarily for assignment.

• Repeat steps (a) and (b) successively until one of the following si tuations arise .

step 4: Optimality criterion

(a) If all zero elements in the cost matrix are either marked with square (0) or are crossed off(x) and there is
e.UiCtly one assignment in each row and column, then it is an optimal solution. The total cost associated
\\ith this solution is obtained by adding the original cost elements in the occupied cells.
(b) If a zero element in a row or column was chosen arbitrarily for assignment in Step 4(a), there exists
an alternative optimal solution.
(c) If there is no assignment in a row (or column), then this implies that the total number of assignments
are less than the number of rows/columns in the square matrix. In such a situation proceed to
Step 5.

Arrange data in a matrix from

Conven it into a minimization problem,

by sub1.n1cting all the va lues in the
matrix from the largest value in the matrix.

No
Add dummy row(s) or column(s)

Find opportunity cost

(a) ldmnfy smallest number in each row and sub1.n1ct it from every number in that row.
(b) In the reduced matrix, repeat the same process colurnnwise.

• Make assignments rowwise that have only one zero and eliminate
the row and column once the assignment is made.
• Repeat same proce:;s columnw1se.

~ - opponunny cost table

(a) Draw nwwnum possible Imes on columns
and or row1 such that all zeros are covered.
(b) ~ tbe wnallnt number IIOl CO\ em! b)
WlQ Subcna II from 11Setr and e, CJ) other
UOCO\ ~ number
(c) Add !Im oumbcr II me ~'lion ol any Fig. 10.1
1'1.ol~ Flow Chart of
Hungarian
Op11mal solu11011 Method
 • Operations Research : Theory and Applications

Step 5: Revise the opportunity cost matrix Draw a set of horizontal and vertical lines to
all the ,cros in the revi sed cost mall ix obtained from Step 3, by using the following procedure: cover
(a) For each 10w in whi ch no assig11111c11t was made, mark a tick( ✓) .
(b) Exa mine the marked rows. 1r any zero element is present in these rows, ,narl< a tick( ✓) to the respect·
. . iv,
co Iumns contammg zeros. th
(c) Examine marked columns. If any assigned zero element is present in csc column ~, trek (/) 1
respective rows containing assigned zeros. · hi'
(d) Repeal this process until no more rows or co lumns can be marked.
(e) Draw a straight line through each marked column and each unmarked row.
If the number of lines drawn (or total assignments) is equal to the number of rows (or colurnn, 1 ~
current solution is the optimal solution, otherwise go to Step 6.
Zeros in the
assignment table Step 6: Develop the new revised opportunity cost matrix
indicate opportunity
cost and show the (a) Among the elements in the matrix not covered by any line, choose the smallest element. Call thts
penalty of not
making the least
value k.
(b) Subtract k from every element in the matrix that is not covered by a line.
cost (or best)
(c) Add k to every element in the matrix covered by the two lines, i.e. intersection of two lines.
assignment.
(d) Elements in the matrix covered by one line remain unchanged.

Step 7: Repeat steps Repeat Steps 3 to 6 until an optimal solution is obtained.

The flow chart of steps in the Hungarian method for solving an assignment problem is shown in
Fig. IO.I.
Example 10.1 A computer centre bas three expert programmers. The centre wants three application
programmes to be de_veloped. The head of the computer centre, after carefully studying the programmes
to be developed, estunates the computer time in minutes requir~d by the experts for the application
programmes as follows:
Programmers
A B C
1 120 100 80
Programmes 2 80 90 I 10
3 110 140 120
Assign the programmers to the programmes in such a way that the total comp uter t·1me 1·s minimum.
· ·
Solution: Steps 1 and 2 The minimum time element in J ·
Subtract these elements from all t . th . rows , 2 and 3 is 80, 80 and 11 0, respectively.
I0.2(a). eIernen s m eir respective row. The reduced time matrix is shown in Table

(a) (b) B C
1 40 20 0 1 40 10 0
2 0 10 30 2 0 0 30
Table 10.2 3 0 30 10 3 0 20 10
In reduced Table I 0.2(a) the minimum time element in col . .
Subtract these clements from all elements . th . . umns A, B and C 1s 0, IO and 0, respecuvely.
. . 1n elf respective column in d . •
Th 1s 1s shown in Table 10.2(b). or er to get the reduced time maITLX.

Step 3 (a) Examine all the rows starting from the first .
element is found . In Table Io 2(b) rows and h ' one-by-one, unit! a row containing single zero
M k . · 1 3 1
ave on Y one zero in the cell (I C)
a e an assignment in these cells and cross off all zero elem
~ I
. .s ' and (3, ..-l), respecn, e ~-
J0.3(a). ents m the assigned column as sho\\11 1n TJ~k

(a) (b) C
A B
I 40 20 IT] 40 10 [D
2 ;fl 0 30 2 ;Q_ m 30

m
.
Table 10.3 3 IT] 30 10 10
3 20
 Assignment Problem

(b) No" e\ ,111111\e each column st111t111g r,·0111 A in Table I OJ(a). There is one 1cro in column /J in the cell
(2. /l) r.fol..c ,111 n:,~1g11111c11t in this cell as shown in Table IOJ(b).
(d S111c~ the m1111bc1 or as~ignmcnls ( 3) equals the number of rows (= 3), the optimal solution ,s
obt,1111cd.
I he poltcm of o~signmcnts among programmers and programmes with their respective time (in minutes)
,~ gl\ 0:11 below:

Programmer Programme Time (in minutes)

I C 80
2 B 90
3 A 11 0
Total 280

Example 10.2 A department of a company has five employees with fi ve jobs to be performed. The time
(in hours) that each man takes lo perform each job is given in the effectiveness matrix.

J II
Employees
JV
,,,,,..-
lll V
A 10 5 13 15 16
B 3 9 18 13 6
Jobs C 10 7 2 2 2
D 7 11 9 7 12
E 7 9 10 4 12

How should the jobs be allocated, one per employee, so as to minimize the total man-hours?
Solution Applying Step 2 of Hungarian algorithm, the reduced opportunity time matrix is shown in Table
!0.4(a).

(a) (b)

A 5 0 8 IO 1.1 A 5 ,[QJ 8 10 I1
B 0 6 15 10 3 B w 6 15 IO 3
C 8 5 0 0 0 C 8 5 [QJ ll'. ;s.
D 0 4 2 0 5 D i 4 2 :a: 5

E 3 5 6 0 8 E 3 5 6 IT] 8 Table 10.4

Steps 3 and 4: (a) Examine all the rows starting from A, one-by-one, until a row containing only single zero
element is found. Rows A, Band E have only one zero element in the cells (A, II) , (B, I) and(£, JV). Make an
assignment in these cells, and cross off all zeros in the assigned columns as shown in Table 10.4(b). .
(b) Now examine each column starting from column /. There is one zero in column III, cell (C, III).
Assignment is made in this cell. Thus cell (C, V) is crossed off. All zeros in the table are now either
assigned or crossed off as shown in Table I0.4(b). The solution is not optimal because only four
assignments are made.

(a) (b)

A 7 0 8 12 II

B 0 4 13 10
C 10 5 0 2 0
D 0 2 0 0 3

E 3 3 4 0 6
Table 10.5
 Operations Research: Theory and Applications

Step 5: Cover the zeros with minimum number of lin es (= 4) as exp lained below:
(o) Mark ( ✓) row D where there is no assignment.
(b) Mark( ✓) columns/ and JV since row D has zero element in these co lumn s.
(c) Mark( ✓) rows Band E since columns/ and JV have an assignment in rows Bandt, re;
(d) Since no other rows or columns can be marked , draw straight lines through the unmarked rc_t...{.t
NI A''
C and the marked columns / and JV, as shown in Table I O.5(a). ~

Step 6: Develop the revised matrix by selecti ng the smallest element among all uncovered elern
the lines in Table 1O.5(a); viz., 2. Subtract k = 2 from uncovered elements inc ludi ng itself and ad~b', 11
elements 5, 10, 8 and O in cells (A,/), (A, JV), (C, I) and (C, IV) , respectivel y, which li e at the lilter i
of two lines. The revised matrix, so obtained is shown in Table I0.5(b). ~
Step 7: Repeat Steps 3 to 6 to find a new solution. The new assignments are shown in Table 10 6.
J.'

A 7 IT] 8 12 11
10
B IT] 4 13 I

C 10 5 ')I_ 2 C- o~
D :tl 2 [I] ;a: 3

Table 10.6 E 3 3 4 [I] 6

Since the number of assignments (= 5) equals the number of rows (or columns), the solution is optimal.
The pattern ofassignments among jobs and employees with their respective time (in hours) is given belll!r

Job Employee 1ime (in hours)

A II 5
B I 3
C V 2
D III 9
E IV 4

Total 23

Exa;'ple 1_0.J A so~icitors' firm employs typists on hourly piece-rate basis for their daily work. That
~be tve ~ 1sts and thetr _charges and speed are different. According to an earlier understandino only 1111
· t was pat"d cior a full hour, even if he worked for a fraction
the typ ts
d th to one typist and .
"
h was
JO p· given of11
our. ID 1
e east cost allocat10n for the following data:

1ypist Rate per hour No. of Pages Job .Vo. of Pages

(Rs) Typed/Hour
A 5 12 p 199
B 6 14 Q 175
C 3 8
D R 1-15
4 10
E 4
s 198
II T 178

Solution Develop a cost matrix based th d [Delhi Univ., MBA . :000. !00~
represe.nt the cost to be incurred due ton_ ~ ata of the ~roblem as shown in Table IO.7(a), where ?kni<'dl
..
.
, o assignment of Jobs t0 vanous . on a one-to-one bJSI).
typists
(a)
(b) R. s
A BS 7S 6S 125 75 0
A 2 2 6- -I
B 90 78 66 132 78
C 1S 66 S7 114
B 6 4 L9 10
69 C 0 '8.
D 80 72 60 120 72
Table 10.7 D 2 4 ~ -I
E 76 64 56 112 68 0
E 0 '6-
 Assignment Problem

Applying Step 2_of ~ung~rian method, the reduced opportunity cost matrix is shown io Table 10.7(6).
To make assig~ments m Table 10.7(6), examine aU the rows starting from A until a row containing only
one ze~o elem_ent 1s found: Rows ~ and D have only one zero element in the cells (B, R) and (D, R),
respectively. First make assignment m cells (B, R), and cross off all zeros in the assigned columns as shown
in Table 10.7(b).
Now examine each column st~rting from column P There is one zero in columns P, Q, S and Tin the
cells (C, P), (E, Q), (E, S) and (A, T). Assignment is made in these cells. All zeros in the matrix are either
assigned or crossed off, as shown in Table 10.8(a).

(a) (b)

A 2 2 2 4 0
B 4 2 0 8 0
C 0 I 2 2
D 0 2 0 2 0
E 2 0 2 0 2
Table 10.8

The solution shown in Table 10.S(a) is not optimal since only four assignments are made. Thus, in order
to get the next best solution, apply following steps.
(a) Mark ( ✓) row D since it has no assignment.
(b) Mark(✓) column R since row D has zero in this column.
(c) Mark(✓) row B since column R has an assignment in row B.
(d) Since no other rows or columns can be marked, therefore draw straight lines through the unmarked
rows A, C and E and marked column R as shown in Table 10.S(a).
Develop the revised cost matrix by selecting the smallest element among all uncovered elements by
the lines (i.e., k = 2) in Table I0.8(a). Subtract this element (k = 2) from all uncovered elements including
itself and add it to elements in the cells (A, R), ( C, R) and (E, R), respectively which lie at the intersection
of two lines. Another revised cost matrix so obtained is shown in Table I0.8(b).
Again repeat the procedure to find a new solution. The new assignments are shown in Table I0.9(a).

(a) (b)

A 2 2 3 IT]
B 4 [I] 7 )1

C :& )i 2 CD 2

D [JJ :e )i

E 3 IT] 3 :fl. 3
Table 10.9

The solution shown in Table 10.9(a) is also not optimal since only four assignments are made. Thus, to
get the next best solution, follow Steps 6(a) to (d) of the algorithm to draw a minimum number of horizontal
and vertical lines to cover all zero elements in Table 10.9(a). The new opportunity cost matrix obtained from
Table J0.9(a) by subtracting the smallest element(= I) among all uncovered elements, including itself, by the
lines and adding it to elements at the intersection of two lines is shown in Table I0.9(b).
The new solutiop obtained by repeating the procedure as explained earlier is shown in Table I0.9(b).
Since both columns Q and Shave two zeros, the arbitrary selection of a cell in any of these columns will
give us an alternative solution with same total cost of assignment.
The pattern of assignments among typists and jobs, along with cost is as follows :
\
I
 Operations Research : Theory and Applications

Cost (111 Rs)

Typist Job
75
A T
66
B R
l 14
C s 80
p
D 64
E Q
Total 399

CONCEPTUAL QUESTIONS A
St t and discuss the methods of solving an assignrn
1. What is an assignment problem? Give two applications. 6
· · abel How is the Hungarian method better than other methent
2. Give the mathematical formulation of an assignment problem. pro em. ? Ods
for solving an assignment prob 1em .
How does it differ from a transportation problem?
3. Explain the conceptual justification that an assignment problem 7 _ (a) Give an algorithm 10 solve an assi~nment problem.
(b) Show that _an assignment problem 1s a special case of a
can be viewed as a linear programming problem.
transportation problem ..
4. Explain the difference between a transportation problem and an
assignment problem. 8_ Explain how an assignment problem can be solved by using the
transportation approach?
5. Specify the dual of an assignment problem. What are the
techniques used for solving an assignment problem?

SELF PRACTICE PROBLEMS A

1. Five men are available to do five different jobs. From past To

records, the time (in hours) that each man takes to do each job
7 8 9 10 11 12
Is known and is given In the following table:
Jobs 31 62 29 42 15 41
II Ill IV V 2 12 19 39 55 71 40
3 17 29 50 41 22 22
A 2 9 2 7 From 4 35 40 38 42 27 33
B 6 8 7 6
5 19 30 29 16 20 23
Men C 4 6 5 3
6 72 30 30 50 41 20
D 4 2 7 3
E 5 3 9 5 How should the trucks be displayed so as to minimize the total
Find out how men should be assigned the jobs In way that will distance travelled?
minimize the total time taken. 4. An air freight company picks up and delivers freight where
2. A phannaceutlcal company producing a single product sold It customers want. The company has two types of aircraft, X and
through five agencies situated In different cities. All of a sudden, Y, with equal loading capacities but different operations costs.
there rouse a demand for the product in another five cities that These are shown in the following Table.
didn't any agency of the company. The company is now facing
the problem of deciding on how to assign the existing agencies Type of Aircraft Operating Costs (Rs)
in order to despatch the product to needy cities in such a way Empty Loaded
that the travelling distance is minimized. The distance between the
surplus and deficit cities (in km) is given in the following table. X 1.00 2.00
y 1.50 3.00
Deficit cities
a b c d e The present four locations of the aircraft that the company has
A 160 130 115 190 200 are; J - X; K - Y; L - Y, and M - X. Four customers of 1118
B 135 120 130 160 175 company located at A, 8, C and D want to transport nearly 1118
Surplus Cities C 140 110 125 170 185 same size of load to their final destinations. The final destinations
are 600, 300, 1,000 and 500 km from the loading points A, B,
D 50 50 80 80 110
C and D, respectively.
E 55 35 80 80 105
. The distances (in km) between the aircraft and the loadin9
Detennine the optimum assignment schedule. points are as follows:
3. A national truck rental service has a surplus of one truck in each Loading Point
of the cities, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6; and a deficit of one truck in D
each of the cities 7, 8, 9, 10, 11 and 12. The distances (in km)
A B C I
between the cities with a surplus and cities with deficit are J 200 200 400 100
displayed In the table below: Aircraft K 300 100 300 300 I
Location L 400 100 100 500 I
M 200 200 400 200
 Assignment Problom

e the allocations which minimize the total cost of 9. A shipbuilding company has been awarded a big conlracl for tho
oetennin
nsportat1on construction of five cargo vessels The contract stipulates lhat
tra rtmental head has four subordinates and four tasks to be lhe company musl subcontract a portion ol lhe lolal work lo al
5 A depa,ed The subordinates differ in efficiency and the tasks least five small ancillary companies. The company has invited
perfon1~ their Intrinsic difficulty. His estimates of lhe times that bids from the small ancillary companies (A 1, A2 , A:i,
A4 , and A5)
dltfehr man would take lo perform each task is given in the matrix to take care of lhe subcontract work In five f,elds - materials
eac
testing, fabrication, assembly, scrap removal and painting. The
1>elow: Tasks
bids received from the ancillary companies are given In lhe
II Ill IV table.
Subconlracl Bids (Rs)
A 8 26 17 11
B 13 28 4 Ancillary Materials Fabrication Assembly Scrap Paint,ng
26
Companies Testing Removal
Subordinates C 38 19 18 15
D 19 26 24 A1 2,50,000 3,00,000 3,80,000 5,00,000 1,50,000
10
A2 2,80,000 2,60,000 3,50,000 5,00,000 2,00,060
How should the tasks be allocated to subordinates so as to A3 3,00,000 3,50,000 4,00,000 5,50,000 1,80,000
A4 1,50,000 2,50,000 3,00,000 4,80,000 1,20,000
minimize the total man-hours?
As 3,00,000 2,70,000 3,20,000 4,80,000 1,60,000
An automobile dealer wishes to put four repairmen to four
6
' different jobs. The repairmen have somewhat different kinds of Which bids should lhe company accept in order lo complete lhe
skills and they exhibit different levels of efficiency from one job contract at minimum cost? Whal is lhe total cosl of lhe
to another. The dealer has estimated the number of man-hours subcontracts?
that would be required for each job-man combination. This is 10. In a textile sales emporium, four salesmen A, 8 , C and D are
given in matrix form in the following table: available to four counters W, X, Y and Z. Each salesman can
Jobs handle any counter. The service (in hours) of each counter
when manned by each salesman is given below:
A B C D
Salesmen
5 3 2 8
A B C D
2 7 9 2 6
Men w 41 72 39 52
3 6 4 5 7
Counters X 22 29 49 65
4 5 7 7 8 y 60 51
27 39
Find the optimal assignment that will result in minimum man- z 45 50 48 52
hours needed.
How should the salesmen be allocated to appropriate counters
7. A lead draftsman has five drafting tasks to accomplish and five so that the service time is minimized? Each salesman musl
idle draftsmen. Each draftsman is estimated to require the handle only one counter.
following number of hours for each task.
11. A hospital wants to purchase lhree different types of medical
Tasks equipments and five manufacturers have come forward to
A B C D E supply one or all the three machines. However, the hospital's
policy is not to accept more than one machine from any one of
60 50 100 85 95 the manufacturers The data relating to the price (In thousand
2 65 45 100 75 90 of rupees) quoted by the different manufacturers is given below.
Draftsmen 3 70 60 110 97 85 Machines
4 70 55 105 90 93
2 3
5 60 40 120 85 97

l
A 30 31 27
B 28 29 26
If each draftsman costs the company Rs 15.80 per hour,
Manufacturers C 29 30 28
including overhead, find the assignment of draflsmen to tasks
that will result in the minimum total cost. What would be the total D 28 31 27
E 31 29 26
cost?
8. A construction company has requested bids for subcontracts on Determine how best the hospital can purchase the three
five different projects. Five companies have responded. Their machines. [Delhi Univ., MBA (HCA), 2008]
bids are represented below. 12. The secretary of a school 1s taking bids on the city's four school
81d Amounts ('000s Rs) bus routes Four companies have made the bids (1n Rs) , as
II Ill IV V detailed in the following table:

52 Route 1 Route 2 Route 3 Route 4

1 41 72 39

25J
l
22 29 49 65 81 4,000 5,000
2
27 39 60 51 40 Bus 2 4,000 4,0C0
Bidders 3
45 50 48 52 37 3 3,000 2,000
4
29 40 45 26 30 4 4,000 5,000
5
------- Suµpose each bidder can be assigned only one route. Use the
Determine the minimum ;;;;~, assignment of subcontracts to assignment model to minimize the scllo" s c 'J" of rimnmg the
bidders, assuming that each bidder can receive only one four bus routes.
contract
 Operations Research: Theory and Applications
tha marks awarded, what role should
13 - A large oil company operattng a number of drilling platforms In Based on lven in the rescue unit? each 01
the North Sea Is fom1ing a high speed rescue unit In order to
trainees be g
manager of ABC
c
ompany wants to .
~
1
cope ~ith emergency situations that may occur. The rescue unit 14. The perso~~~ to regional offices. But the firm also ha:Ss,g~ Mr
comprises 6 personnol who, for reasons of flexibility, undergo Mr Y a
nd
. office and would send one of the three I an 0pe,J
the same comprehensive training programme . The six personnel in its Chenna1 re economical than a move to Delhio that hr~~
. are assessed as to their suitability for various specialist tasks f
if it were ~ cost As 2 ooo to relocate Mr X to Chen' Mu~~.
1
Kolkata. It WI Mr y there: and As 3,000 lo move Mr Zn~,, As 1~
and the marks th€})( received in the training programme are 1
given in the follo~[~g table: to reallocat~ men! of personnel to offices? · /hat is a,'
pptim_l:ll assign s
Trainee Number ,.. Office

V{ Delhi Mumbai
Specialist Task II Ill IV V Ko1;i1ta
Unit Leader 21 5 21 15 15 28 Mr X 1,600 2,200 ---2,40o
Helicopter Pilot 30 11 16 8 16 4 1,000 3,200
25 25 Personnel Mr Y 2,60()
First Aid 28 2 11 16 Mr Z 1,000 2,000
19 8 4,600
Drilling Technology 19 16 17 15
Firefighting 26 21 22 28 29 24
Communications 3 21 21 11 26 26

HINTS AND ANSWERS

I. A - III, B - V, C - 1, D - W, E - II; 6_ I - B, 2-C, 3-D, 4-A; 1-C, 2 - D, 3- B, 4-A;

Total man-hours = 17 hours.
Optimal value = 13 hours.
7. I - A, 2 - D, 3 - E, 4 - C, 5 - B;
2. A - e, B _:_ c, C - b, D - a, E - d;
Minimum cost = Rs 365 x 15.8
Minimum distance = 570 km.
8. I - V, 2 - 11, 3 - I, 4 - Ill, 5 - IV;
4. 1-11 , 2-8, 3 -7, 4 - 9, 5-10, 6-12;
Minimum cost = Rs 155.
Minimum distance = 125 km.
9. A _ scrap, A2 - Fabrication, A3 - Painting, A4 - Testin~
5. A-1, B-111, C-11, D - IV;
A~ - Assembly; Minimum cost = Rs 14,10,000
Total man-hours = 41 hours.
10. W-C, X-B, Y-A , Z-D; Optimal value = 147 hours.

10.4 VARIATIONS OF THE ASSIGNMENT PROBLEM

10.4.1 Multiple Optimal Solutions

While making an assignment in the reduced assignment matrix, it is possible to have two or more ways
to strike off a certain number of zeros. Such a situation indicates that there are multiple optimal solutions
with the same optimal value of objective function.

10.4.2 Maximization Case in Assignment Problem

If instead of cost matrix, a profit (or revenue) matrix is given, then assignments· are mode in such a way
that total profit is maximized. The profit maximization assignment problems are solved by converting them
into a cost minimization problem in either of the following two ways:
(i) Put a negative sign before each of the elements in the profit matrix in order to convert the profil
values \nto cost values.
(ti) Locate the largest element in the profit matrix and then subtract all the elements of the matrix from
the largest element including itself.
The transformed assignment problem can be, solved by using usual Hungarian method.
Example 10.4 A company operates in four territories, and four salesmen available for an ass1grunen1.
The territo~es are not equ~lly _rich in their ~ales potential. It is estimated that a typical salesman operattDg
in each temtory would bnng m the followmg annual sales:
Territory I D m IV
Annual sales (Rs) : 1,26,000 1,05,000 84,000 63,000
11 --- -- - - - - - - - - - ~ - - - -
Aoolgnrnonl f-'robforn

c four sa le~men nlso d1tl'c1 their obi lilt 11 is estimated 1lrnt, worki ng under the sa me conditions, llrc1J
111
Th ·nlcs \\ Ollld he propo11101111tcly us follows:
year1y Sc C

Sabmcn : A B C D
Proportion 7 5 5 4

assign lhc best salesman lo the

If the criterion is maximum expected total sales, the intuitive answer is lo
on; veri fy this answer by the
nchcst territory, ~he next best salesman lo the second richest, and so
[Delhi Univ., MBA, 2004]
a~~iglllncnt techmque.
of annual sales of each
Solution Const11.1ct the Effectiveness Matrix: To avoid the fraction al values
as 21 (i .e. the sum of sa les
snlesman in ·eac~ territory, for conve~ience, consider their yearly sales
in each territory by 21 in order
proportions), tak1~g Rs 1,000 as one unit. Now divide the individual sa les
given in
10 obtain the reqmred
annual sales by each salesman. The maximum sa les matrix so obtained is
Table I0.10.

A 42 35 28 21 7

•
B 30 25 20 15 5
C 30 25 20 15 5 Table 10.10
24 20 16 12 4 Effectiveness
D
Matrix
Sales (in '000 Rs) 6 5 4 3

Converting Maximization Problem into Minimization Problem: The

given max1m12ation assignment
by subtracting from the highest
problem (fable I0.10) can be converted into a minimization assignment problem
is given in Table I0.11 (a).
element (i.e. 42) all the elements of the given table. The new data so obt~ined

(a) (b)

A 0 3 6 9
B 0 2 3 Table 10.11
12 17 22 27 C 0 2 3 Equivalent Cost
C
30 D 0 0 0 0 Matrix
D 18 22 26

Apply Hungarian Method to get Optimal Solution: Apply Step 2 of the Hungarian method in order to
get the reduced matrix that has at least one zero, either in a row or column, as shown in Table 10.ll(b).
crossed as shown in Table
The assignment is made in row A. All zeros in the assigned column I are
column, and other zeros are
10.12. Column II has only one zero, in cell (D, If). Assignment is made in this
in Table I0.12.
crossed in row D. Now all zeros are either assigned or crossed off as shown

llli l 3 ✓
B 2
3 ✓
C 2

D
Table 10.12
✓

ents are made. Draw lines

The solution shown in Table I 0.12 is not optimal since only two assignm
Table I0.12.
through marked columns and unmarked rows to cover zeros as shown in
all uncovered element s
Develop the revised cost matrix by selecting the minimum element (= I) among
element , includin g itse! r, and add it to the elements at the
by the lines. Subtract I from each uncovered
so obtained is shown in Table I 0.13.
intersection of two lines. A revised cost table
 Operations Research: Theory and Applications

8 ✓

2 ✓

2 ✓

D
Table 10.13 L____l
✓_ _ ____!✓-=-----------~

·
Repeat Steps I to 3 to mark the assignments m Ta bl e Jo · J3· Two alternative optimal assi gnrnents a.,
·

shown in Tables 10.14(a) and (b).

(a)
- - - - -~ - - -
(b) r
A IT)
I
•
11

2
II!

A 2 4 7 4

B ;ti )1. Cu I . B ;G [JJ 'O.

Table 10.14
~

-
;ti
Alternative C i IT] )1 C 0
c.___,

Optimal Solutions D 2 )1 [QJ D 2 6

~
The pattern of two alternative optimal assignments among territories and salesmen with their respectiie
sales volume (in Rs 1,000) is given in the table.
Assignment Set I Assignment Set II

Salesman Territo,y Sales (Rs) Salesman Terri101J' Sales (Rs)

A I 42 A <12
B ill 20 B II 25
C II 25 C III 20
D IV 12 D rv 12
Total 99 Total 99

Example 10.5 A marketing manager has five salesmen and five sales districts. Considering the
capabilities of the salesmen and the nature of districts, the marketing manager estimates that the sales per
month (in hundred mpees) for each salesman in each district would be as follows:

Districts
A B C D E
32 38 40 28 40
2 40 24 28 21 36
Salesmen 3 41 27 33 30 37
4 22 38 41 36 36
5 29 33 40 35 39
Find the assignment of salesmen to districts that will result in maximum sales.
Solution The given maximization problem can be converted into a minimization problem by subtracung
from the largest element (i.e. 41) all the elements of the given table. The new cost data so obtained is g1,en
in Table 10.15.
(a) (b) C D E
I 9 3 I 13 I / 8 o o 7 0
2 I 17 13 20 5 2 O 14 12 14 -l
Table 10.15 J O 14 8 11 4 J O 12 8 6 -l
Equivalent Cost
Data
4 19 3 0 5 5 4 19 o o 5
5 12 8 6 2 5 11 5 O 0

Apply Step 2 of the Hungarian method to get the opportunity cost table as shown in Table IO.l5(b)-
 Assignment Problem

Make assignments in Table I0. I5(b) by applying Hungarian method as shown in Table IO. I6(a).

A B C D E (b)
I A B C D E
-@ :ff 7 'll'.. I 12 0 0 7 0
14 12 14 4 ✓ 2 0 10 8 10 0
12 8 6 4 ✓ 3 0 0
8 4 2

4 4 23 I 0 0 5

5 5 15 5 0 0 I
Table 10.16
✓

The solution shown in Table 1O. l 6(a) is not optimal since only four assignments are made. Cover the zeros
with the minimum number of lines (= 4) as shown in Table IO. I6(a).
Develop the revised cost matrix by selecting the minimum element(= 4) among all uncovered elements
by the lines. Subtract 4 from all uncovered elements, including itself, and add it to the element at the
intersection of the lines. A revised cost table, so obtained, is shown in Table JO. I6(b).
Repeat the above procedure again to make the assignments in the reduced Table I0.16(b). The two
alternative assignments are shown in Tables 1O. l 7(a) and (b ). Two more alternative solutions exist due to
presence of zero element in cells (4, C), (4, D) and cells (5, C), (5, D).

(a) (b)

1
2
12
[!]
m 12
;Q

10 12
7 ,6.
;0.
1
2
12
;il
m12
;tl

10
7
12
,{l
,---,
0
l._.,_J

3 :it 10 4 2 [!] 3 [!] 10 2 :0.

4 23 [!] ;a s 4 23 m fl s Table 10.17
5 IS s ;Q IT] 5 15 5 ;Q
IT: Alternative
Optimal Solutions
Two alternative optimal assignments are as follows:
Assignment Set I Assignment Set II

Salesman District Sales Salesman District Sales

(in '000 Rs) (i11 '000 Rs)

B 38 B 38
2 A 40 2 E 36
3 E 37 3 A 41
4 C 41 4 C 41
5 D 35 5 D 35
Total 191 Total 191

10.4.3 Unbalanced Assignment Problem

The Hungarian method for solving an assignment problem requires that the number of columns and rows
in the assignment matrix should be equal. However, when the given cost matrix is not a square matrix, the
assignment problem is called an unbalanced problem. In such cases before applying Hungarian method,
dummy row(s) or column(s) are added in the matrix (with zeros as tht' cost elements) in order to make it
a square matrix.

10.4.4 Restrictions on Assignments

Sometimes it may so happen that a particular resource (say a man or machine) can11ot be assigned to a
panicular activity (say territory or job). In such cases, the cost of perfonning that particular activity by a
 Operations Research: Theory and Appllcatlons J

p,r1,c,,1,,r oe,o,,rcc is considered to be very large (wdllco as Mo, ~) so as lo prnhibil th, '"' j
poir of resource-activity into the final solution . ry of%

Example 10.6 In the modification of a plant layout of a factory four new machines M 1 , M , M3
M are to be installed in a machine shop. There are five vacant places A, B, C, D and E availabl~. 8 ' and
of4limited
.
space ' machine M2 cannot be placed at C and M3 cannot be placed at A. The cost of 1,:CaUse
"'-atin
a machme at a place (in hundred rupees) is as follows. g
Location
D £
B C
A
10 II
ll . 15
M1 9 9
JO
12 9
M2 ll 7
Machine Jl 14
M3 7 8
8 12
M4 14

Find the optimal a~signment schedule. [Delhi Univ., MBA , 2004, 2006]
Solution Since cost matrix is not balanced, add one dummy row (machine) with a zero cost elements•
that row. Also assign a high cost, denoted by M, to the pair (M2, C) and (M3, A). The cost matrix so obtaine~
is given in Table I0.J8(a).
Apply Hungarian method for solving this problem. An optimal assignment is shown in Table 10.18(b).

(b)
(a)
9 11 15 10 11
Ml M )l
10 9 3
Mz
M3
12
M
9
11
M
14 11 7 M3 M 4 7
5
4
[I]
rn
I
7 1
14 8 12 7 8 ~
M4
0 0 0 Ms )l )l IT] .:a :a
Table 10.18
L&.. 0 0

The total minimum cost (Rs) and optimal assignments made are as follows :

Machine Location Cost (in '000 Rs)

M1 A 9
M2 B 9
M3 E 7
M4 D 7
M5 (dummy) C 0
Total 32

Example
assist 10.7 An
in allocatin fi airl'~et com~any .has cir_awn up a new fhght · schedule that involves five flights. To
each flight a aum;e/:\p~ol~ t~h ~-fl~hts, it has asked them to _state their preference scores by giving
are unsuitable to someu ~ t . _e ig edr the n~ber, the gre~ter is the preference. A few of these flights
p1 o s, owmg to omest1c reasons. These have been marked with ' x '.

Flight Number
2 3 4 5
A 8 2 X 5 4
B 10 9 2 8 4
Pilot C 5 4 9 6 X

D 3 6 2 8 7
E 5 6 10 4 3

· order to meet as many preferences as possib

What should be the allocation of the pilots to ffig hts m · Ie.?
[AIMA (Dip. in J\lfgt.), 2oOJ]
 Assignment Problem

Solution Since tl~c pro~)lem is 10 maximize the t~tal preference score, in order to apply the llungarian
111
cthod to solve this nss1gnment problem, the equivalent cost matrix is required. This is obtained by
• . f rom the largest element (= 1O) including itself as shown
~nhtr:icling all the clements of t11e given matnx
111 Tnblc I0.19.
j

6
I 2 6
5 6 I 4 M Table 10.19
7 4 8 2 3 Equivalent Cost ·
E 5 4 0 6 7 'Matrix' · ..
Perfonn the Hungarian method on Table I0.19 to make assignments as shown in Table J0.20.

Table 10.20
Opportunity Cost
Table

The solution shown in Table 10.20 is not the optimal solution because there is no assignment in row
E. Draw minimum number of lines to cover all zeros in the table and then subtract the smallest element
(= 3) from all uncovered elements including itself and add it to the element at the intersection of two lines.
The new table so obtained is shown in Table 10.21.

B w 11 2 5

C M

D 1 9 IT]
E ~ m 3 3 Table 10.21

Repeat the Hungarian method to make assignments in Table I 0.21. Since the number of assignments
in Table I 0.21 is equal to the number of rows or columns, this solution is the optimal solution. The optimal
asslarunent is as follows:
Pilot Flight Number Preference Score

A 8
8 2 9
C 4 6
D 5 7
E 3 10
Tola) - 40

Example 10.8 A city corporation has decided to cany out road repairs on four main arteries of the city.
The government has agreed to make a special grant of Rs 50 lakh towards the cost with a condition that
the repairs be done at the lowest cost and quickest time. If the conditions warrant, a supplementary token
grant will also be considered favourably. The corporation has floated tenders and five contractors have sent
in their bids. In order to expedite work, one road will be awarded to only one contractor.
 Operarions Roscarcl1: Tl1001y nnd l\ppllcullons
f I{ •plltl ~ (R ~ Ill l11 kh )
(. 'o ~I O I.: '

N, R,
u, U1
I <J I~
9 14
(' 19
I 20
7 17
C1 21 18
9 18
Co111ruc1ors/Road C.l 19
18
10 12
C4 21 16
10 15
Cs
i.: · t I b · · · •k to tt 1e contractors anJ Ihc co~ ts
n) ,·me t 1c est way of ass1gn111g t11e repair wot
( ·· · . h t should be the amount souuht'>
(b) II ti 1s necessary Lo seek supplementary giants, w a b ·

(c) Which of the live contractors will be unsuccessful in his bid? [AMIE lOo~
Solution (a) Since cost matrix is not balanced, therefore add one dummy column (road. Rs)\\ 1th a zero
cost clcmenls. The revised cost matrix is given in Table I0.22.

R4 R,
R1 1h
19 15 0
c, 9 14
20 19 0
C2 7 17
21 18 0
C3 9 18
18 19 0
C4 10 12
Table 10.22 0
15 21 16
Cost Matrix Cs 10

Apply the Hungarian method to solve this problem. This is left as an exercise for the rcmkr. An op1imal
assignment is shown in Table 10.23.

R:,

C2 [o] 5 2 'i 2

C3 l1. 4 I -' 'ol

C4 3 0 ] :g 5 2
Table 10.23
Optimal Solution Cs 0 e:
The totul minimum cost (in rupees) and optimal assignment made are as follo ws:

Road Contractor Cost (Rs in lakh)

RI C2 7
R2 C4 12
R3 c, 19
R4 Cs 16
Rs C3 0
Total 54

(b) ~iucc the total cost exceeds 50 lakh ' the exc ess amount of Rs 4 lakl (- 54 50) 1·s to be: ,ot,,1"h'
,b supplementary grant. 1 - -
(l' ) Contractor C\ who has been assigned to dummy row. R (roads) loses out in 1he bid.
5
 Assignment Problem

CONCEPTUAL QUESTIONS B

3. Explain how can one mod ify an e ffectivenes s matrix in an

h e be multiple optimal solutions to an assignmen t
can t ~ How would you identify the existence of multiple assignment problem, if a particular assignmen t is prohibited.
problem ?
olulions, if any . 4. What is an unbalanced assignmen t problem? How is the
s ould you deal with the assignment problems, where (a) Hungarian method applied for obtaining a solution if the matrix
2. HolY bwjective function is to be maximized ? (b) some assignments Is rectangular?
the o
are prohibited?

SELF PRACTICE PROBLEMS B

rojecl wori( consists of four major jobs for which an equal available to replace one of the existing ones and the associated
1· A p ber of contractors have submitted tenders. The tender of that machine costs are also given below.
num f ) . . . th I
amount quoted (in lakh o rupees 1s given 1n e matr x. Machines
Job
a b c d
M, Mz
24 30 15
w, 12 3 6 - 5 9
1 10 - - 8
16 22 28 12
w2 4 11 5
contractor 2 Workers W3 8 2 10 9 7 5
3 12 20 32 10
W4 - 7 8 6 12 10
4 9 26 34 16
Ws 5 8 9 4 6 1
Find the assignment which minimizes the total cost of the project
when each contractor has to be assigned at least one job. (a) Determine whether the new machine can be accepted.
each of which can manufacture (b) Also determine the optimal assignment and the associated
2. Alpha Corporation has four plants, saving in cost. •
any one of four products A, 8, C or D. Production costs differ
from one plant to another and so do the sales revenue. The 5. A fast-food chain wants to build four stores. In the past, the
revenue and the cost data are given below. Determine which chain has used six different construction companies , and having
product should each plant produce in order to maximize profit. been satisfied with each, has invited each to bid on each job.
'000 Rs) The final bids (in lakh of rupees) are shown in the following table:
Sales Revenue (in
Plant Constructio n Companies
2 3 4
2 3 4 5 6
A 50 68 49 62
Store 1 85.3 88.0 87.5 82.4 89.1 86.7
Product B 60 70 51 74
68 Store 2 78.9 77.4 77.4 76.5 79.3 78.3
C 52 62 49
48 66 Store 3 82.0 81 .3 82.4 80.6 83.5 81 .7
D 55 64
Store 4 84.3 84.6 86.2 83.3 84.4 85.5
Production Cost (in '000 Rs)
Plant
Since the fast-food chain wants to have each of the new stores
2 8 4 ready as quickly as possible, it will award at the most one job to
45 61 a construction company. What assignment would result in
A 49 60
minimum total cost to the fast-food chain?
Product . B 55 63 45 49 [Delhi Univ., MBA, 2001, 2003]
C 55 67 53 70
54 68 6. A methods engineer wants to assign four new methods to three
D 58 65
work centres. The assignment of the new methods will increase
3. A company has four machines that are to be used for three jobs. production. The methods are given below.
Each Job can be assigned to one and only one machine. The
cost of each job on each machine is given in the following table. Increase In Production (unit)
Machines Work Centres
w X y z A B C
A 18 24 28 32
Jobs B 13 17 18 1 10 7 8
8
22 2 8 9 7
C 10 15 19 Method 3 7 12 6
4 10 10 8
What are the job-assignment pairs that shall minimize the cost?
(Gauhal/, MCA, 2001] If only one method can be assigned to a work centre, determine
4 the optimum assignment.
Five wor1(ers are available to work with the machines and the
7. Consider a problem of assigning four clerks to four tasks. The
respective costs (In rupees) associated with each worker-
time (hours) required to complete the task is given below:
machine assignment are given below. A sixth machine is
 Operations Research : Theory and Appltcations
Territory
Tasks
2 3
A
, 4
-
B
7
C

5
D
6 A 75
91
80
71
85
82
70
75
s
........ :---..
9o
Salesmen B
Clerks
2 - 8 7 4 C 78 90 85 80 as
3 3 - 3 65 75 88 as 8lj
5 D
4 911
6 6 4 2
timal assignment of the salesmen H ,0 , ,
t 0
Clerk 2 cannot be assigned task A and clerk 3 cannot be SU11Q8S ~ man D cannot be assigned lo lermor '-'!~~
I 3
assigned task B. Find all the optimum assignment schedules. reasons, s8: esment be different? If so, what would ~ , 1' 1 t ;
......i.nal assign [O / · ~ -. -
"¥":"
assignment sc
hedule?
.
e hi Univ . MCorn - ~
. 2'°-f.lJ
8. The marketing director of a multi-unit company is faced with a el manager of a med1um-s1zed cornpa
problem of assigning 5 senior managers to six zones. From past 12 The personn
. . tO recruit two employees
D d E.
an in a_ particular
n, '
~
experience he knows that the efficiency percentage judged by decided ·zation The section has five fairly defined b~ ""
sales, operating costs, etc., depends on the manager-zone of the4orgadrn5· and three employees A, B and C are -a- I
combination. The efficiency of different managers is given below: 2 3 an ' "d · th · · '~
e~ployed in the section. C?f~s1t· enng f the specialized na111,e d
Zones task 3 and the special qualr 1ca 1~ns o e recruit o for la5.(
3
I II Ill JV V VI the manager has decided to assign task_~ to employee OilrJJ
then assign the remaining t~sks to remaining employees so ai
A 73 91 87 82 78 80
76 74 85 10 maximize the total effectivenessk. ~he indexd of effectJve~
B 81 85 69 of each employee of different tas s 1s as un er.
Manager C 75 72 83 84 78 91
D 93 96 86 91 83 82 Tasks
E 90 91 79 89 69 76 2 3 4 5
Find out which zone should be managed by a junior manager A 25 55 60 45 30
due to the non-availability of a senior manager. B 45 65 55 35 40
Employees C 10 35 45 55 65
9~ A head of department in a college has the problem of assigning
D 40 30 70 40 60
courses to teachers with a view to maximize educational
E 55 45 40 55 10
quality in his department. He has available to him one professor,
two associate professors, and one teaching assistant (TA).
Four courses must be offered. After appropriate evaluation, he Assign the tasks for maximizing total effectiveness. Crmcat,
has arrived at the following relative ratings (100 = best rating) examine whether the decision of the manager to assign task 3
reg:::cl~,g tne ability of each instructor to teach each of the four to employee D was correct. [ Delhi Univ., MBA, ~
courses. 13 The casualty medical officer of a hospital has received IOUJ
Course 1 Course 2 Course 3 Course 4 requests for Ambulance van facility. Currently, six vans ara
-------------, available for assignment and their estimated response lime [111
Prof. 1 60 40 60 70
50 70 minu1es) are shown in the table below:
Prof. 2 20 60
Prof. 3 20 30 40 60 Van
TA 30 10 20 40
2 3 4 5 6
- - - - - - - - -- - - - - - ----'
How should he assign his staff to the courses in order to realize 1 16 15 13 14 15 18
his objective? [Delhi Univ., MBA (HCA), 1999] 2 18 16 12 13 17 16
1o. At the end of a cycle of schedules, a transport company has Incident 3 14 14 17 16 ·15 15
a surplus of one truck in each of the cities 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and a 4 13 17 19 18 14 17
deficit of one truck in each of the cities A, B, C, D, E and F.
The distance (in kilometres) between the cities with a surplus, Determine which van should respond , and what will be the
and cities with a deficit, is given below:
average response time. [Delhi Univ. , MBA (HCA), 1990, 96, 981
To City 14. To stimulate interest and provide an atmosphere for intellectual
A B C D E
discussion a finance faculty in a management school decides to
F
hold special seminars on four contemporary topics: Lea s,ng
80 140 80 100 56 98 portfolio management, private mutual funds , swaps and options.
2 48 64 94 126 170 100 Such seminars are to be held be held once par week in tne
From City 3 56 80 120 100 70 64 afternoons. However, scheduling these seminars (one for each
4 99 100 1,100 104 80 90 topic, and not more than one seminar per afternoon) has 10 be
5 64 80 90 60 60 70 done carefully so that the number of students unable to att~
is kept to a minimum. A careful study indicates that the num~
How should the trucks be despatched so as to minimize the total
of students who cannot attend a particular seminar on a sp,,CI
distance travelled? Which city will not receive a truck?
day is as follows:
[Madras, MBA, 2000]
11 . A company is considering expanding Into five new sales territories.
The company has recruited four new salesmen. Based on the
salesmen's experience and personality traits, the sales manager
has assigned ratings to each of the salesmen for each of the
sales territories. The ratings are as follows:
 Aaalgnmont Problem

free
Prlvn to Swnps • Chandru swims all slylos: back 1 . 10, bullorlly 1 . 12,
I NISlllg Po11fol/o
slyle 1 : 05 and broasl slroke 1 : 20.
Mnnngomont Mutual and s1111rns
Funds Options • Doral swims only Iha bullerfly 1 : 11, while Easwar
back slroke 1 : 20, breasl slroke 1 : 16, free style 1
lho
: 06 and lho bullerfly 1 : 10.
50 40 60 20
style?
Mo11dny
40 30 40 30 Which swimmer should be assigned which swimming
TuosdllY Who will nol be In Iha relay?
60 20 30 20
wednosday y has
Thursda y 30 30 20 30 16. (a) Al Iha end of a cycle of schedules, a lrucklng compan
vehicle In each of the cities
10 20 10 30 a surp lus of one
Friday ol lhe cities
- 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 and a deflcll of one vehicle In each
Iola! F. The cost (in rupees) of transpo rtation and
Find an optimal schedule of the seminars. Also find out Iha A, 8, C, D, E and
with
number of students who will bo missing al least one semina r. handllng between the cities wllh a surplus and the cities
learn lhal Is deficits are shown In the followin g table:
Five swimmers are ellglblo to compet e In a relay
15 t swimming
' 10 conslsl of four swimmers swimming four differen To City
styles. The styles are - back slroke, breast slroke, free slyle 0 E F
A B C
Anand,
and butterfly . The time taken by the five swimmers - 97
and Easwar , lo cover a distanc e of 1 134 116 167 233 164
Bhaskar, Chandr u, Doral
In 114 195 260 166 178 130
100 metres In various swimming slyles Is given below, 2
101
From City 3 129 117 48 94 66
minutes , seconds . 136
stroke 4 71 156 92 143 114
• Anand swims the back stroke In 1 : 09, the breast 97 134 125 83 142 118
has never compet ed In the free style or 5
In 1 : 15 and
will
butterfly . Find the assignment of surplus vehicles to deficit cities that
the a
• Bhasker Is a free style specialist averaging 1 : 01 for result in a minimum total cost? Which city will not receive
16
100 metres but can also swim the breast stroke In 1 : vehicle? [Delhi Univ. , MBA, 2002]
and butterfly In 1 : 20.

HINTS AND ANSWERS

7. (i) I - B, 2 - D, 3 - A, 4 - C
1. (i) I - b, 2 - c, 3 - d, 4 - a,
00. (ii) I - C, 2 - D, 3 - A, 4 - B. Minimum hours = 18.
(ii) I - c, 2 - b, 3 - d, 4 - a; Minimum cost= Rs 71,00,0
8. A - Ill, B - 11, C - Ill, D - I, E - IV, dummy - V.
(iii) I - c, 2 - d, 3 - b, 4 - a,
9. (i) Prof. I - Course 3, Prof. 2 - Course 2, Prof. 3 - Course 4,
(iv) I - b, 2 - c, 3 - d, 4 - a
= T.A. - Course I
2. Construct the profit matrix using the relationship: Profit 4,
(ii) Prof. I - Course I, Prof. 2 - Course 2, Prof. 3 - Course
Revenue - Cost educa1ional quality = 210.
T.A. - Course 3. Maximum
A - 2, B - 4, C - I, D - 3 and Maximum profit = Rs 42,000
10. I - E, 2 - B, 3 - A, 4 - F, 5 - D; Cost = Rs 326.
3. (i) A - W. B - X. C - Y.
I I. A - 5, B - I, C - 2, D - 3; 359.
(ii) A - W. B - Y. C - X Minimum cost = Rs 50.
W 12. A - 4, B - 2, C - 5, D - 3, E - · I; 300.
4. (a) W1- Ms, W2 - M6, W3 - M2, W4 - M4, Ws - M1 and 6
m cost = Rs 21 15. The assignment matrix with time expressed in seconds and
(dummy) - M3; Minimu
M4, adding a dummy style to balance it is given by
(b) W1 - Ms, W2 - Ml' W3 - M2, W4 - M3 and W5 -
Minimum cost = Rs 23. Back Stroke Breast Stroke Free Style Bulle,jly
The sixth machine should be accepted because saving in Anand 69 75
cost is Rs (23 - 21) = Rs 2 Bhasker 76 61 80
5. S1 - 4, S2 - 3, S3 - 2, S4 - I; Cost = Rs 325.4 Chandni 70 80 65 72
6. (i) I - A, 2 - dummy, 3 - B, 4 - C Dorai 71
66 70
(ii) I - C, 2 - dummy, 3 - B, 4 - A. Total production = 30 Easwar 80 76
units
 Operations Research : Theory and Applications

10.5 A TYPICAL ASSIGNMENT PROBLEM

fi ve lan es opera tes on a ll the seven days
Example 10.9 A sma ll ai rline company that owns I h p dul e is g iven be low. The I· of a llieek
F li ghts between tlu-ee cities A, B and C, according lo t e s_c I,e _ ' c1yover cost p ·
stop 1s· rough ly propmtional to the square o f the layover tune. _ er
To Arri val nme
Flight No. Departure Tim e
From (in hrr)
(in hrs )
- - - - - - - - - -~ ~~ - - - - ; : -- - - ~12.00
09.00 B
I A
10.00 B 13.00
2 A
15.00 B 18.00
3 A
20.00 C Midnight
4 A
22.00 C 02.00
5 A
04.00 A 07.00
6 8
I 1.00 A 14.00
7 8
B 15.00 A 18.00
8
C 07.00 A I 1.00
9
10 C 15.00 A 19.00

Find out J;iow the planes should be assigned to the flights so as to minimize th e total layover cost. If you
have made any particular assumptions, state them clearly.
Solution· We have made the following assumptions:
(i) A plane cannot make more than two trips (to and fro).
(ii) A plane flying from a particular city must be back within 24 hours for the next scheduled trip from
the city.
From the given data, it is clear that there is no route behveen city B and C. Therefore, the present
problem can be divided into two subproblems: (i) routes between A and C , and (ii) routes between
A and B.
Let us now construct the cost matrix fM th P routes connecting cities A and C . This is given in Tabl e 10.24.

4 130 226
Table 10.24 5 146 178

The elements in the Table 10.24 are interpreted as follows : For route 4 - 9 a plane taking fl ight nu mber4
from A to C and number 9 from C to A, would have a layover time of 9 hours ( 11 .00 to 20.00) at city A
an~ 7 hours (midnight - 7 .00) at city C. Thus, the layover cost for the route 4 - 9 would be (9) 2 T (7)2
= 130 units. Similarly, the other route costs elements are also obtained.
The optimal assignment can now be obtained by applying the Hungarian ·method of ass ignment. The
optimal solution is given in Table 10.25.

4
64
Table 10.25 s
UJ
Optimal assignment 4 - 9, 5 - IO
Total cost 308 units .
Similarly, cost matrix for the routes connecting cities A and 8 b h . Table IO 26.
can e constructed as s own 111

I 260 M 23-4
2 234
Table 10.26 M 260
3 164 290 1\,/
 Assignment Problem

taking flight number I from

l' dcincnt~ in Tbblc I0.2<, nre inte1vreted as follows : For route 1- 6, a plane
time or 18 hours ( 16 + 2) with an associated
Th 1l 1nd mnnhc1 (1 from1 13 to A would have a total layover
2)
, ,,, •c,,~, ~,f (I(,)· +. ( .--:
' 260 · s· 1 · ·
units. '.nee a P ~ne.1akmg 01ght .nu,~ber ! canno.t return for flight number
j \ '" ,.,
I- .1,c,..,,u~~• ot os~umplton (11), the layove1 cost associated with this
flight ,s considered very h,.gh, say M ·
. 1, thl' other route cost elements arc also obtained.
. . ,
'-t11ll I,lr. •
• 1he optunnl .ass,.gnm~nt can now be obtaine d by applyin g the Hungarian method of assignm ent. The
solution 1s given Ill Table I 0.27.
,,pt1t1hlI ,

Efl,rl,V""!ber 6 7 8

26 M m
2 IT] M 26

3 ~ m M Table 10.27

Optimal assignment I - 8, 2 - 6, 3 - 7
Total cost 758 units.
le of planes is arrived at and is
Hence, from the two solutions obtained above, the complete flight schedu
oiwn in Table 10.28.
" De art · Arrival J
Jln!e (hrs) G~ ~ .
I'
A 09.00 B 12.00
I
A 18.00
----- ----- -----
8
----- ----- ----- ----- ----- -----
B ----- ----- -
15.00
A 10.00 B 13.00
.2
A 07.00
2 6
----- ----- ----- ----- B
----- ----- 04.00
----- ----- ----- ----- ----- -
A 15.00 B 18.00
3
14.00
-----41 ----"\·---AB----------
11.00
----- ----- A
C
----- ----- ----
Midnight
20.00
07.00 A I 1.00 Table 10.28
- - - - --
----------- --95 -- - - - - - - -CA- - - - - - - - -22.00
- - - - - - - - .. - - - - - - - --- 0.200
C
Optimal Flight
Schedule
s 10 C 15.00 A 19.00

The total minimum layover cost is 308 + 758 = 1,066 units.

10.6 TRAVELLING SALESMAN PROBLEM

, with two additional conditions
The travelling salesman problem may be solved as an assignment problem
n travel starting from his home city
on the choice of assignment. That is, how should a travelling salesma
g to his home city, so that the
(the city from where he started), visiting each city only once and returnin
n cities and distances dij (cost cij or
t?tal distance (cost or time) covered is minimum. For example, given
ation of 2, 3, ... , n represents
time tij) from city i to city J, the salesman starts from city I, then any permut
e ways of his tour. Now the problem
the number of possible ways of his tour. Thus, there are (n - 1)! possibl
the salesman.
is to select an optimal route that is able to achieve the objective of
To formulate and solve this problem, let us define:
x, = {'• if salesman travels from city i to city J
Y 0, otherwise A travelling
Since each city can be visited only once, we have salesman starts
11- I from his home city
r
;- 1
Xr=l ,
y
J = l ,2, ... , n ; i:t,J and returns back
visiting each city, so
Again, ~ince the salesman has to leave each city except city 11, we have that the total
distance (cost or
II
r x = ,, i = 1. 2, .. ., 11 - 1; i:t,J time) covered is the
/ I I/ minimum .
 Operations Research: Theory and Applications

The objective fu11ctio11 is then

11 - I II

· · · . Z - L L diJ XiJ d t b
Mm1m1ze - 1__ 1 J= I . ver all . s mus e non-negai
. d .. == 00 for i == I Howe ' IJ ive, 1-t
Since d .. == d .. is not required, therefore I/
d > 0 ~nd d,: + d c d.k for all i, ), k. . . He wishes to start from a particular
iJ - IJ Jk ; ·t five c1t1es.
. C '000 Rs) f c11y
Example 10.10 A travelling salesma.n bas ~o v1s1 int. The travelling cost rn o each cay fr0r~
visit each city once and then re tu rn to bis startmg po
a particular city is given below:
To City
C D E
A B
5 7
A 00 2
00 3 8 2
B 6
00 4 7
From City C 8 7
4 6 5
D 12
3 2 8
E

. 200~
What should be the sequence of visit of the salesman so that the cost is minimum? [Delhi Univ. , A1BA,
. · bl as an assignment problem, by Hunganan method
Solution Solving ~e given tr~vel!rng sales:a.;.~~~e ~:29 . However, this solution is not the solution to
of assignment, an optunal solution is shown A E _ A This violates the condition that
·
the travelling salesman problem as it· gives th e sequence - ·
salesmen can visit each city only once.

B 00
a 6
From City 3 w 3

Table 10.29
D 8 w
Optimal Solution E w 2. 7

The 'next best' solution to the problem that also satisfies the extra condition of unbroken sequence
of visit to all cities, can be obtained by bringing the next (non-zero) minimum element, i.e. I, inw tbe
solution. In Table I 0.29, the cost element I occurs at three different places. Therefore, c;onsider all three
different cases one by one until the acceptable solution is reached.

Case 1: Make the unit assignment in the cell (A, B) instead of zero assignment in the cell (A, E) and
delete row A and column B so as to eliminate the possibility of any other assignment in row A and column
B. Now make the assignments in the usual manner. The resulting assignments are shown in Table I0J0.

From _City 4
6 ;a:
D 8
00
w J
Table 10.30
E
w :it
ll
00

7
OJ
 Assignment Problem

A➔B, B➔ C, C➔D, D➔E, E➔A. The cost

he solution given in_Table l?J0 _gives the sequence:
T d'ng to this feasible solut10n 1s Rs 15,000.
,-e,pon 1
c\~ 2: Jfwe make the
assignment in the cell (D, C) instead of(D, E), then no
ca of zeros or in tenns of element I which may give cost total less than Rs
feasible solution is obtained
15 000
and the cost associ~ted ·with this solu tion is
in ic~:nce, the .best solution is: A - B - C- D - E - A,
Rs 15,000-
distribution depot in Greater Kailash Part I for
E n,ple 10.12 ABC Ice Cream Company has a
rs located in different parts of South Delhi (call
." \utin g ice-cream in South Delhi. There are four vendo
everyday. The following matrix displays the
::: A, B, c and D) who have to be supplied ice-cream
four vendors:
distances (in kilometres) between the depot and the
To
Depol Vendor A Vendor B Vendor C Vendor D

3.5 3 4 2
Depol
A 3.5 4 2.5 3
Vendor
B 3 4 4.5 3.5
From Vendor
4 2.5 4.5 4
Vendor C
Vendor D 2 3 3.5 4

total distance travelled is minimized?

What route should the company van follow so that the
[Delhi Univ., MBA, 2003, 2004, 2006]
m as an assignment problem, by using the
Solution Solving the given travelling salesman proble
is shown in Table I0.31.
Hungarian method of assignment, an optimal solution
To

0.5 0.5

0.5
1.5
[TI Table 10.31
Optimal Solution
0.5 [I] 1.5

to an assignment problem, but it is not the optional

The solution shown in Table I 0.3 I is an optimal solution
se it gives the sequence: Depot ➔ Vendor D ➔
solution to the travelling salesman problem. This is becau
travelling salesman problem.
Vendor B ➔ Depot. This violates the condition of the
es travelling salesman condition of unbroken
The 'next best' solution to the problem that also satisfi
um element, i.e. 0.5, into the solution. In Table
sequence, can be obtained by bringing next (non-zero) minim
10.31, the element 0.5 occurs at four different places .
Therefore, consider all four different cases, one by one,
until an acceptable solution is reached.
problem tried with element 0.5 as well as zero
All four cases of possible solution to travelling salesman
for· the 'next best' solution by bringing the next
element do not provide a desired solution. Thus, we look
into the solution.
(non-zero) element I along with 0.5 and zero elements
column 3. Then make assignments in the usual
Make assignment in cell (C, B) and delete row 4 and
in Table 10.32.
manner using elements 1, 0.5 and 0 in the cells as shown
 Operations Resea rch : Theory and Applications
To

Vefldor D Vendor C
D•P,>I li,,dm
2
Depot l.'i 11
Vi·ndor A I 1.5
°tr.§
0[5
0

,(
CY.$
F$
From Vendor B

Vendor C
~[I ] -S~J 1.5
1-:5

Table 10.32 Vendor D

I :ti ~
. · c. 'b le.· so lution to theDtravelli ng sa lesman ProbJern
Vi
The set of assignments given tn Ta bl e J0.3 8dis aBieasi
➔ Depot ➔ Vendo r ➔ endor A ~ v,en dor c
1

.1s: Vendor C ➔ Ven or

The route fo r the sa lesman ·
is _15 km.
The tota l distanc e (in km) to be covere d in thi s sequen ce
e.
The reader may t1y other cases. This is left as an exercis

SELF PRAC TICE PROB ~ MS C

crty
If the salesman starts from city A and has to come back 10
timetable
1 . An airlinP. that operates seven days a week has the A, which route should he select so that the
total distan
layover ce
which is given below. The crew must have a minimum travelled is minimu m?
time of five hours between flights. maintain his
4. A salesm an must travel from city t~ city to
and visrt
Delhi-Jaipur Flight No. Jaipur-Delhi accounts. This week he has to leave his home base
Flight No. distances
Dep. Arrival other cities and the return home. The table shows the
Arrival city A.
Dep.
(in km) between the various cities. His home city is
8.00 am 201 8.00 am 9.15 am To City
101 7.00 am
9.00 am 202 8.30 am 9.45 am D
102 8.00 am A B C E
2.30 pm 203 12.00 noon 1.15 pm
103 1.30 pm
pm 7.30 pm 204 5.30 pm 6.45 pm 375 600 150 190
104 6.30 A
away B 375 300 350 175
Obtain the pairing of flights that minimizes layover time 350 500
at the 600 300
from home. For any given pairing, the crew will be based From City C
also
city that results in the smaller layover. For each pair D 160 350 350 300
mention the town where the crew should be based. 190 175 500 300
E
on his
2. A machin e operato r processes four types of items that will
machine and he must choose a sequence for them.
The set- Use the assignm ent method to determ ine the tour
machine e the total distanc e of visiting all cities and then returning
up cost per change depends on the items currently on minimiz
[Delhi Univ., MBA, 2002)
to be made according to the followin g table: home.
and the set-up
5. A salesm an travels from one place to another ; he cannot,
To
howeve r, travel from one place and back. The distances (in km)
A B C D
betwee n pairs of cities are given below:
A 4 7
B 4 6 To City
From Item C 7 6 p Q R s
D
I 3

If he processes each of the item once and only

3 7
once each From City
p
Q 22
15 25
45
20
55
week, then how should he sequen ce the item on his machine? 25
. R 40 30
Use the method for the problem of travelling salesman
s 20 26 38

es)
[Delhi Univ., MBA, 2001]
3. A salesma_n has to visit five cities A, B, c, o and
between the five cities
E. The
are as
The problem is to chalk out a rou te which enables
so that the total
him to
distance cover,,,.
v:
distances (1n hundred kilometr each of the cities only once,
follows: by him is minimu m . [Delhi Univ., MBA. ~wv1
on a machi; :
To City 6. Produc ts 1 , 2 , 3, 4 and 5 are to be processed
upon ade
A B C D E The set-up costs in rupees per change depend 111
tly on the machin e and the set-up to be
I product presen
A - 1 6 8 4 These are given by the following data:
C _" 8.
B
c
7 - 8 5 6 c, 2.=16 , c,3=4 , c ,4=12 , C23= 6 , CN=5 , ?o

From City 6 8 - 9 7 C35 = 6, C45 = 20; c ,, = S,·

c,j = 00 fo r I = I .
th opt1niurn
D .
E
8
4
5 9 - 8 for all values of i and j not given ,n the data. Find e cost
6 7 8 set-UP
sequen ce of produc ts in order to minimize the total