Assignment Problem

• Presented by:
Puneet Sapra (09)
Nakul Godara (08)
Vipin Shokeen (15)
Deepank Gupta (07)
Amarjeet Punia (21)
Vineet Kumar (29)
 Assignment Problem (Defined)
• The assignment problem refers to a
special class of linear programming
problem where the objective is to assign a
number of resources to an equal number
of activities on a one to one basis so as to
minimize total costs (or total time) of
performing the tasks at hand or to
maximize total profit of allocation.
 Assignment Problem (origin)
• An assignment problem arises when
there are available resources which
have varying degree of efficiency for
performing different activities, whereby
cost, time or profit of performing the
different activities is not the same. i.e.
the problem is how to assign/allocate
the different resources in order to
optimize the given objective.
 Methods of Solving Assignment
Problem

Assig nm ent Pr o bl e m

Com ple t e Enum er a t io n M et h od sim ple x M et h od Tr a nspor t a t i o n M et h od H ungar ia n Assig nm ent M et h od

M i n im i z at io n Case
 The batting position problem
• The assignment problem can be illustrated
by the following problem. In this problem a
cricket team has to decide the batting
position of its batsman. The batting
averages at the various positions and the
name of the batsman are given as follows:
 THE PROBLEM OF BATTING
POSITION
POSITION
B III IV V VI VII
A A 40 40 36 25 50
T B 42 30 16 25 27
S
C 50 48 40 60 50
M
D 20 19 20 18 25
A
N E 58 60 59 55 53
REDUCING THE MAXIMIZATION PROBLEM
TO MINIMIZATION PROBLEM

POSITION
B III IV V VI VII
A A 20 20 24 35 10
T B 18 30 44 35 33
S
C 10 12 20 00 10
M
D 40 41 40 42 35
A
N E 02 00 01 05 07
SUBTRACT THE SMALLEST ELEMENT OF
EACH ROW FROM ALL ELEMENTS OF THE
ROW
POSITION
B III IV V VI VII
A A 10 10 14 25 00
T B 00 12 26 17 15
S
C 10 12 20 00 10
M
D 05 06 05 07 00
A
E 02 00 01 05 07
N
 SUBTRACT THE SMALLEST OF EACH
COLUMN FROM ALL ELEMENTS OF THE
COLUMN
POSITION
B III IV V VI VII
A A 10 10 13 25 00
T B 00 12 25 17 15
S C 10 12 19 00 10
M
D 05 06 04 07 00
A
E 02 00 00 05 07
N
Drawing lines joining the zeroes
in respective rows and columns
POSITION
B III IV V VI VII
A A 10 10 13 25 00
T B 00 12 25 17 15
S C 10 12 19 00 10
M
D 05 06 04 07 00
A
E 02 00 00 05 07
N
As the number of lines is less
than the number of rows or
columns in the matrix, this
solution is not the optimal
solution. In this case we shall
proceed as follows:
 Select the smallest value from
among all the uncovered
elements of the table and
subtract the value from all the
elements of the matrix not
covered by the lines and add to
every element that lie at the
intersection of the lines, and
leaving the remaining elements
unchanged.
Subtracting/adding the smallest uncovered element
(04) in the aforesaid manner we obtain the following
table

POSITION
B III IV V VI VII
A A 06 06 09 21 00
T B 00 12 25 17 19
S C 10 12 19 00 14
M D 01 02 00 07 00
A E 02 00 00 05 11
N
 Proceeding with the aforesaid
table in the preceding manner:
POSITION
B III IV V VI VII
A A 06 06 09 21 00
T B 00 12 25 17 19
S C 10 12 19 00 14
M D 01 02 00 07 00
A E 02 00 00 05 11
N
 Selecting the zeroes in each row and
eliminating the rest of the zeroes, we obtain the
following solution.
POSITION
B III IV V VI VII
A A 06 06 09 21 00
T B 00 12 25 17 19
S C 10 12 19 00 14
M D 01 02 00 07 00
A E 02 00 00 05 11
N
 The optimal solution is as follows:
• Batsman A will bat at VII position.
• Batsman B will bat at III position.
• Batsman C will bat at VI position.
• Batsman D will bat at V position.
• Batsman E will bat at IV position.
 The Unbalanced Assignment
Problem
• In the batting position problem, one more
batsman F contends for the batting
positions from to VII. In such case the
problem becomes unbalanced as the
number of available positions are 5
whereas the number of batsman are 6.
The method of solving such problem is
discussed as follows:
 The unbalanced assignment
problem
POSITION
B III IV V VI VII
A A 40 40 36 25 50
T B 42 30 16 25 27
S
C 50 48 40 60 50
M
D 20 19 20 18 25
A
N E 58 60 59 55 53
F 47 51 29 37 30
Step 1: add a dummy column
with all elements equal to zero
POSITION
B III IV V VI VII VIII
A A 40 40 36 25 50 0
T B 42 30 16 25 27 0
S
C 50 48 40 60 50 0
M
D 20 19 20 18 25 0
A
N E 58 60 59 55 53 0
F 47 51 29 37 30 0
 Step 2: converting the maximization problem to
minimization problem, by putting each element equal
to the difference of that element and the highest
element of the table

POSITION
B III IV V VI VII VIII
A A 20 20 24 35 10 60
T B 18 30 44 35 33 60
S
C 10 12 20 00 10 60
M
D 40 41 40 42 35 60
A
N E 02 00 01 05 07 60
F 13 09 31 23 30 60
 step 3: Deduct the smallest element of each
row from the rest of the elements of the row

POSITION
B III IV V VI VII VIII
A A 10 10 14 25 00 50
T B 00 12 26 17 15 42
S
C 10 12 20 00 10 60
M
D 05 06 05 07 00 25
A
N E 02 00 01 05 07 60
F 04 00 22 14 21 51
 Step 4: deduct the smallest element of
each column from the rest of the elements
of the column
POSITION
B III IV V VI VII VIII
A A 10 10 13 25 00 25
T B 00 12 25 17 15 17
S
C 10 12 19 00 10 35
M
D 05 06 04 07 00 00
A
N E 02 00 00 05 07 35
F 04 00 21 14 21 26
 Step 5: draw lines joining the
zeroes in the rows and columns
POSITION
B III IV V VI VII VIII
A A 10 10 13 25 00 25
T B 00 12 25 17 15 17
S
C 10 12 19 00 10 35
M
D 05 06 04 07 00 00
A
N E 02 00 00 05 07 35
F 04 00 21 14 21 26
• As the number of lines is
less than the number of
rows or columns in the
matrix, this solution is not
the optimal solution. In this
case we shall proceed as
follows:
• Select the smallest value from
among all the uncovered
elements of the table and subtract
the value from all the elements of
the matrix not covered by the
lines and add to every element
that lie at the intersection of the
lines, and leaving the remaining
elements unchanged.
 Proceeding as aforesaid the
following table is obtained:
POSITION
B III IV V VI VII VIII
A A 06 10 09 25 00 21
T B 00 16 25 21 19 17
S
C 06 12 15 00 10 31
M
D 05 10 04 11 04 00
A
N E 02 04 00 09 11 35
F 00 00 17 14 21 22
• A perusal of the aforesaid table
shows that each row and column
contain zero as an element and
the number of lines, required to
join the respective zeroes of the
rows and columns, is equal to the
number of row/column. Hence the
aforesaid table presents the
optimal solution the aforesaid
assignment problem.
 Hence the solution of the
aforesaid problem is as follows:
POSITION
B III IV V VI VII VIII
A A 06 10 09 25 00 21
T B 00 16 25 21 19 17
S
C 06 12 15 00 10 31
M
D 05 10 04 11 04 00
A
N E 02 04 00 09 11 35
F 00 00 17 14 21 22
 Solution:
• Batsman A will bat at VII position.
• Batsman B will bat at III position.
• Batsman C will bat at VI position.
• Batsman D will bat at VIII position, as the
VIII position is a dummy position, batsman
D will be dropped.
• Batsman E will bat at V position.
• Batsman F will bat at IV position.
Thank you