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B-22 Module B Transportation and Assignment Solution Methods

Solution of the Assignment Model

An assignment model is a special The assignment model is a special form of a linear programming model that is similar to
form of the transportation model the transportation model. There are differences, however. In the assignment model, the
in which all supply and supply at each source and the demand at each destination are limited to one unit each.
demand values equal one.
The following example from the text will be used to demonstrate the assignment model
and its special solution method. The Atlantic Coast Conference has four basketball games
on a particular night. The conference office wants to assign four teams of officials to the
four games in a way that will minimize the total distance traveled by the officials. The dis-
tances in miles for each team of officials to each game location are shown in Table B-34.

Table B-34
Game Sites
The Travel Distances to Each
Game for Each Team of Officials RALEIGH ATLANTA DURHAM CLEMSON
Officials
A 210 90 180 160
B 100 70 130 200
C 175 105 140 170
D 80 65 105 120

The supply is always one team of officials, and the demand is for only one team of offi-
cials at each game. Table B-34 is already in the proper form for the assignment.
An opportunity cost table is The first step in the assignment method of solution is to develop an opportunity cost
developed by first substracting table. We accomplish this by first subtracting the minimum value in each row from every
the minimum value in each value in the row. These computations are referred to as row reductions. We applied a similar
row from all other row values and
principle in the VAM method when we determined penalty costs. In other words, the best
then repeating this process for
each column. course of action is determined for each row, and the penalty or lost opportunity is devel-
oped for all other row values. The row reductions for this example are shown in Table B-35.

Table B-35
Game Sites
The Assignment Tableau with
Row Reductions Officials RALEIGH ATLANTA DURHAM CLEMSON

A 120 0 90 70
B 30 0 60 130
C 70 0 35 65
D 15 0 40 55

Next, the minimum value in each column is subtracted from all column values. These
computations are called column reductions and are shown in Table B-36, which represents
the completed opportunity cost table for our example. Assignments can be made in this
table wherever a zero is present. For example, team A can be assigned to Atlanta. An optimal
solution results when each of the four teams can be uniquely assigned to a different game.

Table B-36
Game Sites
The Tableau with
Column Reductions Officials RALEIGH ATLANTA DURHAM CLEMSON

A 105 0 55 15
B 15 0 25 75
C 55 0 0 10
D 0 0 5 0
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Solution of the Assignment Model B-23

Assignments are made to locations Notice in Table B-36 that the assignment of team A to Atlanta means that no other team
with zeros in the opportunity cost can be assigned to that game. Once this assignment is made, the zero in row B is infeasible,
table. which indicates that there is not a unique optimal assignment for team B. Therefore,
Table B-36 does not contain an optimal solution.
An optimal solution occurs when A test to determine whether four unique assignments exist in Table B-36 is to draw the
the number of independent unique minimum number of horizontal or vertical lines necessary to cross out all zeros through
assignments equals the number of the rows and columns of the table. For example, Table B-37 shows that three lines are
rows or columns.
required to cross out all zeros.

Table B-37
Game Sites
The Opportunity Cost Table
with the Line Test Officials RALEIGH ATLANTA DURHAM CLEMSON

A 105 0 55 15
B 15 0 25 75
C 55 0 0 10
D 0 0 5 0

If the number of unique The three lines indicate that there are only three unique assignments, whereas four are
assignments is less than the required for an optimal solution. (Note that even if the three lines could have been drawn
number of rows (or columns), differently, the subsequent solution method would not be affected.) Next, subtract the min-
a line test must be used.
imum value that is not crossed out from all values not crossed out. Then, add this mini-
mum value to those cells where two lines intersect. The minimum value not crossed out in
Table B-37 is 15. The second iteration for this model with the appropriate changes is shown
in Table B-38.

Table B-38
Game Sites
The Second Iteration
Officials RALEIGH ATLANTA DURHAM CLEMSON

A 90 0 40 0
B 0 0 10 60
C 55 15 0 10
D 0 15 5 0

In a line test, all zeros are crossed No matter how the lines are drawn in Table B-38, at least four are required to cross out
out by horizontal and vertical all the zeros. This indicates that four unique assignments can be made and that an optimal
lines; the minimum uncrossed solution has been reached. Now let us make the assignments from Table B-38.
value is subtracted from all
First, team A can be assigned to either the Atlanta game or the Clemson game. We will
uncrossed values and added to
cell values where two lines cross.
assign team A to Atlanta first. This means that team A cannot be assigned to any other
game, and no other team can be assigned to Atlanta. Therefore, row A and the Atlanta col-
umn can be eliminated. Next, team B is assigned to Raleigh. (Team B cannot be assigned to
Atlanta, which has already been eliminated.) The third assignment is of team C to the
Durham game. This leaves team D for the Clemson game. These assignments and their
respective distances (from Table B-34) are summarized as follows:
Assignment Distance
Team A : Atlanta 90
Team B : Raleigh 100
Team C : Durham 140
Team D : Clemson _120
___
450 miles
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B-24 Module B Transportation and Assignment Solution Methods

Now let us go back and make the initial assignment of team A to Clemson (the
alternative assignment we did not initially make). This will result in the following set of
assignments:
Assignment Distance
Team A : Clemson 160
Team B : Atlanta 70
Team C : Durham 140
Team D : Raleigh __80
__
450 miles

These two assignments represent multiple optimal solutions for our example problem.
Both assignments will result in the officials traveling a minimum total distance of
450 miles.
When supply exceeds demands, a Like a transportation problem, an assignment model can be unbalanced when supply
dummy column is added to the exceeds demand or demand exceeds supply. For example, assume that, instead of four
assignment tableau. teams of officials, there are five teams to be assigned to the four games. In this case
a dummy column is added to the assignment tableau to balance the model, as shown in
Table B-39.

Table B-39 Game Sites

An Unbalanced Assignment
Tableau with a Dummy Column Officials RALEIGH ATLANTA DURHAM CLEMSON DUMMY
A 210 90 180 160 0
B 100 70 130 200 0
C 175 105 140 170 0
D 80 65 105 120 0
E 95 115 120 100 0

When demand exceeds supply, a In solving this model, one team of officials would be assigned to the dummy column. If
dummy row is added to the there were five games and only four teams of officials, a dummy row would be added
assignment tableau. instead of a dummy column. The addition of a dummy row or column does not affect the
solution method.
A prohibited assignment is given Prohibited assignments are also possible in an assignment problem, just as prohibited
a large relative cost of M so that it routes can occur in a transportation model. In the transportation model, an M value was
will never be selected. assigned as a large cost for the cell representing the prohibited route. This same method is
used for a prohibited assignment. A value of M is placed in the cell that represents the
prohibited assignment.
The steps of the assignment solution method are summarized here:
1. Perform row reductions by subtracting the minimum value in each row from all row
values.
2. Perform column reductions by subtracting the minimum value in each column from
all column values.
3. In the completed opportunity cost table, cross out all zeros, using the minimum
number of horizontal or vertical lines.
4. If fewer than m lines are required (where m = the number of rows or columns), subtract
the minimum uncrossed value from all uncrossed values, and add this same minimum
value to all cells where two lines intersect. Leave all other values unchanged, and repeat
step 3.
5. If m lines are required, the tableau contains the optimal solution and m unique
assignments can be made. If fewer than m lines are required, repeat step 4.
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B-38 Module B Transportation and Assignment Solution Methods

36. Solve the following linear programming problem:

minimize Z = 18x11 + 30x12 + 20x13 + 18x14 + 25x21 + 27x22 + 22x23
+ 16x24 + 30x31 + 26x32 + 19x33 + 32x34 + 40x41 + 36x42
+ 27x43 + 29x44 + 30x51 + 26x52 + 18x53 + 24x54
subject to
x11 + x12 + x13 + x14 1
x21 + x22 + x23 + x24 1
x31 + x32 + x33 + x34 1
x41 + x42 + x43 + x44 1
x51 + x52 + x53 + x54 1
x11 + x21 + x31 + x41 + x51 = 1
x12 + x22 + x32 + x42 + x52 = 1
x13 + x23 + x33 + x43 + x53 = 1
x14 + x24 + x34 + x44 + x54 = 1
xij 0

37. A plant has four operators to be assigned to four machines. The time (minutes) required by each
worker to produce a product on each machine is shown in the following table. Determine the opti-
mal assignment and compute total minimum time.

Machine
Operator A B C D

1 10 12 9 11
2 5 10 7 8
3 12 14 13 11
4 8 15 11 9

38. A shop has four machinists to be assigned to four machines. The hourly cost of having each
machine operated by each machinist is as follows:

Machine
Machinist A B C D

1 $12 11 8 14
2 10 9 10 8
3 14 8 7 11
4 6 8 10 9

However, because he does not have enough experience, machinist 3 cannot operate machine B.
a. Determine the optimal assignment and compute total minimum cost.
b. Formulate this problem as a general linear programming model.

39. The Omega pharmaceutical firm has five salespersons, whom the firm wants to assign to
five sales regions. Given their various previous contacts, the salespersons are able to cover the
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Problems B-39

regions in different amounts of time. The amount of time (days) required by each salesperson to
cover each city is shown in the following table. Which salesperson should be assigned to each
region to minimize total time? Identify the optimal assignments and compute total minimum
time.

Region
Salesperson A B C D E

1 17 10 15 16 20
2 12 9 16 9 14
3 11 16 14 15 12
4 14 10 10 18 17
5 13 12 9 15 11

40. The Bunker Manufacturing firm has five employees and six machines and wants to
assign the employees to the machines to minimize cost. A cost table showing the cost incurred
by each employee on each machine follows. Because of union rules regarding departmental
transfers, employee 3 cannot be assigned to machine E and employee 4 cannot be assigned
to machine B. Solve this problem, indicate the optimal assignment, and compute total mini-
mum cost.

Machine
Employee A B C D E F

1 $12 $ 7 $20 $14 $ 8 $10

2 10 14 13 20 9 11
3 5 3 6 9 7 10
4 9 11 7 16 9 10
5 10 6 14 8 10 12

41. Given the following cost table for an assignment problem, determine the optimal assignment
and compute total minimum cost. Identify all alternative solutions if there are multiple optimal
solutions.

Machine
Operator A B C D

1 $10 $2 $ 8 $ 6
2 9 5 11 9
3 12 7 14 14
4 3 1 4 2

42. An electronics firm produces electronic components, which it supplies to various electrical manu-
facturers. Quality control records indicate that different employees produce different numbers of
defective items. The average number of defects produced by each employee for each of six components
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B-40 Module B Transportation and Assignment Solution Methods

is given in the following table. Determine the optimal assignment that will minimize the total aver-
age number of defects produced by the firm per month.

Component
Employee A B C D E F

1 30 24 16 26 30 22
2 22 28 14 30 20 13
3 18 16 25 14 12 22
4 14 22 18 23 21 30
5 25 18 14 16 16 28
6 32 14 10 14 18 20

43. A dispatcher for the Citywide Taxi Company has six taxicabs at different locations and five cus-
tomers who have called for service. The mileage from each taxis present location to each customer
is shown in the following table. Determine the optimal assignment(s) that will minimize the total
mileage traveled.

Customer
Cab 1 2 3 4 5

A 7 2 4 10 7
B 5 1 5 6 6
C 8 7 6 5 5
D 2 5 2 4 5
E 3 3 5 8 4
F 6 2 4 3 4

44. The Southeastern Conference has nine basketball officials who must be assigned to three confer-
ence games, three to each game. The conference office wants to assign the officials so that the total
distance they travel will be minimized. The distance (in miles) each official would travel to each
game is given in the following table:

Game
Official Athens Columbia Nashville
1 165 90 130
2 75 210 320
3 180 170 140
4 220 80 60
5 410 140 80
6 150 170 190
7 170 110 150
8 105 125 160
9 240 200 155
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Problems B-41

a. Should this problem be solved by the transportation method or by the assignment method?
Explain.
b. Determine the optimal assignment(s) that will minimize the total distance traveled by the
officials.
45. In Problem 44, officials 2 and 8 had a recent confrontation with one of the coaches in the game in
Athens. They were forced to eject the coach after several technical fouls. The conference office
decided that it would not be a good idea to have these two officials work the Athens game so soon
after this confrontation, so they decided that officials 2 and 8 will not be assigned to the Athens
game. How will this affect the optimal solution to this problem?
46. State University has planned six special catered events for the November Saturday of its homecom-
ing football game. The events include an alumni brunch, a parents brunch, a booster club lun-
cheon, a postgame party for season ticket holders, a lettermens dinner, and a fund-raising dinner
for major contributors. The university wants to use local catering firms as well as the university
catering service to cater these events and it has asked the caterers to bid on each event. The bids (in
$1,000s) based on menu guidelines for the events prepared by the university are shown in the fol-
lowing table:

Event
Alumni Parents Booster Postgame Lettermens Contributors
Caterer Brunch Brunch Club Lunch Party Dinner Dinner

Als $12.6 $10.3 $14.0 $19.5 $25.0 $30.0

Bon Apett 14.5 13.0 16.5 17.0 22.5 32.0
Custom 13.0 14.0 17.6 21.5 23.0 35.0
Divine 11.5 12.6 13.0 18.7 26.2 33.5
Epicurean 10.8 11.9 12.9 17.5 21.9 28.5
Fouchs 13.5 13.5 15.5 22.3 24.5 36.0
University 12.5 14.3 16.0 22.0 26.7 34.0

The Bon Apett, Custom, and University caterers can handle two events, whereas the other four
caterers can handle only one. The university is confident all the caterers will do a high-quality job,
so it wants to select the caterers for the events that will result in the lowest total cost.
Determine the optimal selection of caterers that will minimize total cost.
47. A university department head has five instructors to be assigned to four different courses. All the
instructors have taught the courses in the past and have been evaluated by the students. The rating
for each instructor for each course is given in the following table (a perfect score is 100). The
department head wants to know the optimal assignment of instructors to courses that will maxi-
mize the overall average evaluation. The instructor who is not assigned to teach a course will be
assigned to grade exams. Solve this problem using the assignment method.

Course
Instructor A B C D

1 80 75 90 85
2 95 90 90 97
3 85 95 88 91
4 93 91 80 84
5 91 92 93 88
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B-42 Module B Transportation and Assignment Solution Methods

48. The coach of the womens swim team at State University is preparing for the conference swim meet
and must choose the four swimmers she will assign to the 800-meter medley relay team. The
medley relay consists of four strokesthe backstroke, breaststroke, butterfly, and freestyle. The
coach has computed the average times (in minutes) each of her top six swimmers has achieved in
each of the four strokes for 200 meters in previous swim meets during the season as follows:

Stroke (min)
Swimmer Backstroke Breaststroke Butterfly Freestyle

Annie 2.56 3.07 2.90 2.26

Beth 2.63 3.01 3.12 2.35
Carla 2.71 2.95 2.96 2.29
Debbie 2.60 2.87 3.08 2.41
Erin 2.68 2.97 3.16 2.25
Fay 2.75 3.10 2.93 2.38

Determine the medley relay team and its total expected relay time for the coach.

49. Biggios Department Store has six employees available to assign to four departments in the store
home furnishings, china, appliances, and jewelry. Most of the six employees have worked in each of
the four departments on several occasions in the past and have demonstrated that they perform
better in some departments than in others. The average daily sales for each of the six employees in
each of the four departments is shown in the following table.

Department Sales ($)

Home
Employee Furnishings China Appliances Jewelry

1 340 160 610 290

2 560 370 520 450
3 270 350 420
4 360 220 630 150
5 450 190 570 310
6 280 320 490 360

Employee 3 has not worked in the china department before, so the manager does not want to assign
this employee to china.
Determine which employee to assign to each department and indicate the total expected daily
sales.

50. The Vanguard Publishing Company has eight college students it hires as salespeople to sell encyclo-
pedias during the summer. The company desires to allocate them to three sales territories. Territory
1 requires three salespeople, and territories 2 and 3 require two salespeople each. It is estimated that
each salesperson will be able to generate the amounts of dollar sales per day in each of the three ter-
ritories as given in the following table. The company desires to allocate the salespeople to the three
territories so that sales will be maximized. Solve this problem using any method to determine the
initial solution and any solution method. Compute the maximum total sales per day.
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Problems B-43

Territory
Salesperson 1 2 3

A $110 $150 $130

B 90 120 80
C 205 160 175
D 125 100 115
E 140 105 150
F 100 140 120
G 180 210 160
H 110 120 90

51. Carolina Airlines, a small commuter airline in North Carolina, has six flight attendants whom it
wants to assign to six monthly flight schedules in a way that will minimize the number of nights
they will be away from their homes. The numbers of nights each attendant must be away from
home with each schedule are given in the following table. Identify the optimal assignments that will
minimize the total number of nights the attendants will be away from home.

Schedule
Attendant A B C D E F

1 7 4 5 10 5 7
2 4 5 4 12 7 5
3 9 9 10 7 10 7
4 11 6 7 5 9 9
5 5 8 5 10 7 5
6 10 12 10 9 9 9

52. The football coaching staff at Tech focuses its recruiting on several key states, including Georgia,
Florida, Virginia, Pennsylvania, New York, and New Jersey. The staff includes seven assistant
coaches, two of whom are responsible for Florida, a high school talentrich state, whereas one
coach is assigned to each of the other five states. The staff has been together for a long time and at
one time or another all the coaches have recruited all of the states. The head coach has accumulated
some data on the past success rate (i.e., percentage of targeted recruits signed) for each coach in
each state as shown in the following table:

State
Coach GA FL VA PA NY NJ

Allen 62 56 65 71 55 63
Bush 65 70 63 81 75 72
Crumb 46 53 62 55 64 50
Doyle 58 66 70 67 71 49
Evans 77 73 69 80 80 74
Fouch 68 73 72 80 78 57
Goins 72 60 74 72 62 61

Determine the optimal assignment of coaches to recruiting regions that will maximize the over-
all success rate and indicate the average percentage success rate for the staff with this assignment.