Assignment Problem

The Assignment Model

Characteristics

• Special form of linear programming model similar to the

transportation model.
• Supply at each source and demand at each destination limited to
one unit.
• In a balanced model supply equals demand.
• In an unbalanced model supply does not equal demand.
 Assignment Problem
 This method can solve a special form of LP problem,
including the classical assignment problem, with these
typical characteristics:
 is a special case of a transportation problem
 the right-hand sides of constraints are all 1
 the signs of the constraints are = rather than < or >
 the value of all decision variables is either 0 or 1
 Assignment Problem
 An assignment problem seeks to minimize the total cost
assignment of m workers to m jobs, given that the cost of
worker i performing job j is cij.
 It assumes all workers are assigned and each job is
performed.
 An assignment problem is a special case of a transportation
problem in which all supplies and all demands are equal to
1; hence assignment problems may be solved as linear
programs.
 The network representation of an assignment problem with
three workers and three jobs is shown on the next slide.
 Assignment Problem
 Network Representation
c11
11 1
c12
c13

c21
c22
2 2
c23

c31 c32

3 3
c33
WORKERS JOBS
 Assignment Problem –
Cost Matrix
Let the following represent the standard assignment problem
cost matrix, c:

Tasks
1 2 … n
1 c 11 c 12 … c 1n
Assignees 2 c 21 c 22 … c 2n
… …
n c n1 c n2 … c nn
 Assignment Problem
 Linear Programming Formulation

Min cijxij
ij
s.t. xij = 1 for each resource (row) i
j

xij = 1 for each job (column) j

i
xij = 0 or 1 for all i and j.

 Note: A modification to the right-hand side of the first

constraint set can be made if a worker is permitted to work
more than 1 job.
 Hungarian Method
 The Hungarian method solves minimization assignment
problems with m workers and m jobs.
 Special considerations can include:
 number of workers does not equal the number of
jobs — add dummy workers/jobs with 0 assignment
costs as needed
 worker i cannot do job j — assign cij = +M
 maximization objective — create an opportunity loss
matrix subtracting all profits for each job from the
maximum profit for that job before beginning the
Hungarian method
 Hungarian Method
 Step 1: For each row, subtract the minimum number in
that row from all numbers in that row.
 Step 2: For each column, subtract the minimum number
in that column from all numbers in that column.
 Step 3: Draw the minimum number of lines to cover all
zeroes. If this number = m, STOP — an assignment can
be made.
 Step 4: Determine the minimum uncovered number
(call it d).
 Subtract d from uncovered numbers.
 Add d to numbers covered by two lines.
 Numbers covered by one line remain the same.
 Then, GO TO STEP 3.
 Hungarian Method
 Finding the Minimum Number of Lines and Determining the
Optimal Solution
 Step 1: Find a row or column with only one unlined zero
and circle it. (If all rows/columns have two or more unlined
zeroes choose an arbitrary zero.)
 Step 2: If the circle is in a row with one zero, draw a line
through its column. If the circle is in a column with one
zero, draw a line through its row. One approach, when all
rows and columns have two or more zeroes, is to draw a
line through one with the most zeroes, breaking ties
arbitrarily.
 Step 3: Repeat step 2 until all circles are lined. If this
minimum number of lines equals m, the circles provide the
optimal assignment.
 Assignment Problem –
Hungarian Method
Consider following cost matrix.
Tasks
1 2 3 4 Row Minimum
1 14 5 8 7 5
Assignees 2 2 12 6 5 2
3 7 8 3 9 3
4 2 4 6 10 2

Reduce by Row Minimum.

Tasks
1 2 3 4
1 9 0 3 2
Assignees 2 0 10 4 3
3 4 5 0 6
4 0 2 4 8
Column Min 0 0 0 2
 Assignment Problem –
Hungarian Method
Reduced by Column Minimum:
Tasks
1 2 3 4
1 9 0 3 0
Assignees 2 0 10 4 1
3 4 5 0 4
4 0 2 4 6

Reduce by Minimum of uncovered cells (1):

Tasks
1 2 3 4
1 10 0 3 0
Assignees 2 0 9 3 0
3 5 5 0 4
4 0 1 3 5
 Assignment Problem –
Hungarian Method

Solution is now optimal since minimum number of lines to

cover all 0 is 4 (equal to n).

Tasks
1 2 3 4
1 10 0 3 0
Assignees 2 0 9 3 0
3 5 5 0 4
4 0 1 3 5

A3 -> T3, A1 -> T2, A2 -> T4, A4 -> T1

Z = 3 + 5 + 5 + 2 = 15
 Example 1: AP
A contractor pays his subcontractors a fixed fee plus mileage for work
performed. On a given day the contractor is faced with three electrical
jobs associated with various projects. Given below are the distances
between the subcontractors and the projects.
Project
A B C
Westside 50 36 16
Subcontractors Federated 28 30 18
Goliath 35 32 20
Universal 25 25 14

How should the contractors be assigned to minimize total costs?

Note: There are four subcontractors and three projects. We create a
dummy project Dum, which will be assigned to one subcontractor (i.e.
that subcontractor will remain idle)
 Example 1: AP
 Network Representation (note the dummy
project) West. 50
A
36

0 16

28
30
Fed. B
18
0

35 32
20
Gol. C
0

25 25
14
Univ. Dum.
0
 Example 1: AP
 Initial Tableau Setup
Since the Hungarian algorithm requires that there be the
same number of rows as columns, add a Dummy column
so that the first tableau is (the smallest elements in each
row are marked red):

A B C Dummy
Westside 50 36 16 0
Federated 28 30 18 0
Goliath 35 32 20 0
Universal 25 25 14 0
 Example 1: AP
 Step 1: Subtract minimum number in each row from all
numbers in that row. Since each row has a zero, we
simply generate the original matrix (the smallest
elements in each column are marked red). This yields:

A B C Dummy
Westside 50 36 16 0
Federated 28 30 18 0
Goliath 35 32 20 0
Universal 25 25 14 0
 Example 1: AP
 Step 2: Subtract the minimum number in each column
from all numbers in the column. For A it is 25, for B it is
25, for C it is 14, for Dummy it is 0. This yields:

A B C Dummy
Westside 25 11 2 0
Federated 3 5 4 0
Goliath 10 7 6 0
Universal 0 0 0 0
 Example 1: AP
 Step 3: Draw the minimum number of lines to cover all zeroes
Step 3: Draw the minimum number of lines to cover all zeroes
(called minimum cover). Although one can "eyeball" this
minimum, use the following algorithm. If a "remaining" row has
only one zero, draw a line through the column. If a remaining
column has only one zero in it, draw a line through the row. Since
the number of lines that cover all zeros is 2 < 4 (# of rows), the
current solution is not optimal.

A B C Dummy
Westside 25 11 2 0
Federated 3 5 4 0
Goliath 10 7 6 0
Universal 0 0 0 0

 Step 4: The minimum uncovered number is 2 (circled).

 Example 1: AP
 Step 5: Subtract 2 from uncovered numbers; add 2 to
all numbers at line intersections; leave all other numbers
intact. This gives:

A B C Dummy
Westside 23 9 0 0
Federated 1 3 2 0
Goliath 8 5 4 0
Universal 0 0 0 2
 Example 1: AP
 Step 3: Draw the minimum number of lines to cover all
zeroes. Since 3 (# of lines) < 4 (# of rows), the current
solution is not optimal.
A B C Dummy
Westside 23 9 0 0
Federated 1 3 2 0
Goliath 8 5 4 0
Universal 0 0 0 2

 Step 4: The minimum uncovered number is 1 (circled).

 Example 1: AP
 Step 5: Subtract 1 from uncovered numbers. Add 1 to
numbers at intersections. Leave other numbers intact. This
gives:

A B C Dummy
Westside 23 9 0 1
Federated 0 2 1 0
Goliath 7 4 3 0
Universal 0 0 0 3
 Example 1: AP
Find the minimum cover:

A B C Dummy
Westside 23 9 0 1
Federated 0 2 1 0
Goliath 7 4 3 0
Universal 0 0 0 3

 Step 4: The minimum number of lines to cover all 0's is four.

Thus, the current solution is optimal (minimum cost)
assignment.
 Example 1: AP
The optimal assignment occurs at locations of zeros such
that there is exactly one zero in each row and each
column:

A B C Dummy
Westside 23 9 0 1
Federated 0 2 1 0
Goliath 7 4 3 0
Universal 0 0 0 3
 Example 1: AP
The optimal assignment is (go back to the original table for
the distances):

Subcontractor Project Distance

Westside C 16
Federated A 28
Universal B 25
Goliath (unassigned)
Total Distance = 69 miles
 Example 1: AP via LP
 In our example the LP formulation is:
Min z = 50x11 + 36x12 + 16x13 + 0x14 + 28x21 + 30x22 + 18x23 +
0x24 + 35x31 + 32x32 + 20x33 + 0x34 + + 25x41 + 25x42 + 14x43 +
0x44
s.t.
x11 + x12 + x13 + x14 = 1 (row 1)
x21 + x22 + x23 + x24 = 1 (row 2)
x31 + x32 + x33 + x34 = 1 (row 3)
x41 + x42 + x43 + x44 = 1 (row 4)
x11 + x21 + x31 + x41 = 1 (column 1)
x12 + x22 + x32 + x42 = 1 (column 2)
x13 + x23 + x33 + x43 = 1 (column 3)
x14 + x24 + x34 + x44 = 1 (column 4)
xij >= 0 for i = 1, 2, 3, 4 and j = 1, 2, 3, 4 (nonnegativity)
 Assignment Problem –
Conversion to Standard Cost Matrix
Consider following cost matrix, how do you convert to satisfy
the standard definition of the assignment problem?
Tasks
1 2 3 4
1 10 9 8 7
Assignees 2 4 - 5 6
3 2 1 8 -

Add “big M” to avoid incompatible assignments, and add a

dummy assignee (or task) to have equal assignees and tasks.
Tasks
1 2 3 4
1 10 9 8 7
Assignees 2 4 M 5 6
3 2 1 8 M
4 0 0 0 0