Assignment problem, Hungarian Method of Solution, Maximization Problems ,Unbalance Assignment problem, Multiple optimum Solution, Prohibited or Restricted Assignments
ASSIGNMENT PROBLEM Introduction: Assignment is a typical optimization technique practically useful in a situation where a certain number of tasks are required to be assigned to an equal number of facilities, on a one to one basis, so that the resultant effectiveness is optimized. eg. Jobs to be assigned to machines or workers, salesmen to the sales territories, vehicles to routes etc. Note: Assignment problem is a case of transportation problems where the number of sources is equal to the number of destinations (i.e. m = n or number of rows = number of columns) and the supply and demand figures for each of the sources and destinations is one. An Assignment Table or Matrix used in the Hungarian method consists of n rows (for say 1, 2, 3, 4 etc) and n columns (for machines A, B, C, D etc.) and its elements indicate the effectiveness (say time required for each machine to perform each of these four jobs) as - Machines Jobs A B ...