TRANSPORTATION, TRANSSHIPMENT, & ASSIGNMENT

CASE PROBLEM
PROBLEM STATEMENT
The Southeastern Conference has nine basketball officials who must be assigned to three
conference 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
OFFICIALS 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

a. Determine the optimal assignment(s) to minimize the total distance traveled by the
officials.
OBJECTIVE FUNCTION: To minimize the total distance traveled by officials represented in:
Minimize Z = 165x1A + 90x1C + 130x1N + 75x2A + 210x2C + 320x2N + 180x3A + 170x3C + 140x3N +
220x4A + 80x4C + 60x4N + 410x5A + 140x5C + 80x5N +150x6A + 170x6C + 190x6N + 170x7A + 110x7C
+ 150x7N + 105x8A + 125x8C + 160x8N + 240x9A + 200x9C + 155x9N
MODEL CONSTRAINTS: The constraints in this problem are:
x1A + x1C + x1N = 1
x2A + x2C + x2N = 1
x3A + x3C + x3N = 1
x4A + x4C + x4N = 1
x5A + x5C + x5N = 1
x6A + x6C + x6N = 1
x7A + x7C + x7N = 1
x8A + x8C + x8N = 1
x9A + x9C + x9N = 1
x1A + x2A + x3A + x4A + x5A + x6A + x7A + x8A + x9A = 1
x1C + x2C + x3C + x4C + x5C + x6C + x7C + x8C + x9C = 1
x1N + x2N + x3N + x4N + x5N + x6N + x7N + x8N + x9N = 1
 xnm≥ 0

The linear programming model for this problem is:

Minimize Z = 165x1A + 90x1C + 130x1N + 75x2A + 210x2C + 320x2N + 180x3A + 170x3C + 140x3N +
220x4A + 80x4C + 60x4N + 410x5A + 140x5C + 80x5N +150x6A + 170x6C + 190x6N + 170x7A + 110x7C
+ 150x7N + 105x8A + 125x8C + 160x8N + 240x9A + 200x9C + 155x9N
Subject to:
x1A + x1C + x1N = 1
x2A + x2C + x2N = 1
x3A + x3C + x3N = 1
x4A + x4C + x4N = 1
x5A + x5C + x5N = 1
x6A + x6C + x6N = 1
x7A + x7C + x7N = 1
x8A + x8C + x8N = 1
x9A + x9C + x9N = 1
x1A + x2A + x3A + x4A + x5A + x6A + x7A + x8A + x9A = 1
x1C + x2C + x3C + x4C + x5C + x6C + x7C + x8C + x9C = 1
x1N + x2N + x3N + x4N + x5N + x6N + x7N + x8N + x9N = 1
xnm≥ 0
Using QM for Windows:

Table 1. Distance Traveled by Officials in Every Game- Case A

Interpretation:
Table 1 shows
that there must be three officials at each destination, therefore there are a total of nine
destinations. The supply at each source and the demand for each destination is limited to one in
the assignment model. The distance that each official should travel should be minimized to get
the optimal solution.
 Table 2. Southeastern Conference Optimal Solution

Interpretation:
Table 2 shows that the optimal solution value is 985 miles, in which the Officials
assigned in Athens are Officials 2, 6, and 8; the Officials assigned in Columbia are Officials 1, 4,
and 7; and the Officials assign in Nashville are Officials 3, 5, and 9. Therefore, assigning
Officials 2, 6, and 8 would minimize the total distance traveled to reach the Athens game. The
same goes with assigning Officials 1, 4, and 7 to reach Columbia and assigning 3, 5, and 9 to
reach Nashville. Also, 985 miles is the total distance that could minimize the traveling
destination in all games.

b. If officials 2 and 8 recently had a 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 in 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?
OBJECTIVE FUNCTION: To minimize the total distance traveled by officials represented in:
Minimize Z = 165x1A + 90x1C + 130x1N + 0x2A + 210x2C + 320x2N + 180x3A + 170x3C + 140x3N +
220x4A + 80x4C + 60x4N + 410x5A + 140x5C + 80x5N +150x6A + 170x6C + 190x6N + 170x7A + 110x7C
+ 150x7N + 0x8A + 125x8C + 160x8N + 240x9A + 200x9C + 155x9N
MODEL CONSTRAINTS: The constraints in this problem are:
x1A + x1C + x1N = 1
x2A + x2C + x2N = 1
x3A + x3C + x3N = 1
x4A + x4C + x4N = 1
x5A + x5C + x5N = 1
x6A + x6C + x6N = 1
 x7A + x7C + x7N = 1
x8A + x8C + x8N = 1
x9A + x9C + x9N = 1
x1A + x2A + x3A + x4A + x5A + x6A + x7A + x8A + x9A = 1
x1C + x2C + x3C + x4C + x5C + x6C + x7C + x8C + x9C = 1
x1N + x2N + x3N + x4N + x5N + x6N + x7N + x8N + x9N = 1
xnm ≥ 0

The linear programming model for this problem is:

Minimize Z = 165x1A + 90x1C + 130x1N + 0x2A + 210x2C + 320x2N + 180x3A + 170x3C + 140x3N +
220x4A + 80x4C + 60x4N + 410x5A + 140x5C + 80x5N +150x6A + 170x6C + 190x6N + 170x7A + 110x7C
+ 150x7N + 0x8A + 125x8C + 160x8N + 240x9A + 200x9C + 155x9N
Subject to:
x1A + x1C + x1N = 1
x2A + x2C + x2N = 1
x3A + x3C + x3N = 1
x4A + x4C + x4N = 1
x5A + x5C + x5N = 1
x6A + x6C + x6N = 1
x7A + x7C + x7N = 1
x8A + x8C + x8N = 1
x9A + x9C + x9N = 1
x1A + x2A + x3A + x4A + x5A + x6A + x7A + x8A + x9A = 1
x1C + x2C + x3C + x4C + x5C + x6C + x7C + x8C + x9C = 1
x1N + x2N + x3N + x4N + x5N + x6N + x7N + x8N + x9N = 1
xnm ≥ 0

Using QM for Windows:

Table 3. Distance Traveled by Officials in Every Game- Case B

Interpretation:
Table 3 shows the distance, measured in miles that will be traveled by each Official to
reach the destination for every game. Since Official 2 and Official 8 will not be assigned to the
Athens game, changing the distance to the longest distance that will be traveled is necessary. By
doing so, QM for Windows will interpret it as the longest distance that must be avoided to obtain
the goal of the Southeastern Conference, which is to minimize the total distance traveled by
officials.

Interpretation: Table 4. Southeastern Conference Optimal Solution- Case B

Table 4 shows that

when officials 2 and 8 were not assigned in the Athens game, the optimal solution becomes
1,220 miles, in which some officials had assigned to different destinations. Officials 3, 6, and 7
changed their destination and has been assigned to the Athens game. Officials 1, 2, and 8 has
been assigned to the Columbia game while Officials 4, 5, and 9 has been assigned to the
Nashville game. Therefore, the minimized total distance traveled in all games has increased by
235 miles.

Contributions:
 Dingle, Lezet Chealsea - Steel Mills and Electronic Firm
 Guanizo, Kristine Mae - Electronic Firm
 Plaza, Shania - South Eastern Conference
 Priolo, Kyle Ivy - South Eastern Conference
 Robles, Rejene Mae - Steel Mills