Chapter Three

Transportation and Assignment Problems

and Programming

3.1. Transportation Problem (TP)

3.2. Assignment Problem (AP)

By: Getachew Gobena (Asst. Prof.)

3.1. Transportation Problem (TP)

 Distributing any commodity from any group

of supply centers, called sources, to any group of
receiving centers, called destinations, in such a
way as to minimize the total distribution cost
(shipping cost).
 Transportation Problem (TP) Cont’d

• Total supply must be equal total demand.

• If total supply exceeds total demand, a dummy
destination, whose demand equals the difference
between the total supply and total demand is created.
• Similarly if total supply is less than total demand, a
dummy source is created, whose supply equals the
difference.
• All unit shipping costs into a dummy destination or out
of a dummy source are 0.
Example 1: balanced TP
Example 1:
Example 2: UNBALANCED TP

Destination Supply
D1 D2 D3 D4
S1 50 75 35 75 12
Source S2 65 80 60 65 17

S3 40 70 45 55 11
(D) 0 0 0 0 10
Demand 15 10 15 10
Transportation Tableau:
 3.1.1. Initial [BF] Solution Procedure:
 In a transportation model an initial solution can be found by
several alternative methods such as:
i. Northwest corner method
ii. The Minimum cell-cost method,
iii. Vogel’s Approximation Method
I. Northwest Corner Starting Procedure:
 With the northwest corner method, an initial allocation is made to
the cell in the upper left-hand corner of the tableau(Northwest
corner).
 The amount allocated is the most possible, subject to the supply
and demand constraints for the cell.
 Initial Solution Procedure Cont’d:
 The steps of the northwest corner method are as
follows:
1. Allocate as much as possible to the cell in the upper
left-hand corner, subject to the supply and demand
constraints.
2. Allocate as much as possible to the next adjacent
feasible cell.
3. Repeat step 2 until all rim requirements have been
met.
Shipment:
From S1 to: D1= 10 units; D2 = 2units
From S2 to: D2 = 8 units; D3 = 9 units
From S3 to: D3 = 1 unit; D4 = 10 units
Total shipping cost = $2250
 II. The Minimum Cell Cost Method

With the minimum cell cost method, the initial

allocation is made to the cell with the lowest cost.
The steps of the minimum cell cost method are as
follows:
1.Allocate as much as possible to the feasible cell with the
minimum transportation cost.
2.Repeat step 1 until all rim requirements have been met.
Shipment:
From S1 to: D3= 10 units; D4 = 2 units
From S2 to: D2 = 10 units; D4= 7 units
From S3 to: D1 = 10 units; D4 = 1 unit
Total shipping cost = $2065
 III. Vogel’s Approximation Method
 Vogel’s Approximation method (VAM) is based on the
concept of penalty cost or regret.
 If a decision maker incorrectly chooses from several
alternative course of action, a penalty may be suffered and
the decision maker may regret the decision that was made.
In a transportation problem, the course of actions are
the alternative routes and a wrong decision is allocating to
a cell that does not contain the lowest cost.
3. Vogel’s Approximation Method
 The steps of Vogel’s Approximation Method are as
follows:
1.Determine the penalty cost for each row and column by
subtracting the lowest cell cost in the row or column from the next
lowest cell cost in the same row or column.
2.Select the row or column with the highest penalty cost.
3.Allocate as much as possible to the feasible cell with the lowest
transportation cost in the row or column with the highest penalty
cost.
4.Repeat steps 1, 2, and 3 until all rim requirements have been met.
Shipment:
From S1 to: D2 = 2 units; D4 = 10 units
From S2 to: D2 = 7 units; D3 = 10 units
From S3 to: D1 = 10 units; D2 = 1 unit
Total sipping cost = $2030
 3. 2. Assignment Problems

 An assignment problem seeks to minimize the total cost

assignment of m workers to n 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 unit; hence assignment problems may be
solved as linear programs.
 3.2. Assignment Problems Cont’d
Network Representation
c11
1 1
c12
c13

c21
2 c22 2

c31
c32
3 3

WORKERS JOBS
 3.2. Assignment Problems Cont’d

The steps of the assignment solution method are as follows:

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.
 Example 1: Assignment Model

 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.
Projects
A B C
Westside 50 36 16
Subcontractors Federated 28 30 18
Goliath 35 32 20
Universal 25 25 14
 Example 1 Cont’d
 Initial Tableau Setup:
 Since the Hungarian algorithm requires that there be the same
number of rows as columns (Balanced), add a Dummy column so
that the first tableau is:
A B C Dummy
Westside 50 36 16 0
Federated 28 30 18 0
Row
Goliath 35 32 20 0 subtraction
Universal 25 25 14 0
 Example 1 Cont’d
 Initial Tableau Setup:
Step 1: Subtract minimum number in each row from all numbers
in that row. Since each row has a zero, we would simply
generate the same matrix above.
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 Column
Goliath 10 7 6 0 subtraction
Universal 0 0 0 0
 Example 1 Cont’d

Step 3: Draw the minimum number of lines to cover all zeroes.

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.
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 Cont’d

Step 3: Draw the minimum number of lines to cover all zeroes.

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 Cont’d

Step 5: Subtract 1 from uncovered numbers. Add 1 to numbers

covered by two lines. 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 Cont’d

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

Thus, there is a minimum-cost assignment of 0's with this
tableau. The optimal assignment is:

Subcontractor Project Distance

Westside C 16
Federated A 28
Goliath (unassigned)
Universal B 25
Total Distance = 69 miles
Home Take (Balanced Assignment
Problem)
• Assign the jobs to operators so as to have
the optimal assignment is achieved
operators
1 2 3 4 5
1 9 11 14 11 7
2 6 15 13 13 10
Jobs 3 12 13 6 8 8
4 11 9 10 12 9
5 7 12 14 10 14
 Step 1
• Find Raw minimum and subtract all values
from the entire cost matrix of each raw
operators
1 2 3 4 5 Raw Min
1 9 11 14 11 7 7
2 6 15 13 13 10 6
Jobs 3 12 13 6 8 8 6
4 11 9 10 12 9 9
5 7 12 14 10 14 7
 Raw operation subtract min
from each value in the raw
operators
1 2 3 4 5 Raw Min
1 2 4 7 4 0 7
2 0 9 7 7 4 6
Jobs 3 6 7 0 2 2 6
4 2 0 1 3 0 9
5 0 5 7 3 7 7
•If you get one zero in each column Opn reached
otherwise go for column opn
 Step 2. Column operation
operators
1 2 3 4 5
1 2 4 7 4 0
2 0 9 7 7 4
Jobs 3 6 7 0 2 2
4 2 0 1 3 0
5 0 5 7 3 7
•Col Min 0 0 0 2 0
•Subtract colo minimum from each costs
 The new cost matrix will be
operators
1 2 3 4 5
1 2 4 7 2 0
2 0 9 7 5 4
Jobs 3 6 7 0 0 2
4 2 0 1 1 0
5 0 5 7 1 7
•Col Min 0 0 0 2 0
 PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT
PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE!

END OF CHAPTER 3