Applied Mathematical Sciences, Vol. 14, 2020, no.

17, 801 – 809

HIKARI Ltd, www.m-hikari.com
https://doi.org/10.12988/ams.2020.914275

TERM – A Very Simple and Efficient Method to

Solve Assignment Problems

R. Murugesan

Associate Professor, Department of Mathematics

St. John’s College, Palayamkottai-627002
Affiliated to Manonmaniam Sundaranar University, Tirunelveli-627012
Tamil Nadu, India
Corresponding Author

T. Esakkiammal

Full time Research Scholar, Department of Mathematics

St. John’s College, Palayamkottai-627002
Affiliated to Manonmaniam Sundaranar University, Tirunelveli-627012
Tamil Nadu, India

This article is distributed under the Creative Commons by-nc-nd Attribution License.
Copyright © 2020 Hikari Ltd.

Abstract

An assignment problem (AP) is a particular case of a transportation

problem, in which the objective is to assign (or allocate) a number of resources
(say facilities) to an equal number of activities (say jobs) at an overall minimum
total cost, distance, time (or maximum total profit). It occupies a very significant
role in the real physical world for e.g. production planning, particular job tasks,
economic etc. The most common method used to solve the APs is the Hungarian
assignment method (HAM). In this paper, we make an effort to introduce a new
approach to APs namely TERM for solving a wide range of APs with minimum
effort of mathematical calculations. The proposed TERM method is based on the
principle of reducing the given cost matrix to a matrix of opportunity costs
(MOC) having at least one zero in each row and column and making assignments
to the selected zero-entry cells of MOC which ensures best solution for a given
AP. To verify the performance of the TERM method, 30 classical benchmark
instances from the literature have been tested. Simulation results authenticate that
the proposed TERM method is the most efficient method which produces optimal
solution directly to 24 instances (i.e. 80% cases) next to the HAM.
802 R. Murugesan and T. Esakkiammal

Keywords: Assignment problems, Hungarian method, TERM method

1. Introduction
The assignment problem is one of the most essential applications in the real world
and it is a special class of linear programming in which our objective is to assign n
number of jobs to n number of persons at a minimum cost/ maximum profit.
Assignment may be persons to jobs, operators to machines, drivers to trucks,
trucks to delivery routes, classes to rooms, or problems to research teams, etc.
There are various ways to solve the AP. A well known solution is defined by
H.W. Kuhn in 1995 named as Hungarian assignment method (HAM). In the
recent years several methods have been projected by several researchers to find
the optimal solution for APs. First a brief review of literature from the very recent
is presented on the balanced APs followed by on the unbalanced APs.
In 2017, H. D. Afroz and Md. Anwar Hossen [4] introduced a new
proposed approach for solving AP and compared the new method with the
existing two methods. In the same year 2017, Anwar Nsaif Jasim [3] introduced
another method to solve assignment models by using the graph in the general
formula directly. In February 2018, Rajendra B.Patel [7] developed a new method
named Method Of Assignment (MOA) to solve APs and compared the result with
the traditional existing method. In April 2018, R.S. Porchelvi and M. Anitha [6]
presented a new method, namely Average Total Opportunity Cost (ATOC)
assignment method to solve any kind of AP.
In 2017, Abdur Rashid [1] presented an alternative approach for solving
unbalanced AP, which is quite simple and different from the existing approach
available in the literature. In 2018, Anju Khandelwal [2] developed an
amalgamated approach for solving unbalanced AP which contains the devised
technique, computational algorithm of the approach and its implementation
In this paper, we have introduced and proposed a new simple and efficient
method called TERM method. The name TERM is coined from the initials (T.E.
and R.M.) of the authors T. Esakkiammal and R. Murugesan. The basic concepts
of this method are derived from the article “A Revised Version of ASM method
for Solving Transportation Problem” due to S. Abdul Kuddoos and M.M. Khalid.
The performance of the TERM method has been tested over the identified 30
benchmark problems from the literature and the results are compared and
discussed.
The paper is organized as follows: In Section 1, brief introduction is given.
In Section 2, the existing best algorithm of Hungarian assignment method (HAM)
is presented. The algorithm for the proposed new method named TERM is
presented in Section 3. In Section 4, one benchmark problem from the balanced
type has been illustrated by the TERM and HAM methods. Section 5 lists the
identified 30 benchmark assignment problems of balanced, unbalanced categories.
Section 6 demonstrates the comparison of the results and discussion on the TERM
and HAM methods. Lastly, in Section 7 conclusions are drawn.
TERM – a very simple and efficient method to solve assignment problems 803

Unbalanced AP
The Hungarian method as well as the proposed TERM method requires
that the number of rows and columns in the assignment matrix should be equal.
However, when the given cost matrix is not a square matrix, the assignment
problem is called an unbalanced problem. In such cases required number of
dummy row(s) or column(s) are added in the matrix (with zeros as the cost
element in each cell, in the case of solving the AP by the Hungarian method and
with M as the cost element in each cell, in the case of solving the AP by the
TERM method, where M > 0 is a very large but finite positive quantity) to make it
a square matrix. These cells are the treated the same way as the original cost cells
during the solution procedure of the concerned methods.
Maximization AP
If instead of cost matrix, a profit or revenue matrix is given, then the
assignments are made in such a way that the total profit is maximized. The profit
maximization problem has to be transferred to a cost minimization problem before
the proposed TERM method or the Hungarian method has been applied. This
transformation can be done in either of the following two ways: (i) By subtracting
all the elements from the largest element of the matrix. (ii) By multiplying the
matrix elements by -1.

2. Algorithm for the Existing Hungarian Assignment Method

The Hungarian assignment method (HAM), developed by the Hungarian
mathematician D. Konig, is an efficient method of finding the optimal solution of
APs directly without making direct comparison of all possible solutions. This
method works on the principle of reducing the given cost matrix to a matrix of
opportunity costs. Opportunity costs show the relative penalties associated with
assigning a resource to an activity. This method reduces the given assignment cost
matrix to the extent of having at least one zero in each row and column so as to
make optimal assignments. Solution procedure of this well known method is
available in most of the articles published in AP and also in Operations Research
textbooks such as J.K. Sharma [11]. Please refer them for the HAM procedure.

3. Algorithm for the Proposed TERM Method

The TERM method is an efficient method of finding the best solution of an
assignment problem without making a direct comparison of every solution. This
method also works on the principle of reducing the given cost matrix to a matrix
of opportunity costs (MOC) and making assignments to the selected zero-entry
cells of the MOC in a way different from that of by HAM. In this section, the
algorithm for the TERM method (minimization case) for determining the best
solution of APs has been proposed. The following are the sequence of steps
involved in it:
804 R. Murugesan and T. Esakkiammal

(1) Checking the Balanced Condition. Check whether the given AP is

balanced or not. If the AP is balanced, go to Step 3; otherwise, go to Step 2.
(2) Conversion to Balanced AP. If the AP is not balanced, then anyone of
the following two cases may arise:
a) If the number of rows exceeds the number of columns, introduce required
number of additional dummy columns to the assignment table to equalize with the
rows. The unit assignment cost for the cells in these dummy column(s) is set to
‘M’, where M > 0 is a very large but finite positive quantity. Go to Step 3.
or
b) If the number of columns exceeds the number of rows, introduce
required number of additional dummy rows to the assignment table to equalize
with the columns. The unit assignment cost for the cells in these dummy row(s) is
set to ‘M’, where M > 0 is a very large but finite positive quantity. Go to Step 4.
(3) Constructing the Matrix of Opportunity Costs (MOC).
a) Perform the Row Minimum Subtraction (RMS) Operation.
Subtract the minimum cost from each of the costs of every row of the balanced
AP. This will result in a resultant matrix.
b) Perform the Column Minimum Subtraction (CMS) Operation.
Subtract the minimum cost from each of the costs of every column of the
resultant matrix obtained in Step 3(a). Go to Step 5.
(4) Constructing the Matrix of Opportunity Costs (MOC).
a) Perform the Column Minimum Subtraction (CMS) Operation.
Subtract the minimum cost from each of the costs of every column of the
balanced AP. This will result in a resultant matrix.
b) Perform the Row Minimum Subtraction (RMS) Operation.
Subtract the minimum cost from each of the costs of every row of the resultant
matrix obtained in Step 4(a). Go to Step 5.
/* The resultant matrix obtained in Step 3(b) or Step 4(b) is known as the matrix
of opportunity costs (MOC). It is noted that there will be at least one zero entry in
each row and in each column of an MOC. The cells having only zero entries in an
MOC are called zero-entry cells. */
(5) Making assignments in the MOC by applying the Tie Breaking
Techniques.
(i) List all the zero-entry cells (row-wise) from the obtained MOC.
(ii) For each such cell, count the total number of zeros (excluding the selected
one) in its row and column. Now choose a zero-entry cell for which the number of
zeros counted is the minimum and make an assignment to that cell.
(iii) Again, if tie occurs in case of (ii), then make the assignment to that cell for
which the total sum of all the elements in the corresponding row and column (of
MOC) is the maximum.
(iv) Over again, if tie occurs in case of (iii), then among the competing cells,
select the cell at random for assignment. This situation may determine alternative
solutions to the given AP in some situations.
TERM – a very simple and efficient method to solve assignment problems 805

Note: If we include the tie breaking technique “Yet again, if tie occurs in case of
(iii), then make the assignment to that cell for which the cost (of the given
assignment cost matrix) is the minimum” as the (iv)th one in Step (5), it will
restrict in producing alternative solutions in some cases and no other advantage of
it. Therefore, this tie breaking technique is avoided.

(6) Reducing the MOC. After performing Step 5, delete the row as well as the
column of the cell for which assignment is made for further calculation as they
will not be taken into account for making any more assignments..
(7) Developing a new revised MOC. Check whether the resultant matrix
obtained in Step 6 possesses at least one zero in each row and in each column. If
so, go to Step 5 for making the next assignment; otherwise, go to Step 3 or Step 4
accordingly, for constructing a new revised MOC.
(8) Repeat Steps. Repeat Steps 3 to 7 until and unless all the assignments have
been made.
(9) Writing the assignments. Write the assignments one by one row-wise.
(10) Computing the Total Cost. Finally, compute the total cost corresponding to
the assignments [ignoring the assignments in the dummy row(s) or column(s)]
obtained in Step 9 using the original cost matrix.

4. Numerical Illustrations
Suitable illustrative solution makes the readers to understand the proposed TERM
method totally. Bearing in mind, the assignment problem from the literature has
been illustrated.
Example: Consider the Numerical Example (balanced minimization AP), which
is shown in Table 1.

Table 1: The given Balanced Minimization AP

Machines
Jobs M1 M2 M3 M4 M5
J1 5 5 7 4 8
J2 6 5 8 3 7
J3 6 8 9 5 10
J4 7 6 6 3 6
J5 6 7 10 6 11

SOLUTION BY THE TERM METHOD: First, the given balanced minimization

AP is solved using the TERM method. It is a special problem which faces all
possible tie breaking techniques provided in Step (5) of the proposed TERM
method. In particular, during the 1st and 3rd assignments, the tie breaking
techniques (ii) to (iv) provided are applied. Eventually, the TERM method
generates the following two sets of optimal assignments: The optimal assignment
806 R. Murugesan and T. Esakkiammal

set-I is (J1, M2), (J2, M4), (J3, M3), (J4, M5), (J5, M1) with the overall minimum
cost Z = 5 + 3 + 9 + 6 + 6 = $29 and the optimal assignment set-II is (J1, M3), (J2,
M2), (J3, M4), (J4, M5), (J5, M1) with the overall minimum cost Z = 7 + 5 + 5 +
6 + 6 = $29 .
Note: If we include the tie breaking technique “Yet again, if tie occurs in case of
(iii), then make the assignment to that cell for which the cost (of the given
assignment cost matrix) is the minimum” as the (iv)th one in Step (5), and apply it
in solving the above problem, it identifies only the single optimal solution (J1,
M2), (J2, M4), (J3, M3), (J4, M5), (J5, M1) with overall minimum total cost Z = 5
+ 3 + 9 + 6 + 6 = $29. It restricts in producing an alternative optimal solution and
no other advantage of it. Hence this technique is not included.

SOLUTION BY THE HAM: Next, the given AP is solved using the Hungarian
assignment method. The HAM generates four optimal solutions as shown below:
The optimal assignment set-I is (J1, M3), (J2, M2), (J3, M4), (J4, M5), (J5, M1)
with Z = 7+5+5+6+6=$29. The optimal assignment set-II is (J1, M2), (J2, M4),
(J3, M3), (J4, M5), (J5, M1) with Z = 5 + 3 + 9 + 6 + 6 = $29. The optimal
assignment set-III is (J1, M2), (J2, M5), (J3, M4), (J4, M3), (J5, M1) with Z = 5 +
7 + 5 + 6 + 6 = $29. The optimal assignment set-IV is (J1, M3), (J2, M4), (J3,
M1), (J4, M5), (J5, M2) with Z = 7 + 3 + 6 + 6 + 7 = $29.

5. Numerical Examples
To justify the efficiency of the proposed TERM method, we have solved 30
numbers of classical benchmark APs in different sizes, from various literature and
book, which are listed in Table 3. Because of space limitations, the author(s) name
and year of publication only are given.

Table 2: Some classical benchmark APs

Balanced Minimization AP Balanced Maximization AP/
Unbalanced Minimization AP
Problem No.,(Author(s), Year, ) Problem No.,(Author(s), Year)
Problem 1 (Anwar Nsaif Jasim, 2017) Problem 16 (R. S. Porchelvi, et al., 2018)
[Cij] 4×4= [8 20 15 17; 15 16 12 10; 22 19 [Pij] 4×4= [140 112 98 154; 90 72 63 99; 110
16 30; 25 15 12 9] 88 77 121; 80 64 56 88]
Problem 2 (M.D.H. Gamal, 2014) Problem 17 (K.P. Ghadle et al., 2013) )
[Cij] 4 ×4= [4 5 2 5; 3 1 1 4; 13 1 7 4; 12 6 5 [Pij] 4×4= [8 26 17 11; 13 28 4 26; 38 19 18
9] 15; 19 26 24 10]
Problem 3 (K. Ghadle, Y. Muley, 2015) Problem 18 (A. Seethalakshmi et al., 2016) )
[Cij] 4 ×4= [18 26 17 11; 13 28 14 26; 38 19 [Pij] 4×4= [42 35 28 21; 30 25 20 15; 30 25 20
18 15; 19 26 24 10] 15; 24 20 16 12]
Problem 4 (Rajendra B. Patel, 2018) Problem 19 (Aderinto Y.O. et al., 2015 )
[Cij] 4×4= [10 24 30 15; 16 22 28 12; 12 20 [Pij] 5×5= [8 26 34 22 16; 13 52 13 52 26; 38
32 10; 9 26 34 16] 19 36 30 76; 19 26 48 20 38; 46 30 46 22 44]
TERM – a very simple and efficient method to solve assignment problems 807

Problem 5 (H.D. Afroz, M.A. et al., 2017) Problem 20 (J.K. Sharma, 2017 )
[Cij] 5×5= [8 4 2 6 1; 0 9 5 5 4; 3 8 9 2 6; 4 [Pij] 5×5= [32 38 40 28 40; 40 24 28 21 36; 41
3 1 0 3; 9 5 8 9 5] 27 33 30 37; 22 38 41 36 36; 29 33 40 35 39]
Problem 6 (M.D.H. Gamal, 2014) Problem 21 (A. Seethalakshmi, et al., 2017 )
[Cij] 5×5= [12 8 7 0 4; 7 9 1 14 10; 9 0 12 6 [Pij] 5×5= [30 37 40 28 40; 40 24 27 21 36; 40
7; 7 6 14 6 10; 9 6 12 10 6] 32 33 30 35; 25 38 40 36 36; 29 62 41 44 39]
Problem 7 (A. Ahamed et al., 2014) Problem 22 (Hadi Basirzadeh, 2012 )
[Cij] 5×5= [5 5 7 4 8; 6 5 8 3 7; 6 8 9 5 10; 7 [Pij] 5×5= [5 11 10 12 4; 2 4 6 3 5; 3 12 5 14
6 6 3 6; 6 7 10 6 11] 6;; 6 14 4 11 7; 7 9 8 12 5]
Problem 8 (M.D.H. Gamal, 2014) Problem 23 (N. Sujatha, AVSN Murthy,
[Cij] 5×5= [7 8 4 15 12; 7 9 1 14 10; 9 1 1 6 2015)
7; 7 6 14 6 10; 1 6 12 10 6] [Pij] 4×3= [11 8 8; 4 33 5; 10 33 5; 1 25 10]
Problem 9 (K.P. Ghadle, et al., 2013) Problem 24 (N. Sujatha, AVSN Murthy,
[Cij] 5×5= [12 8 7 15 4; 7 9 1 14 10; 9 6 12 2015)
6 7; 7 6 14 6 10; 9 6 12 10 6] [Cij] 4×5= [5 7 11 6 5; 8 5 5 6 5; 6 7 8 2 4; 10
4 8 2 4]
Problem 10 (Anuj Khandelwal, 2014) Problem 25 (J.K. Sharma, 2017)
[Cij] 5×5= [4 6 7 5 11; 7 3 6 9 5; 8 5 4 6 9; 9 [Cij] 5×4= [9 14 19 15; 7 17 20 19; 9 18 21
12 7 11 10; 7 5 9 8 11] 18; 10 12 18 19; 10 15 21 16]
Problem 11 (Anuj Khandelwal, 2014) Problem 26 (Abdur Rashid, 2017)
[Cij] 5×5= [2 9 2 7 1; 6 8 7 6 1; 4 6 5 3 1; 4 [Cij] 6×4= [3 6 2 6; 7 1 4 4; 3 8 5 8; 6 4 3 7; 5
2 7 3 1; 5 3 5 9 1] 2 4 4; 5 7 6 2] OS by TERM = 8 veirfy
Problem 12 (A. Thirupathy, et al., 2015) Problem 27 (A. K. Rashid, 2018)
[Cij] 5×5= [20 30 25 15 35; 25 10 40 12 28; [Cij] 6×4= [6 5 1 6; 2 5 3 7; 3 7 2 8; 7 7 5 9;
15 18 22 32 24; 29 8 43 10 40; 35 23 17 26 12 8 8 6; 6 9 5 10]
45]
Problem 13 (Aderinto Y.O., Oke M.O., Problem 28 (J.G. Kotwal,T.S. Dhope, 2015)
Raji R.A, 2015) [Cij] 8×4= [53 62 42 89; 18 35 39 55; 93 80
[Cij] 5×5= [280 220 310 340 360; 230 200 91 83; 79 23 96 56; 43 16 12 20; 87 70 87 31;
220 280 310; 240 200 270 300 310 ; 60 130 35 79 25 59; 27 16 12 20]
60 130 180; 70 100 30 120 170] 880
Problem 14 (J.K. Sharma, 2017) Problem 29 (V. Yadaiah, et al., 2016)
[Cij] 5×5= [85 75 65 125 75; 90 78 66 132 [Cij] 8×5= [300 290 280 290 210; 250 310
78; 75 66 57 114 69; 80 72 60 120 72; 76 64290 300 200; 180 190 300 190 180; 320 180
56 112 68] 190 240 170; 270 210 190 250 160; 190 200
220 190 140; 220 300 230 180 160; 260 190
260 210 180]
Problem 15 (M. Khalid, M. Sultana, F. Problem 30 (J.G.Kotwal, T.S. Dhope, 2015)
Zaidi, 2014) [Cij] 10×4= [11 8 9 8; 4 5 29 33; 10 5 29 33; 1
[Cij] 6×6= [20 23 18 10 16 20; 50 20 17 16 18 25 31; 23 22 33 30; 3 9 13 19; 6 8 27 32;
15 11; 60 30 40 55 8 7; 6 7 10 20 25 9; 18 32 30 39 38; 36 35 31 21; 15 11 10 28]
19 28 17 60 70; 9 10 20 30 40 55]
808 R. Murugesan and T. Esakkiammal

Note: Problems 1 – 15 are balanced minimization case, 16 – 22 are balanced

maximization case, 23 is unbalanced maximization case and 24 – 30 are
unbalanced minimization case.

6. Result Analysis
To measure the effectiveness of the proposed TERM method, 20 benchmark
problems have been tested and the results are compared with the results of the
existing Hungarian assignment method (HAM). The comparison of results is
shown in Table 3.
Table 3: Comparison of results obtained by the TERM and Hungarian methods
Problem TER HAM Problem TER HA
No. # M No. # M M
1. 48 48 11. 13 13 21. *213 214
2. 14 14 12. *83 81 22. 50 50
3. 59 59 13. 900 900 23. 54 54
4. 71 71 14. *400 399 24. 15 15
5. 09 09 15. 67 67 25. *55 54
6. 14 14 16. 392 392 26. 08 08
7. 29 29 17. 114 114 27. *16 15
8. 21 21 18. 99 99 28. 84 84
9. 24 24 19. 248 248 29. 880 880
10. 27 27 20. 191 191 30. *37 *43

From Table 4, we discover that out of 30 benchmark problems tested, for 24

problems the proposed TERM method has produced optimal solution directly next
to the HAM. However, it is noted that, for Problems 12, 14, 21, 25, 27 and 30 the
proposed TERM method has failed to produce optimal solution directly. But, for
these problems the generated solutions are very close to the optimal solutions
($83, $81) ($400, $399), ($213, $214), ($55, $54), ($16, $15) and ($37, $43).
Further, it is observed that for Problem No. 30, the TERM method has produced
better solution ($37) than that of by the HAM ($43). But, the optimal assignment
for this problem due to N. Sujatha and A.V.S.N. Murthy [5] is 1 – 4, 2 – 2, 4 – 1,
10 – 3 with the overall minimum cost Z = $24 only.

7. Conclusion
In this paper, we have proposed a new approach named TERM, which is a very
simple and efficient method of finding the best solution of an assignment
problem. To verify the performance of the proposed method, 30 benchmark APs
(balanced minimization and maximization cases, and unbalanced minimization
and maximization cases) from the literature have been tested. Simulation results
TERM – a very simple and efficient method to solve assignment problems 809

validate that the TERM method produces optimal solution directly to 80% of the
cases.

References
[1] Abdur Rashid, An Alternative Approach for Solving Unbalanced
Assignment Problems, Jahangirnagar University Journal of Science, 40 (2)
(2017), 45-56.
[2] Anju Khandelwal, An Amalgamated Approach for Solving Unbalanced
Assignment Problem, Malaya Journal of Mathematik, 6 (2) (2018), 321-325.
https://doi.org/10.26637/mjm0602/0003
[3] Anwar Nsaif Jasim, A New Method to Solve Assignment Models, Applied
Mathematical Sciences, 11 (54) (2017), 2663-2670.
https://doi.org/10.12988/ams.2017.78252
[4] H.D. Afroz and Md. Anwar Hossen, New Proposed Method for Solving
Assignment Problem and Comparative Study with the Existing Methods, IOSR
Journal of Mathematics (IOSR-JM), 13 (2) (2017), 84-88.
https://doi.org/10.9790/5728-1302048488
[5] N. Sujatha and A.V.S.N. Murthy, An Advanced Method for Finding
Optimal Solution of Assignment Problem, International Journal of Science and
Research, 5 (5) (2016), 1352-1353. https://doi.org/10.21275/v5i4.6041604
[6] R. S. Porchelvi and M. Anitha, Optimal Solution for Assignment Problem
by Average Total Opportunity Cost Method, Journal of Mathematics and
Informatics, 13 (2018), 21-27. https://doi.org/10.22457/jmi.v13a3
[7] Rajendra B. Patel, Solution of Assignment Problem with New Method,
Compared with Traditional Existing Method, International Journal of Advance
Engineering and Research Development, 5 (2) (2018).

Received: October 1, 2020; Published: October 23, 2020