Assignment without proper help is like breaking bricks with a head!
So, professionals around the world came up with different solutions for people like me and you to use certain techniques and accomplish tasks efficiently. Excel happens to be one of the approaches which helps people in solving tasks efficiently without going through much trouble.
You can now also manage your work easily like the rest of us. How to solve assignment problem in excel? This is a good question.
Excel aids in optimizing work. Take a look at excel in detail!
What is the excel solver exactly?
It refers to a Microsoft Excel that is a tool to solve constrained optimization issues that is minimize or maximize available constraints’ objective function.
General assignment issues
Optimization of a general assignment is daily trouble you might be facing. The standard is number of assignments or tasks at hand (n) and labors or machines available to complete it (m).
Each of these has a particular cost when performing and also time for each unit to complete work. If you can optimize adequately, then you can minimize production cost and thereby, maximizing profit. Time constraints and gains are what excel helps in solving.
However, take a look at installing the ad-ins before starting to solve task issues.
It is not a default function in excel; hence, you need to add it before understanding How to solve assignment problem in excel. To add you require following steps which are below.
Clicking on option make a window pop up on your computer or laptop display. From there you can go to Excel’s top left corner for opening file menu.
Next, choose add-ins which will pop up another window. Then click on after checking solver will install it in your excel.
Note: If you use 2007 Ms Office then press office button on left upper corner and click Excel option.
Now that you are aware of how to install the solver, you are ready to learn in-depth about how to solve your assignments problem step by step using excel.
Excel solver for solutions
This portion will show you how to solve problems using this tool. Through different formulas, you can find out the constraints and objective function. By implementing the data, one receives through the formula one can incorporate it into excel.
This shows How to solve assignment problem in excel.
Data entry: You should enter the available data first in table form in excel. Each worker’s cost data, as well as time spent, is available. Also, total time along with D and W sets’ conditions are present. Hence, you should first place all available data in excel for a solution to the optimization problem.
Let’s see an example; there are 15 tasks and 5 workers. There is a particular cost for each worker’s task. Hence, there should be a 5×15 table for each worker’s cost. This is your cost table.
Also, time is a factor when workers are completing a job. Hence another 5×15 table which indicates each worker’s required time for each specific task.
This is one answer of How to solve assignment problem in excel!
Variables defining: You must also find which worker did what tasks. Therefore, if there are 5 different workers and 15 jobs, then variables should be 75. This is also updated in table.
If the element’s value in table is 1, then it gives a worker’s accomplished task. However, if it offers a zero value, then that particular worker hasn’t done that task.
The primary objective here for you is to minimize production costing. If it is zero, then that cost is not considered, but if the numerical is one, then it will add to cost. So, when you know How to solve assignment problem in excel you get variable too.
Objective functions: Minimizing cost is the chief objective. In problem formulation, we learn that selected products’ sum should be minimum. Hence the table of cost which offers the data for workers when working as well as not working.
Conditions: There are different conditions which you need to go through such as binary variables, single task for each worker, availability of total time, and large group tasks.
Now you should place all the conditions mentioned above in excel solver. Proceeding to data in the menu bar you can find solver. Clicking it will display a pop up solver parameter window. All these offer guidance on How to solve assignment problem in excel.
Also, if you require adding constraints, all you need is to click on excel solver window’s right-hand side. After putting all the available data all one requires is to press solve button at the bottom of the screen and receive a solution in the objective function form.
After getting this, adding other constraints in solver which are in the problem is the way to go.
Examples of further constraints include novice workers having less than three or four tasks, group one of worker must have at least one or more jobs, etc.
Hence, all these complicated calculations are quickly done by the excel solver, and a person gets an adequate final result.
You get the solution you require quickly without having to waste much time. So, knowing How to solve assignment problem in excel is exceptionally efficient for all people.
Things this tool is used for
Since this program is utilized for finding workforce schedules to minimize costing. Some concepts on which this is used are financial solver, capital budgeting, pricing model, network flow and inventory model, and demand sensitivity when price changes.
Apart from this, this solver is also used in fantasy sports, negotiation solver, and many more. This application solves issues of various concept which is why you should know about it in detail.
So, now that you are aware of the all the functions and have quite a precise knowledge about How to solve assignment problem in excel, no more assignment will be an issue for you from now on.
Just put in all the variables in the excel solver and get the solution you need instantly.
Try it today!