Bottleneck assignment problems under categorization (Q1821678)

This paper considers two special cases of bottleneck grouped assignment problems when n jobs belong to m distinct categories \((m<n)\). Solving these special problems through the available branch and bound algorithms will result in a heavy computational burden. Sequentially identifying nonoptimal variables, this paper provides more efficient methods for those cases. Propositions leading to the algorithms have been established. Numerical examples illustrate the respective algorithms.