An Application of Solver in Microsoft Excel for Solving Allocation Problem: A Case of the Research Labs Selection of Engineering Students at Mahasarakham University

Abstract

The objective of this study is to present the solution of the research labs selection and allocation problem of manufacturing engineering (MFE) students at Mahasarakham University using Solver in Microsoft Excel and a mathematical model. In the present research lab allocation, the MFE students must contact the head of that lecturer’s research lab. If that research lab is not full, they will be allocated to the research lab that they chose. If it is full, they must contact and ask the other research labs. This method would likely be inefficient and take a long time unnecessarily. Moreover, many groups of students will be allocated to the research lab they don’t want to choose. This would have an effect on students unsatisfied with doing MFE projects. Therefore, this study focuses on applying Solver to analyze the allocation problem of research labs automatically. The researchers assigned the questionnaires to 28 groups of junior students targeted to answer the questions about the top 3 research labs that they want to choose. Then, information about the research labs of the MFE department, allocation, and selection conditions were collected. Next, a mathematical model which took the place of the research lab allocation problem was developed and solved to find the problem’s solution automatically. The result showed that the allocation problem's solution is presented efficiently within 4 seconds while the old method took at least 4 hours, and the answers are found under the conditions of the MFE department research labs allocation.