Grouping Numbers

M

meighkee

New Member
Joined
Sep 3, 2008
Messages
43
Greetings,

I need help with something I was tasked to do for work. I'm familiar enough with Excel to know this is possible, but not sure how to develop the formula. I have a list of items with prices that I want to group into 4 similar totals. For example, I may have 12 items (no particular order) that I want to divide up into 4 groups, each with a total cost somewhat close to the other groups. Excel will look at the list of cells with numbers, and change the order into 4 groups each with similar totals. I hope that makes sense.

Don't see an option to post an attachment, but have a simple example I can provide.

Any help greatly appreciated.

Thank You,
 

Excel Facts

Whats the difference between CONCAT and CONCATENATE?
The newer CONCAT function can reference a range of cells. =CONCATENATE(A1,A2,A3,A4,A5) becomes =CONCAT(A1:A5)
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You could use the Solver for something like this. If you don't have the Solver installed, click File > Options > Add-ins > Excel Add-ins (on the bottom) > Go > check the Solver box > OK.

Now set up your sheet like this:

Excel 2012
ABCDEFGHIJ
ProductPriceGroupGroup1Group2Group3Group4Difference
Product 1
Product 2
Product 3
Product 4
Product 5
Product 6
Product 7
Product 8
Product 9
Product 10
Product 11
Product 12
Product 13
Product 14
Product 15
Product 16
Product 17
Product 18
Product 19
Product 20

<tbody>
[TD="align: center"]1[/TD]

[TD="align: right"][/TD]

[TD="align: right"][/TD]

[TD="align: center"]2[/TD]

[TD="align: right"]11[/TD]
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[TD="align: right"]0[/TD]
[TD="align: right"]0[/TD]
[TD="align: right"]0[/TD]
[TD="align: right"]0[/TD]
[TD="align: right"][/TD]
[TD="align: right"][/TD]

[TD="align: center"]3[/TD]

[TD="align: right"]68[/TD]
[TD="align: right"][/TD]
[TD="align: right"][/TD]
[TD="align: right"]0[/TD]
[TD="align: right"]0[/TD]
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[TD="align: center"]4[/TD]

[TD="align: right"]89[/TD]
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[TD="align: center"]6[/TD]

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[TD="align: center"]7[/TD]

[TD="align: right"]95[/TD]
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[TD="align: center"]9[/TD]

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[TD="align: center"]10[/TD]

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[TD="align: center"]11[/TD]

[TD="align: right"]99[/TD]
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[TD="align: center"]12[/TD]

[TD="align: right"]79[/TD]
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[TD="align: center"]13[/TD]

[TD="align: right"]1[/TD]
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[TD="align: center"]14[/TD]

[TD="align: right"]12[/TD]
[TD="align: right"][/TD]
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[TD="align: center"]15[/TD]

[TD="align: right"]51[/TD]
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[TD="align: center"]16[/TD]

[TD="align: right"]50[/TD]
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[TD="align: center"]20[/TD]

[TD="align: right"]10[/TD]
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[TD="align: center"]21[/TD]

[TD="align: right"]90[/TD]
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[TD="align: right"][/TD]

</tbody>
Sheet1​

[TABLE="width: 85%"]
<tbody>[TR]
[TD]Worksheet Formulas[TABLE="width: 100%"]
<tbody>[TR]
[TH]Cell[/TH]
[TH="align: left"]Formula[/TH]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TH]E2[/TH]
[TD="align: left"]=COUNTIF($C$2:$C$21,1)[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TH]F2[/TH]
[TD="align: left"]=COUNTIF($C$2:$C$21,2)[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TH]G2[/TH]
[TD="align: left"]=COUNTIF($C$2:$C$21,3)[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TH]H2[/TH]
[TD="align: left"]=COUNTIF($C$2:$C$21,4)[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TH]E3[/TH]
[TD="align: left"]=SUMIF($C$2:$C$21,1,$B$2:$B$21)[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TH]F3[/TH]
[TD="align: left"]=SUMIF($C$2:$C$21,2,$B$2:$B$21)[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TH]G3[/TH]
[TD="align: left"]=SUMIF($C$2:$C$21,3,$B$2:$B$21)[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TH]H3[/TH]
[TD="align: left"]=SUMIF($C$2:$C$21,4,$B$2:$B$21)[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TH]J3[/TH]
[TD="align: left"]=ABS(MAX(E3:H3)-MIN(E3:H3))[/TD]
[/TR]
</tbody>[/TABLE]
[/TD]
[/TR]
</tbody>[/TABLE]



Go to the Data tab, click Solver, and set up the problem like this:

Set Objective: J3
To: Min
By Changing Variable cells: C2:C21
Subject to the Constraints:
C2:C21<=4
C2:C21=integer
C2:C21 >=1
E2:H2=5
Solving Method: Evolutionary

Click Solve. The values in C2:C21 will be which group each product should go in. You can probably figure out what all the values are: 5 is the number of items in each group, 4 is the number of groups, etc. The Solver will go through thousands of combinations, and the J3 formula calculates the difference between the largest group and the smallest group. When that is minimized, you have your "best" combination.

Hope this helps.
 
Last edited:
Upvote 0
Thanks very much Eric. Will take a day or two to put this into work. Greatly appreciate your timely response. Will let you know how it's working for me.
 
Upvote 0
Eric W said:
You could use the Solver for something like this. If you don't have the Solver installed, click File > Options > Add-ins > Excel Add-ins (on the bottom) > Go > check the Solver box > OK.

Now set up your sheet like this:

Excel 2012
ABCDEFGHIJ
ProductPriceGroupGroup1Group2Group3Group4Difference
Product 1
Product 2
Product 3
Product 4
Product 5
Product 6
Product 7
Product 8
Product 9
Product 10
Product 11
Product 12
Product 13
Product 14
Product 15
Product 16
Product 17
Product 18
Product 19
Product 20

<tbody>
[TD="align: center"]1[/TD]

[TD="align: right"][/TD]

[TD="align: right"][/TD]

[TD="align: center"]2[/TD]

[TD="align: right"]11[/TD]
[TD="align: right"][/TD]
[TD="align: right"][/TD]
[TD="align: right"]0[/TD]
[TD="align: right"]0[/TD]
[TD="align: right"]0[/TD]
[TD="align: right"]0[/TD]
[TD="align: right"][/TD]
[TD="align: right"][/TD]

[TD="align: center"]3[/TD]

[TD="align: right"]68[/TD]
[TD="align: right"][/TD]
[TD="align: right"][/TD]
[TD="align: right"]0[/TD]
[TD="align: right"]0[/TD]
[TD="align: right"]0[/TD]
[TD="align: right"]0[/TD]
[TD="align: right"][/TD]
[TD="align: right"]0[/TD]

[TD="align: center"]4[/TD]

[TD="align: right"]89[/TD]
[TD="align: right"][/TD]
[TD="align: right"][/TD]
[TD="align: right"][/TD]
[TD="align: right"][/TD]
[TD="align: right"][/TD]
[TD="align: right"][/TD]
[TD="align: right"][/TD]
[TD="align: right"][/TD]

[TD="align: center"]5[/TD]

[TD="align: right"]33[/TD]
[TD="align: right"][/TD]
[TD="align: right"][/TD]
[TD="align: right"][/TD]
[TD="align: right"][/TD]
[TD="align: right"][/TD]
[TD="align: right"][/TD]
[TD="align: right"][/TD]
[TD="align: right"][/TD]

[TD="align: center"]6[/TD]

[TD="align: right"]72[/TD]
[TD="align: right"][/TD]
[TD="align: right"][/TD]
[TD="align: right"][/TD]
[TD="align: right"][/TD]
[TD="align: right"][/TD]
[TD="align: right"][/TD]
[TD="align: right"][/TD]
[TD="align: right"][/TD]

[TD="align: center"]7[/TD]

[TD="align: right"]95[/TD]
[TD="align: right"][/TD]
[TD="align: right"][/TD]
[TD="align: right"][/TD]
[TD="align: right"][/TD]
[TD="align: right"][/TD]
[TD="align: right"][/TD]
[TD="align: right"][/TD]
[TD="align: right"][/TD]

[TD="align: center"]8[/TD]

[TD="align: right"]14[/TD]
[TD="align: right"][/TD]
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[TD="align: right"][/TD]
[TD="align: right"][/TD]
[TD="align: right"][/TD]

[TD="align: center"]9[/TD]

[TD="align: right"]87[/TD]
[TD="align: right"][/TD]
[TD="align: right"][/TD]
[TD="align: right"][/TD]
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[TD="align: right"][/TD]
[TD="align: right"][/TD]
[TD="align: right"][/TD]
[TD="align: right"][/TD]

[TD="align: center"]10[/TD]

[TD="align: right"]53[/TD]
[TD="align: right"][/TD]
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[TD="align: right"][/TD]
[TD="align: right"][/TD]
[TD="align: right"][/TD]
[TD="align: right"][/TD]
[TD="align: right"][/TD]

[TD="align: center"]11[/TD]

[TD="align: right"]99[/TD]
[TD="align: right"][/TD]
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[TD="align: right"][/TD]
[TD="align: right"][/TD]
[TD="align: right"][/TD]
[TD="align: right"][/TD]
[TD="align: right"][/TD]
[TD="align: right"][/TD]

[TD="align: center"]12[/TD]

[TD="align: right"]79[/TD]
[TD="align: right"][/TD]
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[TD="align: right"][/TD]
[TD="align: right"][/TD]
[TD="align: right"][/TD]
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[TD="align: right"][/TD]

[TD="align: center"]13[/TD]

[TD="align: right"]1[/TD]
[TD="align: right"][/TD]
[TD="align: right"][/TD]
[TD="align: right"][/TD]
[TD="align: right"][/TD]
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[TD="align: center"]14[/TD]

[TD="align: right"]12[/TD]
[TD="align: right"][/TD]
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[TD="align: right"][/TD]
[TD="align: right"][/TD]

[TD="align: center"]15[/TD]

[TD="align: right"]51[/TD]
[TD="align: right"][/TD]
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[TD="align: right"][/TD]
[TD="align: right"][/TD]
[TD="align: right"][/TD]
[TD="align: right"][/TD]
[TD="align: right"][/TD]

[TD="align: center"]16[/TD]

[TD="align: right"]50[/TD]
[TD="align: right"][/TD]
[TD="align: right"][/TD]
[TD="align: right"][/TD]
[TD="align: right"][/TD]
[TD="align: right"][/TD]
[TD="align: right"][/TD]
[TD="align: right"][/TD]
[TD="align: right"][/TD]

[TD="align: center"]17[/TD]

[TD="align: right"]23[/TD]
[TD="align: right"][/TD]
[TD="align: right"][/TD]
[TD="align: right"][/TD]
[TD="align: right"][/TD]
[TD="align: right"][/TD]
[TD="align: right"][/TD]
[TD="align: right"][/TD]
[TD="align: right"][/TD]

[TD="align: center"]18[/TD]

[TD="align: right"]7[/TD]
[TD="align: right"][/TD]
[TD="align: right"][/TD]
[TD="align: right"][/TD]
[TD="align: right"][/TD]
[TD="align: right"][/TD]
[TD="align: right"][/TD]
[TD="align: right"][/TD]
[TD="align: right"][/TD]

[TD="align: center"]19[/TD]

[TD="align: right"]25[/TD]
[TD="align: right"][/TD]
[TD="align: right"][/TD]
[TD="align: right"][/TD]
[TD="align: right"][/TD]
[TD="align: right"][/TD]
[TD="align: right"][/TD]
[TD="align: right"][/TD]
[TD="align: right"][/TD]

[TD="align: center"]20[/TD]

[TD="align: right"]10[/TD]
[TD="align: right"][/TD]
[TD="align: right"][/TD]
[TD="align: right"][/TD]
[TD="align: right"][/TD]
[TD="align: right"][/TD]
[TD="align: right"][/TD]
[TD="align: right"][/TD]
[TD="align: right"][/TD]

[TD="align: center"]21[/TD]

[TD="align: right"]90[/TD]
[TD="align: right"][/TD]
[TD="align: right"][/TD]
[TD="align: right"][/TD]
[TD="align: right"][/TD]
[TD="align: right"][/TD]
[TD="align: right"][/TD]
[TD="align: right"][/TD]
[TD="align: right"][/TD]

</tbody>
Sheet1​

[TABLE="width: 85%"]
<tbody>[TR]
[TD]Worksheet Formulas[TABLE="width: 100%"]
<tbody>[TR]
[TH]Cell[/TH]
[TH="align: left"]Formula[/TH]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TH]E2[/TH]
[TD="align: left"]=COUNTIF($C$2:$C$21,1)[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TH]F2[/TH]
[TD="align: left"]=COUNTIF($C$2:$C$21,2)[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TH]G2[/TH]
[TD="align: left"]=COUNTIF($C$2:$C$21,3)[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TH]H2[/TH]
[TD="align: left"]=COUNTIF($C$2:$C$21,4)[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TH]E3[/TH]
[TD="align: left"]=SUMIF($C$2:$C$21,1,$B$2:$B$21)[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TH]F3[/TH]
[TD="align: left"]=SUMIF($C$2:$C$21,2,$B$2:$B$21)[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TH]G3[/TH]
[TD="align: left"]=SUMIF($C$2:$C$21,3,$B$2:$B$21)[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TH]H3[/TH]
[TD="align: left"]=SUMIF($C$2:$C$21,4,$B$2:$B$21)[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TH]J3[/TH]
[TD="align: left"]=ABS(MAX(E3:H3)-MIN(E3:H3))[/TD]
[/TR]
</tbody>[/TABLE]
[/TD]
[/TR]
</tbody>[/TABLE]



Go to the Data tab, click Solver, and set up the problem like this:

Set Objective: J3
To: Min
By Changing Variable cells: C2:C21
Subject to the Constraints:
C2:C21<=4
C2:C21=integer
C2:C21 >=1
E2:H2=5
Solving Method: Evolutionary

Click Solve. The values in C2:C21 will be which group each product should go in. You can probably figure out what all the values are: 5 is the number of items in each group, 4 is the number of groups, etc. The Solver will go through thousands of combinations, and the J3 formula calculates the difference between the largest group and the smallest group. When that is minimized, you have your "best" combination.

Hope this helps.
Click to expand...

Good Morning Eric,

When inputting the Solver data, the line - C2:C21=integer - is giving me the following error message when using the word integer as a constraint. "Constraint must be a number, simple reference, or formula with a numeric value." Should I actually be plugging in a cell location rather than using the word 'integer'?

Thanks much,
 
Upvote 0
You don't type the word integer. When you enter the constraint, you put the range in the left box, and there's a drop-down in the middle with the operator. Click the drop-down and select "int".
 
Upvote 0
Eric W said:
You don't type the word integer. When you enter the constraint, you put the range in the left box, and there's a drop-down in the middle with the operator. Click the drop-down and select "int".
Click to expand...

Can you give me an example of the range?
 
Upvote 0
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