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General Motors Optimizes Its Scheduling of Cold-Weather Tests

Author

Listed:
  • Chih-Cheng Hsu

    (Operations Research Department, General Motors, 585 South Boulevard, MC: 483-585-372, Pontiac, Michigan 48341)

  • Yvan de Blois

    (Canadian Regional Engineering Center, General Motors of Canada, 500 Wentworth Street West, MC: CA1-115-001, Oshawa, Ontario, Canada L1J 6G5)

  • Murray James Pyle

    (Operations Research Department, General Motors, 585 South Boulevard, MC: 483-585-372, Pontiac, Michigan 48341)

Abstract

The General Motors Cold Weather Development Center is responsible for performing vehicle road tests under excessively cold weather conditions; each vehicle must undergo a specified number of tests under various temperatures in specified sequences. The center usually completes a vehicle's tests over several weeks based on such factors as the number of days cold enough to provide meaningful results. The center prepares a master test schedule daily with the goals of maximizing overall efficiency, assigning enough tests to each vehicle, and respecting operating constraints. To address this scheduling problem, we developed a decision-support tool with a specialized heuristic. Implementing the tool improved throughput by more than 100 percent and saved millions of dollars in vehicle warranty cost.

Suggested Citation

  • Chih-Cheng Hsu & Yvan de Blois & Murray James Pyle, 2004. "General Motors Optimizes Its Scheduling of Cold-Weather Tests," Interfaces, INFORMS, vol. 34(5), pages 334-341, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:inm:orinte:v:34:y:2004:i:5:p:334-341
    DOI: 10.1287/inte.1040.0067
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    Cited by:

    1. Christian Weckenborg & Karsten Kieckhäfer & Thomas S. Spengler & Patricia Bernstein, 2020. "The Volkswagen Pre-Production Center Applies Operations Research to Optimize Capacity Scheduling," Interfaces, INFORMS, vol. 50(2), pages 119-136, March.

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