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Simple Approaches to Shift, Days-Off and Tour Scheduling Problems

Author

Listed:
  • James G. Morris

    (University of Wisconsin, Madison)

  • Michael J. Showalter

    (Florida State University)

Abstract

Shift and days-off scheduling problems have received much attention in the literature of integer programming approaches to workforce scheduling. A typical managerial use would be to schedule full-time employees to minimize the number of labor hours while satisfying variable workforce requirements of a service delivery system. We present computational experience to show that an easily implemented application of linear programming frequently produces optimal solutions to these problems. When the context progresses toward a continuous operating environment (service delivery over 24 hours a day, 7 days a week) we stress the need to shed the myopic views of the shift and days-off scheduling formulations in favor of an integrative tour scheduling formulation. For this problem we observe that a simple heuristic initiated by rounding down the associated LP solution consistently produces near optimal solutions. This observation is based on experiments over varying workforce requirement patterns.

Suggested Citation

  • James G. Morris & Michael J. Showalter, 1983. "Simple Approaches to Shift, Days-Off and Tour Scheduling Problems," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 29(8), pages 942-950, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:inm:ormnsc:v:29:y:1983:i:8:p:942-950
    DOI: 10.1287/mnsc.29.8.942
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    Cited by:

    1. Jiun-Yan Shiau & Ming-Kung Huang & Chu-Yi Huang, 2020. "A Hybrid Personnel Scheduling Model for Staff Rostering Problems," Mathematics, MDPI, vol. 8(10), pages 1-20, October.
    2. Stephen E. Bechtold & Larry W. Jacobs, 1996. "The equivalence of general set‐covering and implicit integer programming formulations for shift scheduling," Naval Research Logistics (NRL), John Wiley & Sons, vol. 43(2), pages 233-249, March.
    3. Tolga Çezik & Oktay Günlük & Hanan Luss, 2001. "An integer programming model for the weekly tour scheduling problem," Naval Research Logistics (NRL), John Wiley & Sons, vol. 48(7), pages 607-624, October.
    4. Marta Rocha & José Oliveira & Maria Carravilla, 2014. "A constructive heuristic for staff scheduling in the glass industry," Annals of Operations Research, Springer, vol. 217(1), pages 463-478, June.
    5. Brusco, Michael J. & Johns, Tony R., 1996. "A sequential integer programming method for discontinuous labor tour scheduling," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 95(3), pages 537-548, December.
    6. Michael J. Brusco & Larry W. Jacobs, 1993. "A simulated annealing approach to the cyclic staff‐scheduling problem," Naval Research Logistics (NRL), John Wiley & Sons, vol. 40(1), pages 69-84, February.
    7. María I. Restrepo & Bernard Gendron & Louis-Martin Rousseau, 2016. "Branch-and-Price for Personalized Multiactivity Tour Scheduling," INFORMS Journal on Computing, INFORMS, vol. 28(2), pages 334-350, May.
    8. Millar, Harvey H. & Kiragu, Mona, 1998. "Cyclic and non-cyclic scheduling of 12 h shift nurses by network programming," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 104(3), pages 582-592, February.
    9. Michael J. Brusco & Larry W. Jacobs, 1998. "Personnel Tour Scheduling When Starting-Time Restrictions Are Present," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 44(4), pages 534-547, April.
    10. Chia-Hung Chen & Shangyao Yan & Miawjane Chen, 2010. "Short-term manpower planning for MRT carriage maintenance under mixed deterministic and stochastic demands," Annals of Operations Research, Springer, vol. 181(1), pages 67-88, December.
    11. Fowler, John W. & Wirojanagud, Pornsarun & Gel, Esma S., 2008. "Heuristics for workforce planning with worker differences," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 190(3), pages 724-740, November.
    12. Thompson, Gary M. & Pullman, Madeleine E., 2007. "Scheduling workforce relief breaks in advance versus in real-time," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 181(1), pages 139-155, August.
    13. G Laporte & G Pesant, 2004. "A general multi-shift scheduling system," Journal of the Operational Research Society, Palgrave Macmillan;The OR Society, vol. 55(11), pages 1208-1217, November.
    14. Valls, Vicente & Angeles Perez, M. & Sacramento Quintanilla, M., 1998. "Pre-processing techniques for resource allocation in the heterogeneous case," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 107(2), pages 470-491, June.
    15. Hua Ni & Hernán Abeledo, 2007. "A branch-and-price approach for large-scale employee tour scheduling problems," Annals of Operations Research, Springer, vol. 155(1), pages 167-176, November.
    16. Brusco, Michael J. & Jacobs, Larry W., 2001. "Starting-time decisions in labor tour scheduling: An experimental analysis and case study," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 131(3), pages 459-475, June.
    17. Brusco, Michael J. & Jacobs, Larry W., 1995. "Cost analysis of alternative formulations for personnel scheduling in continuously operating organizations," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 86(2), pages 249-261, October.
    18. Schirmer, Andreas, 1996. "New insights on the complexity of resource-constrained project scheduling: Two cases of multi-mode scheduling," Manuskripte aus den Instituten für Betriebswirtschaftslehre der Universität Kiel 391, Christian-Albrechts-Universität zu Kiel, Institut für Betriebswirtschaftslehre.
    19. Wright, P. Daniel & Mahar, Stephen, 2013. "Centralized nurse scheduling to simultaneously improve schedule cost and nurse satisfaction," Omega, Elsevier, vol. 41(6), pages 1042-1052.
    20. Lagodimos, A. G. & Leopoulos, V., 2000. "Greedy heuristic algorithms for manpower shift planning," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 68(1), pages 95-106, October.
    21. Gary M. Thompson, 1997. "Labor staffing and scheduling models for controlling service levels," Naval Research Logistics (NRL), John Wiley & Sons, vol. 44(8), pages 719-740, December.
    22. Michael J. Brusco & Larry W. Jacobs, 2000. "Optimal Models for Meal-Break and Start-Time Flexibility in Continuous Tour Scheduling," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 46(12), pages 1630-1641, December.

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