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Scheduling, timetabling and rostering — A special relationship?

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Practice and Theory of Automated Timetabling (PATAT 1995)

Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Computer Science ((LNCS,volume 1153))

Abstract

Computer solution of timetabling, scheduling and rostering problems has been addressed in the literature since the 1950's. Early mathematical formulations proved impossible to solve given the limited computer power of the era. However, heuristics, often very specialised, were used for certain problems from a very early date, although the term heuristic was not generally recognised until later; a few guaranteed optimality, some consistently produced good solutions, but most became unwieldy when adjusted to deal with practical situations. In some cases, weaknesses in the heuristics were overcome by appeal to manual intervention. Mathematical approaches to some problems returned to favour, successfully, around 1980. Some of the subsequent developments of these are very powerful in practical situations, but they are no panacea, and metaheuristics are the flavour of the nineties.

This paper explores the relationships between the problem types, and traces the above developments as applied principally in the areas of Vehicle Routeing and Scheduling, Driver Scheduling, Job Shop Scheduling and Personnel Rostering. Parallels are drawn with Class and Examination Timetabling, but these subjects themselves are not examined, as they are covered extensively elsewhere in this volume.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Computer Studies, University of Leeds, LS2 9JT, Leeds

    Anthony Wren (Professor of Scheduling and Constraint Management)

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  1. Anthony Wren
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Edmund Burke Peter Ross

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© 1996 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

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Wren, A. (1996). Scheduling, timetabling and rostering — A special relationship?. In: Burke, E., Ross, P. (eds) Practice and Theory of Automated Timetabling. PATAT 1995. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol 1153. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/3-540-61794-9_51

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/3-540-61794-9_51

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  • Print ISBN: 978-3-540-61794-5

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-540-70682-3

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