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Personnel Scheduling in Queues with Time-varying Arrival Rates: Applications of Simulation-Optimization

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Uncertainty Management in Simulation-Optimization of Complex Systems

Part of the book series: Operations Research/Computer Science Interfaces Series ((ORCS,volume 59))

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Abstract

This chapter discusses the challenges of workforce scheduling in systems with time-varying arrival rates, with customer impatience (abandonments), general service and abandonment distributions and an exhaustive end-of-shift policy (servers may work overtime at the end of their shift to complete the service process of a customer). We explore the opportunities of simulation-optimization approaches in such a context. Two simulation-optimization approaches are evaluated: a fast two-step heuristic and a branch-and-bound method that yields an estimated optimal shift schedule. We compare their computational effort and personnel costs, and analyze the sensitivity of the methods to the number of replications that is used in the simulation model.

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Acknowledgements

This research was supported by the Research Foundation-Flanders (FWO) (grant no G.0547.09).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Decision Sciences and Information Management, Research Center for Operations Management, KU Leuven, Naamsestraat 69, 3000, Leuven, Belgium

    Mieke Defraeye & Inneke Van Nieuwenhuyse

Authors
  1. Mieke Defraeye
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  2. Inneke Van Nieuwenhuyse
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Correspondence to Inneke Van Nieuwenhuyse .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Istituto per le Applicazioni del Calcolo “Mauro Picone”, Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Bari, Italy

    Gabriella Dellino

  2. Dipartimento di Ingegneria Elettrica e dell’Informazione, Politecnico di Bari, Bari, Italy

    Carlo Meloni

Appendix: Shift Specifications

Appendix: Shift Specifications

See Table 9.6.

Table 9.6 Shift specifications (all breaks are assumed to be 1 h). K represents the size of the shift set for problem instances with staffing interval length Δ s
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Defraeye, M., Van Nieuwenhuyse, I. (2015). Personnel Scheduling in Queues with Time-varying Arrival Rates: Applications of Simulation-Optimization. In: Dellino, G., Meloni, C. (eds) Uncertainty Management in Simulation-Optimization of Complex Systems. Operations Research/Computer Science Interfaces Series, vol 59. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4899-7547-8_9

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