Optimal Models for Meal-Break and Start-Time Flexibility in Continuous Tour Scheduling

Michael J. Brusco () and Larry W. Jacobs ()
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Michael J. Brusco: Information and Management Sciences Department, College of Business, Florida State University, Tallahassee, Florida 32306-1110
Larry W. Jacobs: Operations Management and Information Systems Department, Northern Illinois University, DeKalb, Illinois 60115-2854

Management Science, 2000, vol. 46, issue 12, 1630-1641

Abstract: This paper presents a compact integer-programming model for large-scale continuous tour scheduling problems that incorporate meal-break window, start-time band, and start-time interval policies. For practical scheduling environments, generalized set-covering formulations (GSCFs) of such problems often contain hundreds of millions of integer decision variables, usually precluding identification of optimal solutions. As an alternative, we present an implicit integer-programming model that frequently has fewer than 1,500 variables and can be formulated and solved using PC-based hardware and software platforms. An empirical study using labor-requirement distributions for customer service representatives at a Motorola, Inc. call center was used to demonstrate the importance of having a model that can evaluate tradeoffs among the various scheduling policies.

Keywords: integer programming; implicit formulation; workforce scheduling (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2000
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (19)

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