General Motors Optimizes Its Scheduling of Cold-Weather Tests

Chih-Cheng Hsu (), Yvan de Blois () and Murray James Pyle ()
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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

Interfaces, 2004, vol. 34, issue 5, 334-341

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.

Keywords: production; scheduling; sequencing; project management; combinatorics (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2004
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