Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Long-term staffing based on qualification profiles

  • Original Article
  • Published:
Mathematical Methods of Operations Research Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Manpower still is one of the most expensive resources, in spite of increasing automation. While employee scheduling and rostering has been the topic of extensive research over the past decades, usually it is assumed that the demand for staff is either given or can be obtained without difficulty. In this research we provide an integer programming model for long-term staffing decisions which fits to the needs of manufacturing-to-order companies. The model is based on qualification profiles, the number of which grows exponentially in terms of the number of processes considered. In order to compute tight lower bounds we provide a column generation technique. The subproblem is a shortest path problem in a network where the arcs have multiple weights. Upper bounds, that is, feasible solutions are calculated by means of local search. We present computational results for randomly generated instances and empirical results for examples from practice. The results show that substantial cost savings can be achieved.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Aarts EHL, Lenstra JK (eds) (1997) Local search in combinatorial optimization. Wiley, Chichester

    MATH  Google Scholar 

  • Abramson D, Dang H, Krishnamoorthy M (1996) A comparison of two methods for soving 0-1 integer programs using a general purpose simulated annealing algorithm. Ann Oper Res 63: 129–150

    Article  MATH  Google Scholar 

  • Ahn H-S, Righter R, Shanthikumar JG (2005) Staffing decisions for heterogeneous workers with turnover. Math Meth Oper Res 62: 499–514

    Article  MATH  MathSciNet  Google Scholar 

  • Ahuja RK, Ergun Ö, Orlin JB, Punnen AP (2002) A survey of very large-scale neighborhood search techniques. Discrete Appl Math 123: 75–102

    Article  MATH  MathSciNet  Google Scholar 

  • Barnhart C, Johnson EL, Nemhauser GL, Savelsbergh MWP, Vance PH (1998) Branch-and-price: column generation for huge integer programs. Oper Res 46: 316–329

    Article  MATH  MathSciNet  Google Scholar 

  • Burke E, Cowling P, de Causmaecker P, Berghe GV (2004) The state of the art of nurse rostering. J Scheduling 7: 441–499

    Article  MATH  Google Scholar 

  • Ernst A, Jiang H, Krishnamoorthy M, Shier D (2004) Staff scheduling and rostering: a review of applications, methods and models. Euro J Oper Res 153: 23–27

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gilmore PC, Gomory RE (1960) A linear programming approach to the cutting-stock problem. Operations Research 9: 849–859

    MathSciNet  Google Scholar 

  • Johnson D, Aragon C, McGeoch L, Schevon C (1989) Optimization by simulated annealing: an experimental evaluation; part I, graph partitioning. Oper Res 37: 865–892

    MATH  Google Scholar 

  • Johnson D, Aragon C, McGeoch L, Schevon C (1991) Optimization by simulated annealing: an experimental evaluation; part II, graph coloring and number partitioning. Oper Res 39: 378–406

    MATH  Google Scholar 

  • Kirkpatrick S (1984) Optimization by simulated snnealing—quantitative studies. J Stat Phys 34: 975–986

    Article  MathSciNet  Google Scholar 

  • Kirkpatrick S, Gelatt C, Vecchi M (1983) Optimization by simulated annealing. Science 220: 671–680

    Article  MathSciNet  Google Scholar 

  • Laarhoven P van, Aarts EHL (1987) Simulated annealing: theory and applications. Reidel, Dordrecht/Holland

    MATH  Google Scholar 

  • Lohnabkommen für die Druckindustrie 2004 (in German)

  • MacBeth G (1966) Organization and manpower planning. Business Publicatios Ltd., London

    Google Scholar 

  • Mehrotra A, Murphey KE, Trick MA (2000) Optimal shift scheduling: a branch-and-price approch. Naval Res Logistics 47: 185–200

    Article  MATH  Google Scholar 

  • Minieka E (1978) Optimization algorithms for networks and graphs. M. Dekker Inc., New York-Basel

    MATH  Google Scholar 

  • Mundschenk M, Drexl A (2007) Workforce planning in the printing industry. Int J Product Res 45:4849–4872

    Article  MATH  Google Scholar 

  • Pesch E, Tetzlaff U (2005) Scheduling personnel for press machines in the automotive industry. Pacific J Optim 1: 545–564

    MATH  MathSciNet  Google Scholar 

  • Pinedo M (2005) Planning and scheduling in manufacturing and services. Springer, Berlin

    MATH  Google Scholar 

  • Thompson GM, Goodale JC (2006) Variable employee productivity in workforce scheduling. Euro J Oper Res 170:376–390

    Article  MATH  MathSciNet  Google Scholar 

  • Tien J, Kamiyama A (1982) On manpower scheduling algorithms. Soc of Ind and Appl Math 24: 275–287

    MATH  MathSciNet  Google Scholar 

  • Wijmgaard J (1983) Aggregation in manpower planning. Manage Sci 29: 1427–1435

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institut für Betriebswirtschaftslehre, Christian-Albrechts-Universität, Kiel, Germany

    Andreas Drexl & Martin Mundschenk

Authors
  1. Andreas Drexl
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Martin Mundschenk
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Andreas Drexl.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Drexl, A., Mundschenk, M. Long-term staffing based on qualification profiles. Math Meth Oper Res 68, 21–47 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00186-007-0192-7

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00186-007-0192-7

Keywords

Search

Navigation