A three-step scheduling based on geographic information system for workforce-planning problem

Abstract

Routing workforce planning problem is a difficult problem, requiring a combination of the vehicle routing problem and the staff scheduling problem. This problem associates with a lot of constraints, even when having only a single criterion and homogeneous staff skill. This paper introduces three-step scheduling-a generic scheduling procedure for solving the workforce planning problems which incorporates between an optimisation tool, fuzzy inference system and geographic information system technology. The scheduling problem is hierarchically divided into sub-problems and then solved with the proposed scheduling framework. A simulated case study of the electricity meter installation service problems is employed to verify the proposed framework. In this study, we are focusing on the route scheduling which is the first step of the three-step scheduling. The total of travel distance is defined as an objective function. Particular case requirements such as lunch and parking time are also included in the model for optimisation. Our empirical study reveals that the proposed route scheduling is capable of exploring the optimal solutions for the case study with the shortest service path, compared to the original procedure.