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Multi-Skilled Workforce Optimisation

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Abstract

This paper describes a problem faced by CS Energy's Swanbank Power Station in the Australian state of Queensland. It involved the personnel scheduling (rostering) of staff with multiple skill levels at the power station. Such a problem can be classified using the six stage construction process proposed by Ernst et al. We assume that the three processes of ‘demand modelling,’ ‘shift starting times’ and ‘task scheduling’ are specified. We are concerned with the essential processes of ‘day off scheduling,’ ‘line of work construction’ and ‘shift assignment to staff’ with requirements to maintain multiple skills. Several other authors have reported results for staff with hierarchical skills while the methods proposed in this paper are for non-hierarchical skill sets. The paper describes a set covering approach to the multi-skilled rostering problem. We propose a number of solution strategies for the set covering approach and give a comparison of the results.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centre for Industrial and Applied Mathematics, University of South Australia, and Mawson Lakes Campus, Mawson Lakes Blvd, Mawson Lakes, SA, 5095, Australia

    Guy Eitzen & David Panton

  2. CSIRO Mathematical and Information Sciences, Waite Road Urrbrae, SA, 5064, Australia

    Graham Mills

Authors
  1. Guy Eitzen
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  2. David Panton
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  3. Graham Mills
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Eitzen, G., Panton, D. & Mills, G. Multi-Skilled Workforce Optimisation. Annals of Operations Research 127, 359–372 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1023/B:ANOR.0000019096.58882.54

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/B:ANOR.0000019096.58882.54

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