Optimization Solutions - Scheduling Examples

Scheduling Examples

This free Scheduling Examples workbook contains seven example models from the area of personnel scheduling.  In nearly any browser, you can click the links below to display each worksheet model in the browser area.  Click the Back button to return to this page, or visit the Solver.com Home Page.

You can use the worksheet that most closely models your situation as a starting point.  Solving your real problem may require "scaling up" the model to include more variables and constraints -- but rest assured that you can solve your full-size problem with the power of our Excel Solver upgrades, even if it requires hundreds of thousands of variables!

To download and save the workbook, right-click Scheduling Examples and select Save Target As... from the context menu.  You can then actually solve these small example models in Microsoft Excel, using either the standard Excel Solver or the Premium Solver or Premium Solver Platform.

• Crew - Crew Scheduling:  Assign crews to different airline flight segments to minimize total cost while ensuring that a crew "rotation" begins and ends in the same city
• Offices - Office Assignment:  Assign employees to available offices to maximize satisfaction of employee preferences
• Sched1 - Employee Scheduling:  Schedule park employees for weekly "shifts" (five works days plus two consecutive days off) to minimize payroll costs while meeting varying demand for each day of the week
• Sched2 - Employee Scheduling with Preferences:  Schedule park employees for weekly "shifts" to minimize payroll costs while meeting demand and maximizing employee preferences
• Sched3 - Employee Scheduling with Seniority and Preferences:  Schedule park employees for weekly "shifts" to minimize payroll costs while meeting demand, taking into account employee seniority and preferences
• HireFire - Workforce Composition: Decide how many employees to retrain, hire and fire to meet changing workforce composition requirements while minimizing costs or employee turnover
• Troops - Workforce Movement:  Decide how many troops to move from several camps to several other bases, to minimize movement time or total cost

On each example worksheet, read the description at the bottom, then select Tools Solver... to examine the decision variables, constraints, and objective in the Solver Parameters dialog.  To find the optimal solution, click the Solve button.

We're here to help -- contact us if you'd like more information or advice on your application.

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