Optimization Solutions - Scheduling Examples

Human Resources and Scheduling Examples

This free workbook contains seven example models from personnel scheduling.  Click the model names to display each worksheet model in your browser.

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 Excel, using the standard Excel Solver, 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 Solver on the Data tab in Excel 2007, or Tools Solver... from the menu in Excel 2003.  When you see the Solver Parameters dialog box, click the Solve button to find the optimal solution.

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

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