A NETWORK MODEL FOR THE ROTATING WORKFORCE SCHEDULING PROBLEM

The rotating workforce scheduling problem involves the construction of an efficient sequence of work and rest periods spanning over a number of weeks. This schedule must satisfy the workforce requirements during the different shifts of each day and conform to all the other conditions imposed on the work/rest periods and their sequence. We consider the modeling of the rotating workforce scheduling problem as a network flow problem. All the constraints on the problem are incorporated in the network itself, except for the staff‐covering constraints that are treated as side constraints. The optimal solution to the problem corresponds to a path in the network and is identified using a dual‐based approach. The model deals with the issues of rest‐period identification, work/rest period sequencing, and shift scheduling simultaneously and is designed to handle multiple shift cases with time‐varying demands. The procedure, which is capable of solving large‐scale problems, is applied to three well‐known problems in rotating workforce scheduling. The computational results presented indicate that this procedure provides a useful method for solving large‐scale complex problems in workforce scheduling. Copyright © 1990 Wiley Periodicals, Inc., A Wiley Company