Task assignment and sequencing decision model under uncertain available time of service providers. Issue 12 (2nd December 2018)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Zhen, Lu; Hao, Hao; Shi, Xin; Huang, Lufei; Hu, Yi
• Is Part Of: Journal of the Operational Research Society. Volume 69:Issue 12(2018)
• Page Start: 1935
• Page End: 1946
• Publication Date: 2018-12-02
• Subjects: Task assignment -- sequencing -- stochastic programming -- heuristic solution; Operations research -- Periodicals; 658.4034
• DOI: 10.1080/01605682.2017.1415645
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0160-5682

Abstract

Abstract: This paper studies an integrated decision problem on assigning and sequencing tasks to service providers. By considering the uncertain available time of the service providers, a stochastic programming model is proposed on the basis of a finite set of scenarios. Some realistic factors are also taken into account and formulated as some non-linear cost functions, which are linearised in this study. Moreover, a heuristic solution method is designed for solving some extremely large-scale problem cases within a reasonable period of time. Numerical experiments are performed to validate the effectiveness of the proposed model and the efficiency of the proposed solution method.