OPTIMAL SCHEDULING OF A FLEXIBLE-DURATION REST PERIOD FOR A WORK GROUP
成果类型：
Article
署名作者：
BECHTOLD, SE; THOMPSON, GM
署名单位：
Utah System of Higher Education; University of Utah
刊物名称：
OPERATIONS RESEARCH
ISSN/ISSBN：
0030-364X
DOI：
10.1287/opre.41.6.1046
发表日期：
1993
页码：
1046-1054
关键词：
摘要：
All previous modeling research involving optimization of performance associated with work-rest cycles has focused upon individual employees working independently. We extend this earlier research by considering the choices of placement for and duration of a single rest period that must be taken simultaneously by all employees in a work group. Assuming linear work-rate decay and recovery functions for individual employees within the group, we show that an appropriate model can be formulated as a mixed-binary, cubic programming problem. We develop an efficient optimal solution procedure with a computational time that appears to be a linear function of the number of employees considered. We report on a preliminary simulation experiment that evaluates the productivity loss that occurs when the rest break policy is determined based on the work characteristics of a randomly selected subset of employees in the work group, and provides an initial exploration of the nature of optimal policy variables. Finally, we offer suggestions for future research.