Operator and task assignment

Rabbit chasing
Times = 12, 8, 10, 9, 6 Computation for 2 operators 12, 20, 30, 39, 45 24, 32, 42, 51, 57 57, 65, 75, 84, 90 etc

Dedicating machines
12, 8, 10, 9, 6 {1,2} and {3, 4, 5} Relationship with parallel machine scheduling problem formulation and heuristic {1, 3} and {2, 4, 5} with 23. 1 d bin packing Operator path crossing

Automatic machines
processing times are 12, 8, 10, 9 and 6 seconds. The processing times are further split into 2+8+2, 1+6+1, 2+6+2, 2+6+1, 1+4+1. One operator Find the time the first piece comes out from M5?

Single cell multiple products

12, 8, 10, 9, 6 9, 4, 6, 8, 15 4 operators If we dedicate operators we get {1,2} and {3, 4, 5} for product 1 and {1, 2, 3} and {4, 5} Different allocation for different products

Single product many cells

Consider a system where three cells feed to the assembly. Each cell makes a part that gets assembled. Cell 1 has 5 machines and the processing times are 12, 8, 10, 9 and 6 seconds. Cell 2 also has 5 machines and the processing times are 9, 4, 6, 8 and 15 seconds. Cell 3 also has 5 machines and the processing times are 7, 9, 12, 10 and 6 seconds. There are only 8 operators who have to be allotted to the three cells. Find the operator assignment to maximize the assembly output?

Formulation
Maximize u Subject to u 45/X1 u 42/X2 u 44/X3 X 1 + X2 + X 3 = 8 X1, X2, X3 0 and integer

Solution
The optimal solution to the IP problem is X1 = 3, X2 = 2 and X3 = 3 with v = 0.068. This would mean that we give 3 operators to cell 1, 2 operators to cell 2 and 1 operator to cell 3. If we treat X1, X2, X3 as continuous variables and solve the corresponding LP, the solution is X1 = 2.748, X2 = 2.564 and X3 = 2.687.

Multiple products many cells

Cell A B Product P Q P Q Maximum time 26 40 37 30 Bottleneck time 9 12 11 11

Multiple products
Minimize u + v Subject to u 26/X1 u 37/X2 v 40/X1 u 30/X2 X1 + X2 5 X1, X2, u, v 0, X1, X2 integer.

Solution
X1 = 2 and X2 = 3; p = 0.0769, q = 0.05 and objective function value is 0.129. A and B produce P at 13 and 12.33 minutes per product (assuming that the times given are in minutes). Product P is produced at the rate of 13 minutes. Cells A and B produce Q at 20 and 11 units. Product Q is produced at the rate of 20 minutes. X1 = 2.063 and X2 = 2.937; p = 0.079, q = 0.052 and objective function value is 0.13. Cells A and B produce P at 12.6 and 12.6 minutes per product . Product P is produced at the rate of 12.6 minutes. Cells A and B produce Q at 19.65 and 10.21 units. Product Q is produced at the rate of 19.65 minutes. 2 operators work in each cell. The fifth person works 6% of the times in cell A and 94% of the times in cell B.

Operator allocation to new cells

Let n1 be the number of experienced operators available n2 be the number of new operators available mk be the number of operators required in new cell k (k = 1,.., K) Let ek be the number of experienced operators required in cell k. Let gk be the number of new operators required in cell k. Let Pik be the preference given by operator i to work in cell k. Let Xik = 1 if operator i is allotted to new cell k

Maximize
Subject to

P X
k 1 i 1 ik
n1 n2 i 1

K n1 n2

ik

X
n1

ik

mk

X
i 1

ik

ek

X
i 1

n2

ik

gk

X
k 1

ik

Xik = 0,1

Old cell

New cell 7 4 9 8 6 8

Operator 1 2 3 4 5 6

8 4 7 6 5 7

The optimum solution to the binary ILP is X11 = X32 = X42 = X51 = X61 = 1 with Z = 37. In this solution experienced operators 1 and 3 are allotted to the old and new cell respectively. New operators 5 and 6 are allotted to the existing cell and new operator 4 goes to the new cell. Operator 2 who worked in the existing cell is not assigned to any cell.

Cell 1 Operat or 1 -M 2 3 4 5 6 -M -M 6 5 7

8
4 7 6 5 7

8
4 7 -M -M -M

-M
-M -M 8 6 8

7
4 9 -M -M -M

0
0 0 0 0 0

X13 = X26 = X35 = X44 = X52 = X61 = 1 with Z = 37.

Replacing existing operators

Let n1 be the number of experienced operators available n2 be the number of new operators available mk be the number of operators required in new cell k (k = 1,.., L) Let ek be the minimum number of experienced operators required in cell k. Let gk be the minimum number of new operators required in cell k. Let Pik be the preference given by operator i to work in cell k. Let ak be the number of experienced operators available in cell k (k = 1,...,K) Let Xik = 1 if operator i is allotted to new cell k

Maximize
Subject to

K L n1 n2 k 1 i 1

PX
ik

ik

n1 n2 i 1

ik

mk k 1,..L
ek k 1,.., L

X
i 1

n1

ik

X
i 1

n2

ik

g k k 1,.., L

K L k 1
n1

X
L i 1 k 1

ik

1
X ik
i 1 k 1 n2 K

ik

Xik = 0,1

Consider the situation where 6 operators are available. Operators 1 to 3 are experienced and operators 4 to 6 are new. Their preferences to work in an existing cell

and a new cell are given in Table 7.7. Each new cell
and existing cell should have at least one experienced operator and one new operator. Find the operator allocation to maximize preferences? The new cell requires 2 operators and the operators taken from the existing cells have to be replaced by new operators

Old cell
Operator 1 2 3 4 5 6 8 4 7 6 5 7

New cell
7 4 9 8 6 8

Formulation The ILP is to Maximize P X

2 6

Subject to X11+X21+X31+X41+X51+X61=3 X12+X22+X32+X42+X52+X62=2 X12+X22+X32 1 X42+X52+X62 1 Xi1 + Xi2 1 X12+X22+X32-X41-X51-X61=0 Xij = 0, 1

k 1 i 1

ik

ik

Solution
The optimal solution to the Integer linear programming problem is given by X11 = X21= X32 = X42 = X61 = 1 with Z = 36. Operator 3 goes to the new cell and is replaced by operator 6. Operator 4 is assigned to the new cell. Operator 5 is not assigned to any cell.

This solution is different from the solution in Illustration 7.10 where existing operator 2 was left out. Here all existing operators are retained while a new operator is left out.
It is also observed that the LP relaxation gives the same optimal solution. In this case the problem can be formulated as a minimum cost flow problem and solved optimally.