Tanuchporn Wongwien and Suebsak Nanthavanij

pp. 541 - 549

Abstract

The ergonomic workforce scheduling problem (WPS) is addressed in this paper. Unlike its previous related works, the
problem considers realistic worker limitation and task requirements that include heterogeneous workforce with limited task
flexibility, varying worker team sizes, and pre-defined task operation schedules. Its main objective is to find a daily rotating
work schedule solution using a minimum number of workers such that all workers’ ergonomics hazard exposures do not
exceed a permissible limit. Initially, the ergonomic WPS is explained. Its mathematical model and approximation procedure to
obtain the workforce schedule solution are described. From the results of the computation experiment, it can be concluded
that the approximation procedure is both efficient and effective in solving large-sized ergonomic workforce scheduling
problems. 

Keywords

• workforce scheduling
• ergonomics
• hazard exposure reduction
• optimization
• approximation procedure