Distributed task scheduling and human resource distribution in industrial service solution production: a simulation application

TLDR: A simulation model for scheduling service task operations and distributing related human resources in dispersed work centres provides means for setting up balanced work schedules that can greatly lower temporal overheads of appointment and release operations if workers are selected in accordance with compatible time availability and task qualifications.

Abstract: This paper provides a simulation model for scheduling service task operations and distributing related human resources in dispersed work centres. The managerial concern for the minimisation of temporal overhead costs of task operations in the face of fluctuating, short-term service demands is examined under restrictions imposed by resource availability, work hour flexibility and task-backlog fulfilment. Scheduling strategies are developed directly from the constrained reduction of temporal overheads of appointment and release operations in distributed, non-interlinked work centres. To ensure the model’s structural validity, simulated task backlogs are adjusted to the actual backlog-reducing procedures in real applications. The model provides means for setting up balanced work schedules that can greatly lower temporal overheads of appointment and release operations if workers are selected in accordance with compatible time availability and task qualifications. Direct comparisons of worker productivities in...