TY - GEN
T1 - Solving employee timetabling problems by generalized local search
AU - Schaerf, Andrea
AU - Meisels, Amnon
PY - 2000/1/1
Y1 - 2000/1/1
N2 - Employee timetabling is the operation of assigning employees to tasks in a set of shifts during a fixed period of time, typically a week. We present a general definition of employee timetabling problems (ETPs) that captures many real world problem formulations and includes complex constraints. We investigate the use of several local search techniques for solving ETPs. In particular, we propose a generalization of local search that makes use of a novel search space that includes also partial assignments. We describe the distinguishing features of this generalized local search that allows it to navigate the search space effectively. We show that, on large and difficult instances of real world ETPs, where systematic search fails, local search methods perform well and solve the hardest instances. According to our experimental results on various local search techniques, generalized local search is the best method for solving large ETP instances.
AB - Employee timetabling is the operation of assigning employees to tasks in a set of shifts during a fixed period of time, typically a week. We present a general definition of employee timetabling problems (ETPs) that captures many real world problem formulations and includes complex constraints. We investigate the use of several local search techniques for solving ETPs. In particular, we propose a generalization of local search that makes use of a novel search space that includes also partial assignments. We describe the distinguishing features of this generalized local search that allows it to navigate the search space effectively. We show that, on large and difficult instances of real world ETPs, where systematic search fails, local search methods perform well and solve the hardest instances. According to our experimental results on various local search techniques, generalized local search is the best method for solving large ETP instances.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85099427149&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1007/3-540-46238-4_33
DO - 10.1007/3-540-46238-4_33
M3 - Conference contribution
AN - SCOPUS:85099427149
SN - 3540673504
SN - 9783540673507
T3 - Lecture Notes in Computer Science (including subseries Lecture Notes in Artificial Intelligence and Lecture Notes in Bioinformatics)
SP - 380
EP - 389
BT - AI*IA 99
A2 - Lamma, Evelina
A2 - Mello, Paola
PB - Springer Verlag
T2 - 6th Congress of the Italian Association for Artificial Intelligence, AI*IA 99
Y2 - 14 September 1999 through 17 September 1999
ER -