A model for scheduling postal distribution employees

This paper describes the design and analysis of a generalizable linear programming model for scheduling personnel in United States postal distribution stations. The scheduling model incorporates parameters such as different work loads along routes, equitable assignment of overtime between full-time employees desiring overtime, training levels of part-time employees, and management preferences for different levels of customer service. A near optimal schedule specifying daily assignment of full-time and part-time employees to different task categories is developed. The model is illustrated using data from a typical week in a large postal distribution station located in a representative American city. Analysis of the results shows that the proposed model captures the essence of scheduling decisions undertaken by postal supervisors and mid-level managers from the same data set. The schedules developed by the model are considered feasible from an implementation viewpoint, and also require less overtime than the management schedules. The impact of changing certain long-term policy issues (such as the mix between part-time and full-time employees, assignment policies, and training levels of part-time employees) can be evaluated by conducting a systematic sensitivity analysis of the model’s parameters. Another possible future benefit lies in using the model on a microcomputer for developing actual day-to-day schedules of postal distribution employees.