An intelligent system for US Coast Guard cutter scheduling

A software system developed for the United States Coast Guard for producing a day to day schedule for a fleet of ships over a one year period is presented. The development process from knowledge elicitation through model building to the analysis of computational performance is addressed and the position of scheduling within a taxonomy of decision problems is discussed with reference to appropriate methodology. A schedule generator and a discrete optimisation model lie at the heart of the system and a diagnostic analyzer is incorporated to deal with various subjective and objective issues. The design philosophy and the integration in a database information support system are discussed. In addition to its tactical uses the system is increasingly used as a strategic investigative tool.