Article ID: | iaor20134941 |
Volume: | 25 |
Issue: | 3 |
Start Page Number: | 411 |
End Page Number: | 419 |
Publication Date: | Jun 2013 |
Journal: | INFORMS Journal on Computing |
Authors: | Qu Rong, Burke Edmund K, Vanden Berghe Greet, Curtois Timothy |
Keywords: | heuristics: local search |
This paper presents a variable depth search for the nurse rostering problem. The algorithm works by chaining together single neighbourhood swaps into more effective compound moves. It achieves this by using heuristics to decide whether to continue extending a chain and which candidates to examine as the next potential link in the chain. Because end users vary in how long they are willing to wait for solutions, a particular goal of this research was to create an algorithm that accepts a user specified computational time limit and uses it effectively. When compared against previously published approaches the results show that the algorithm is very competitive.