Workforce scheduling and routing with substitution skills

This study addresses the tactical planning aspect of a dynamic technician routing and scheduling problem spanning several days and with home depots. The challenge involves pre-known tasks and dynamically arriving tasks, requiring efficient scheduling to minimize overall driving distance. Technicians, each possessing specific skills, are dispatched to locations with tasks having time windows and skill requirements. The goal is to minimize driving distance while maximizing task completion. The extended model introduces substitution skills, allowing less qualified technicians to serve tasks with a time penalty. The study presents both an MIP formulation and an ALNS algorithm for optimization. Results, derived from real-life data, are compared against routes executed in an actual company, where technicians can only handle tasks matching their skill sets.