Planning software for optimal Roster Planning, Task Assignment, Route Planning and Match Making

SUMit Roster Software > Roster planning > Tailored Software > ERP > Planning Demo

Planning software for Supply and Demand At the bottom of this page you'll find a demo of planning software, written in JAVA. You can use this software to: Optimally plan scarce resources. Minimise costs. Find the optimum combination between Supply and Demand. It may take a minute or so to start up the JAVA software (119K). In the meantime you can sit back, relax and have a look at the instructions and examples:
Roster planning	Who runs which shift?
Task Assignment	Who does what?
Route Planning	Who goes where?
Match Making	Who suits who?

Instructions

You'll plot supply and demand in a matrix.

The next example shows five available pilots (supply of manpower) against five destinations (demand for manpower).

You'll assign a score to every possibility, a kind of report mark comparable with jury points.

A 10 means perfect.
A 1 means very bad.

The planning software at the bottom of this page uses an advanced algorithm to quickly find the optimum distribution, the green coloured cells.

You can work on an alternative solution by changing the scores. You'll immediately see the green squares shift to a new optimum. Copy the solution

When you're happy with the result you can copy the solution to a text processor from the tab panel 'Solution'.

A few examples

Roster planning	Who runs which shift?
Task Assignment	Who does what?
Route Planning	Who goes where?
Match Making	Who suits who?

Example 1: Roster Planning

It's your job to create a roster for employees working round-the-clock, e.g. a hospital, fire brigade or hotel.

the day shift needs 2 employees, one of which is a supervisor.
evening shift and night shift both need one employee.
an employee will have a day off.

Roster Planning	Supervisor	Day Shift	Evening Shift	Night Shift	Day Off
John	1	5	3	8	8
Jack	5	9	7	7	2
Bill	4	2	7	8	5
Richard	8	8	7	5	9
Debby	2	5	4	1	5

The matrix above shows scores for every employee-shift combination. A 9 means highly suitable, a 1 means very bad. Of course some shifts are better suited to an employee than others. If one has just finished a night shift, one can not do a day shift.

You'll quickly find the optimum assignments using the demo planning software.

Optimal assignments
8 Richard Supervisor
9 Jack Day Shift
7 Bill Evening Shift
8 John Night Shift
5 Debby Day Off

Optimal assignments
8	Richard	Supervisor
9	Jack	Day Shift
7	Bill	Evening Shift
8	John	Night Shift
5	Debby	Day Off

Example 2: Task Assignment

You are the project leader of a team and must assign several tasks to your staff.

Task Assignment	Analyst	Developer	Tester
Steve	10	8	5
Brian	10	1	10
Dave	7	6	6

You assign a score for every possible employee-task combination. 10 means highly suitable, 1 is to be avoided.

The Planning Software gives you the optimum assignments:

Steve: Analyst
Brian: Tester
Dave: Developer

Example 3: Route Planning

Available drivers and the starting points for new rides

You plan the rides of an international transport company. You have several requests for transport. Unfortunately the drivers available are scattered over different locations. It is your task to minimise the empty rides to the new assignments.

You have a map with the available drivers and the starting points of the new rides.

A tailormade SUMit expert system computes a score for every possible combination driver-starting point. 10 means perfect, 1 means very bad. This score is based on business specific criteria such as:

Distance to new starting point, the closer the better
Deadline, will the driver be able to deliver the goods in time?
Special cargo. Perishables such as flowers or fruit need cooling equipment.
Physical limitations. One cannot put a 35 feet shipment into a 20 feet container.

Using the the planning software at the bottom of this page you determine the optimum planning, the green squares in the following matrix.

Minimise empty rides	to Rotterdam	to Maastricht	to Dusseldorf	to Munich	to Almere	to Maastricht	to Spijkenisse	to Zoetermeer	to Dusseldorf	to Dusseldorf	to Antwerp	to Prague
Bram in Rotterdam	10	7	5	1	8	7	9	7	5	5	7	1
Edward in Cologne	4	8	9	6	4	not possible	4	4	9	9	5	5
Peter in Cologne	4	8	9	6	4	8	4	4	9	9	5	5
Markus in Antwerp	7	7	5	2	6	7	7	6	5	5	10	1
Henk Jan in Antwerp	7	7	5	2	6	7	7	6	5	5	10	1
John in Antwerp	7	7	5	2	6	7	7	6	5	5	10	1
Paul in Basel	1	2	6	8	1	2	2	2	6	6	2	7
George in Berlin	1	2	3	1	1	2	1	1	3	3	1	5
Ringo in Groningen	6	6	4	1	8	6	7	7	4	4	4	1
Jacky in Hamburg	5	5	4	1	6	5	5	6	4	4	3	2
Mike in Maastricht	7	10	8	2	6	not possible	7	7	8	8	8	4
Suzanne in Paris	5	7	5	2	4	not possible	5	5	5	5	8	1

The matrix for this problem is quite complex already. Nevertheless, the planning software demo finds the optimum solution in a fraction of a second.

A graphical view shows the optimum planning.
The optimum planning, minimised empty rides
Two drivers (John in Antwerp and Bram in Rotterdam) are at the right location for the next assignment. Just 10 out of 12 drivers need an empty transport to their next ride.

Example 4: Match Making

Match Making	Janice (.../janice.htm)	A Chicken	Miss Piggy (.../piggy.htm)	No match yet
Kermit (.../kermit.htm)	9	3	5	1
Sgt. Floyd Webber (.../floyd.htm)	9	2	4	1
The Great Gonzo (.../gonzo.htm)	7	9	3	1
Animal (.../animal.htm)	1	3	4	1

You are running a match making agency. For your customers you search for the best possible match, using their profiles (www..../profiles.htm). That can be quite a challenging job. In the given example you will have to disappoint at least one customer.

Using the planning software demo you reach the following results:

Two good combinations with score 9.
A less than perfect combination for Kermit - Miss Piggy.
Animal will remain on file for the moment.

Planning Software Demonstration

Use the planning software demo below to optimise usage of scarce resources.

Put the tasks on the horizontal axes, the demand for manpower
Put the employees on the vertical axes, the supply of manpower
In each cell, assign a score for the possible combination task-employee (1= very bad, 10= excellent).

The software quickly finds the optimal combination and highlights it in green.

About this applet · Instructions · Examples

Enable Java in your browser and see a working matrix like the one above.

Would you like to know more on SUMit's advanced planning software? Just contact SUMit for tailormade software that suits your unique business situation.

Home > Tailored Software > ERP > Planning Demo