The demand in all branches of banks varies during the day. The AIBC International branch in Toronto has a peak demand for domestic transactions around lunchtime. When this is translated into the number of employees needed in the branch, it gives the following pattern.
This demand is met by a combination of normal work by full-time staff and overtime by full-time staff and part-time staff. Approximate hourly costs for these are $20, $25 and $15 respectively. The bank aims to provide at least the number of people required at minimum cost. But there are a number of constraints. These include:
· The bank does not work outside the 0900 to 1900 time slot.
· Full-time staff are available for 35 hours a week, and anything beyond this is overtime.
· Full-time staff rarely like to work more than 5 hours of overtime a week.
· All full-time staff have an hour's lunch break at an agreed time between 1100 and 1300.
· Part-time staff work between 4 and 8 hours a day without a lunch break.
· A company policy limits part-time staff to a maximum of 40% of hours worked.
Can LP tackle this kind of scheduling problem?