INDU6231:  Scheduling

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 This  Course
n Instructor:  Daria  Terekhov

n Slides  based  on  Chris  Beck’s  slides  from  

the  University  of  Toronto
n (hence  the  copyright!)

©  J.  Christopher  Beck 2

 Lecture  1:  Introduction

©  J.  Christopher  Beck 3

 Outline:  Introduction
n Introduction

n Examples  of  Scheduling  (projects,  

manufacturing,  airports,  workforce)

n Administration  
n Course  Goals
n Lectures,  feedback,  &  communication
©  J.  Christopher  Beck 4
 Scheduling  is  …
n The  allocation  of  resources  
to  activities  over  time
n Mixing  machines  in  food  manufacturing
n Classrooms  at  Concordia
n Trucks  &  planes  for  FedEx
n Mathematically  hard
n Industrially,  economically,  &  
environmentally  important
©  J.  Christopher  Beck   5
 Project
Scheduling
n There  are  a  series
of  operations
required  to  complete
a  project
n e.g.,  build  a  bridge
n Each  operation  requires  
resources
n Example:  schedule  the  operations  on  the  
resources  to  meet  all  due  dates
©  J.  Christopher  Beck 6
 Manufacturing
Scheduling
n Specialization  of
project  scheduling
n Series  of  operations
n Resources  required
n Need  to  assign  operations  to  resources  
over  time  in  order  to  find  shortest  
schedule,  meet  due  dates,  etc.

©  J.  Christopher  Beck 7

 n Need  to
n Sequence  lines
n Schedule  
assembly,  
sanding,  finishing
n Transportation
n Maintain  low  
inventory
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©  J.  Christopher  Beck
 A  Very  Small  Example:
A  Shoe  Factory

M1

M2 time

Uses  M2
Uses  M1
©  J.  Christopher  Beck 9
 A  Very  Small  Example:
A  Shoe  Factory

M1

M2 time

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©  J.  Christopher  Beck
 Airport  Facility  
Scheduling
n Allocate  resources
required  to  “service”  a  plane
n Runway,  gate,  baggage  carousel,  security  
personnel,  re-­fueling,  re-­stock  food,  …
n Planes  close  to  connecting  flights?
n Turn-­around  the  plane  quickly
n A  new  plane  lands  every  minute

©  J.  Christopher  Beck 11

 SAIGA  Video

©  J.  Christopher  Beck 12

 Workforce
Scheduling
n You  need  a  particular
number  of  people  with
specific  skills  on  each  shift
n You  need  to  schedule  breaks,  days-­off,  
etc.  taking  into  account  regulations  
about  #days/#hours  worked  without  a  
break
n Nurse  scheduling,  call-­centre  staffing,  …
©  J.  Christopher  Beck 13
 Questions

©  J.  Christopher  Beck 14

 The  Course

©  J.  Christopher  Beck 15

 Content  Goals
n Scheduling
applications
n industry  and  services
n Scheduling  algorithms
n Search:  partition,  relaxation,  inference
n Importance  of  scheduling
n Why  Information  Engineering  is  relevant  
to  scheduling
©  J.  Christopher  Beck 16
 Course  Goals:  Lectures
n I  don’t  want  to  talk  for  2.5  hours  straight!
n You’ll  get  bored,  I’ll  get  tired
n Ask  some  questions!
n Answer  some  questions!
n Almost  every  lecture  will  have  some  
problem  solving  activity
n You  need  to  ask  questions
n If  you  are  lost,  so  is  the  rest  of  the  class
©  J.  Christopher  Beck 17
 Questions

Stay  tuned  for  marking  scheme  

and  other  administrative  issues  …

©  J.  Christopher  Beck 18

 Marking  Scheme

Final  Exam 60
Term  Test  #1 20
Term  Test  #2 20
Total 100

©  J.  Christopher  Beck 19

 Two  Term  Tests
n Dates
n May  17th,  2016
n May  31st,  2016
n Room:  regular  classroom
n 50  minutes
n Each  worth  20%  of  final  mark

©  J.  Christopher  Beck 20

 No  Assignments!
n Most  weeks  I  will
post  a  list  of  questions
n Questions  on  the  tests  and  exam  will  be  
like  these
n May  even  be some  of  these
n They  will  not  be  collected  or  marked
n Most  solutions  will  be  posted

©  J.  Christopher  Beck 21

 The  Textbook

n Published  in  2009

n Focus  on  applied
scheduling  rather  than
theory
n Need  to  think  while  reading!

©  J.  Christopher  Beck 22

 Readings
n Most  lectures  will
be  based  on  
material  in  the  
book
n You  will  get  more  from  a  lecture  if  you  
read  the  relevant  parts  of  the  book  
before class
n Especially  since  this  is  an  intensive  course!
©  J.  Christopher  Beck 23
 Lecture  Slides
n Slides  posted  on  the  course  website  
before  class
n Usually  all  lectures  will  be  posted  by  the  
day  before
n Slide  content  will
tend  to  be
impressionistic

©  J.  Christopher  Beck 24

Moodle
n Please  use  the  DISCUSSION  BOARD!
n If  you  have  a  question,  chances  are  that  
other  students  do  too!

n Office  Hours
n By  appointment  only
n 15  minute  time  slots
n Will  be  posted  for  every  week  (usually  will  
be  on  Fridays) 25
 Questions

©  J.  Christopher  Beck 26