Service Case Scheduling: An Exploratory Description and Recommendations for Solution

Numerous services involve the processing of individual customer cases. These cases require a service provider to accomplish several tasks, many of which involve precedence relationships and sequence-dependent setup times. In addition, time lags may be required between certain tasks to permit processing external to the service provider. Finally, satisfaction of customer demand is typically constrained by the availability of the service provider, who seeks to accomplish tasks with an eye toward several dynamic objectives. This problem, designated the service case scheduling problem, is logically described in terms of its objectives, constraints, and characteristics. A simulation study is then used to produce general recommendations for the problem's solution in practice.