Special session on “Human and Organisational Factors in Industrial Planning and Scheduling – HOPS”

Traditionally, algorithms that generate schedules are either based on domain analyses or on task analyses. Both approaches have disadvantages. Algorithms based on domain analyses are often not used by human planners and schedulers. Algorithms based on task analyses, however, do not use the potential improvements in quality that domain based algorithms can attain. In this paper, the advantages of both approaches are combined by applying a mixed approach. Combinatorial optimization algorithms have been developed and implemented for two subtasks that were identified in a task analysis of shunting planners at The Netherlands Railways. Because of the approach taken the algorithms are usable in practice, which can improve both the quality and the speed of generating plans. Keywords