Integrating truck and workforce scheduling in a cross-dock: analysis of different workforce coordination policies

Cross-docking is a logistics concept that aims at the realization of a fast turnover of goods at minimum stock levels. To achieve these goals, the shipments at the terminal must be synchronized, i.e., the sequence in which the trucks are processed at the dock doors needs to be determined. The resulting truck schedules influence the internal cross-docking processes. Since cross-docking operations are labor intensive and personnel costs are high, efficient truck and workforce schedules help to reduce costs. We propose an optimization model, which integrates the planning tasks of truck and workforce scheduling in a cross-dock for a single working day. More precisely, based on the demand derived from the trucks’ schedules, the model allocates the workers to specific shifts and tasks. We assume that the workforce consists of permanent and temporary workers. Due to the short planning horizon, the number of permanent workers is fixed, while temporary workers can be requested daily from an external personnel service provider. Thus, the model’s goal is the minimization of the costs for engaging temporary workers. We extend prior works by explicitly integrating daily working hour regulations and different workforce coordination policies. To evaluate these policies we generate test instances and solve them using a standard solver. Despite the test cases’ limited size, we are able to gain managerial insights concerning the applicability of the policies under different organizational circumstances. We show that particularly in systems with peak demands and in the case of stackable pallets, more inflexible polices become advisable.